Consultation shows massive support for fast-ferry service crossing the Bristol Channel

A SHORTLIST of destinations for a potential ferry service linking Swansea and the south-west of England, along with a design of the vessel itself, could be published in a report in January next year.

- RICHARD YOULE Senior local democracy reporter [e-mail]

That is the aim of the company, Ocean Prime Industries Ltd, which is carrying out a 12-month feasibility study into the concept.

Although it is very early days, the company’s chief executive and founder, Dave Sampson, envisaged a vessel around 55m long, which would take passengers, cars and cargo at speeds of up to 40 knots.

The zero-emission ferry would have an electric powertrain, run on clean power, and have a relatively shallow draught.

Mr Sampson said Swansea was at this stage the only firm destination, should the initiative progress further. In terms of other locations either side of the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea, he said: “We are not ruling anything in or out.”

Mr Sampson said the service would need to operate year-round and destinations it served would require a ramp for vehicles and ideally a shore power supply.

“We wouldn’t be building a big terminal,” he said.

A Bristol Channel ferry service is not a new idea, and a fast service linking Swansea and Ilfracombe in north Devon, called Severnlink, came close to launching in 2010 but was hit by funding difficulties.

Three years ago, Cllr Rob Stewart, leader of Swansea council, signalled backing for a hydrogen-powered ferry, and the authority has given Ocean Prime Industries some UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund money towards the feasibility study.

Passengers would save time normally spent in a car on the M4 and M5, and tourism, say supporters of the idea, would be boosted.

Mr Sampson said around 4,000 people have already responded to a consultation to gauge public appetite for a ferry since it was launched in early March, and approximately 98% of respondents backed it. The remainder, he said, were “maybes” or “noes”.