DFDS Announces New Route to France, Bypassing Dover
DFDS, Peel Ports, and Port of Calais have announced that a new ferry route between Sheerness and Calais will open in June.
Eurolink Ferries / Ferrylink Freight Service
Eurolink Ferries was a ferry operator owned by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (now Peel Ports). The only Eurolink route was between the MD&HCo-owned port of Sheerness and Vlissingen in The Netherlands.
The company started the route in July 1994 following the collapse of Olau Line in May 1994. Initially the service was branded as Ferrylink Freight Service and was for freight only using chartered Egyptian tonnage.
In February 1995, the service was rebranded as Eurolink Ferries with new tonnage chartered in from Ventouris so that the route could carry passengers. Both vessels, later renamed EUROMANTIQUE and EUROMAGIQUE were Ro-Ro ships which had been rebuilt as passenger and freight ferries. They were stern-only loading vessels with basic passenger facilities – quite a contrast to the luxurious Olau vessels which had preceded them.
Parent company MD&HCo closed down the route on December 1, 1996 with a loss of £9 million that year.
