Transport - Sea: Passenger and freight traffic in Lancashire

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Social and Economic Intelligence > Additional transport intelligence > Passenger and Freight Traffic, Lancashire Ports

The Department for Transport publishes sea passenger statistics that include details of passenger movements on the service between Heysham and Douglas. In 2012, the Heysham-Douglas ferry service accounted for 48.8% of all maritime passengers on the GB-Isle of Man route, with the rest using the service from Liverpool.

Traffic levels on the Heysham-Douglas service have fluctuated between 1999 and 2012. They hit a peak in 2007, after which there has been a pattern of decline to 257,000 passengers in 2012.

The Isle-of-Man Steam Packet Company operates both the Liverpool and Heysham routes to Douglas. The Liverpool route is the quicker service whilst a slower vessel (Ben-My-Chree) operates out of Heysham.

Heysham Harbour railway station has a very limited number of services that have the sole purpose of connecting with the Heysham to Douglas sailings. Passenger numbers over recent years have been small but are on the increase. The vast majority of people using the sailings however arrive by private vehicles.

Table 1, Domestic waterborne passenger movements, thousands of passengers

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

2012

Percentage change
1999-2012

Heysham-Douglas

239

224

261

260

299

284

279

257

7.5%

	1999	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2012	Percentage change 1999-2012
Heysham-Douglas	239	224	261	260	299	284	279	257	7.5%

Source Department for Transport,: sea passenger statistics

The former passenger service between Fleetwood and Larne in Northern Ireland was withdrawn on 24^th December 2010, after a period of declining passenger numbers. Between 1999 and 2010, passenger levels varied between a high of 72,000 in 2004 to a low of 51,000 in the final year of 2010.

Table 2, Accompanied passenger vehicles, (thousands)

	2001	2003	2005	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Heysham	97	75	67	94	82	86	80	77
United Kingdom, all cars	6,631	6,804	6,305	6,677	6,498	6,405	6,449	6,188

Source DfT: sea passenger statistics

Table 2 presents the number of accompanied passenger vehicles through Heysham. Between 2001 and 2011, there was a noticeable decrease, but the numbers have varied significantly over the intervening years. At the national level, the market generally appears to have shown some weakness over recent years. The national figures include the passenger vehicles that use the Channel Tunnel.

Freight Traffic, Lancashire Ports

Table 3, Lancashire ports, all freight traffic, 1965 - 2011 (thousand tonnes)

Year	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995
Fleetwood	259	253	1,025	1,944	1,879	1,381	1,236
Heysham	3,563	586	593	885	926	1,485	2,708
Lancaster	..	85	49	134	233	213	129
Year	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Fleetwood	1,530	1,608	1,521	1,624	1,662	1,635	1,670
Heysham	3,723	3,824	3,705	4,083	3,539	3,676	4,014
Lancaster	135	117	130	156	115	111	146
Year	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	-	-
Fleetwood	1,772	1,571	1,327	1,137	0	-	-
Heysham	3,586	3,185	3,102	3,461	4,291	-	-
Lancaster	123	113	121	141	134	-	-

Source: Department for Transport

In September 2012, the Department for Transport published the 2011 port freight statistics, that include long-term trends over a number of years. Table 3 presents historic data on total tonnage through the three Lancashire ports covering the period from 1965 to 2011. Over the years, the national picture was one of constant increases up to 1999, when the results became somewhat more volatile. The 2009 figure for the UK revealed a dramatic reduction in comparison to the previous year as a result of the recession, but the 2010 and 2011 numbers have shown modest increases. UK ports handled just over 519 million tonnes of freight in 2011, which is well down on the levels of over 580 million tonnes achieved a few years earlier.

The Lancashire results show some variations over the past 45 years. Heysham saw an enormous decrease in activity between 1965 and 1970, and it was not until 1997 that the port managed to surpass the 1965 thousand tonnage figure of 3,563 thousand tonnes. From a high point in 2003, Heysham once again entered a period of decline, but the latest figure for 2011 of 4,291 thousand tonnes is a significant improvement over the recent years. The closure of the Fleetwood to Larne freight route in December 2010, appears to have resulted in a large amount of traffic being redirected through Heysham.

The 2011 results confirm that the closure of the Fleetwood-Larne service meant that no freight traffic was recorded through Fleetwood in 2011. Please note that these figures exclude fish landings.

The small port of Glasson Dock (Lancaster) has a modest trade flow, and the the 2011 figure of 134 thousand tonnes is slightly down on the result for 2010.

In general terms, the figures for port activity in Lancashire reveal a useful role for traffic flows to the Isle of Man and Ireland, but the Lancashire ports only account for 0.9% of total UK tonnage. In a national context, activity at the Lancashire ports is small scale, however as sources of employment, and conduits to the movement of passengers and freight, they are still important to the local and the wider economy.

Heysham

Heysham Port opened in 1904 and offers immediate access to the sea at all states of the tide. Real time details are available for ship arrivals, departures, expected arrivals and vessels in port at Heysham.

In addition to the Heysham to the Isle of Man passenger service, Stena Line operates a freight service between Heysham and Belfast, whilst Seatruck Ferries is an Irish Sea ferry company (part of the multi-national Clipper Group) that specialises in the carriage of unaccompanied freight. It operates rom Heysham to Dublin and Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland.

Heysham Port is home to an important field management and support base for the two Morecambe Bay Gas Fields in the Irish Sea that are operated by Centrica Energy.

The new Heysham M6 link road was approved in March 2013 and aims, amongst other things, to improve access to the port. It will be a two lane dual carriageway from the Heysham and Morecambe peninsular to junction 34 of the M6.

Fleetwood

The port of Fleetwood is one of the 21 UK ports owned by Associated British Ports. The company's website lists the range of facilities at Fleetwood that includes an important fish auction hall. Fish landing results are excluded from the tonnage figures in Table 2.

Real-time ship movements reveal a limited number of fishing and other vessels that use the port. .

Glasson Dock (Lancaster)

The Glasson Group (a subsidiary of the Wynnstay Group) operates the multi-berth Glasson Dock situated to the south of Lancaster. The company handles ships of up to 3,000 tonnes, and offers a regular liner service to the Isle of Man for general cargo in conjunction with Mezeron.

Real-time ship movements at Glasson Dock.