Stena 'All At Sea' As Merger Probed

There are competition probes underway on either side of the border with the referral of Stena Line's acquisition of the Liverpool and Heysham routes to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading.

The SDLP Consumer Affairs Spokesperson Dr Alasdair McDonnell has welcomed the news that the Stena Line acquisition of two Irish Sea ferry services has been referred on by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The Irish Competition Authority is also still investigating the merger, which came after the purchase of the two routes into Belfast in December.

The South Belfast MP said: "The acquisition of the two Belfast from Liverpool and Heysham routes by Stena line and the subsequent closure of Stena's competing Fleetwood-Larne route set monopoly alarming bell ringing.

"An increasing number of customers are using the ferry as a means of travel between Belfast and England for both business and personal reasons.

"The last thing these customers need or want is a near monopoly on the Irish Sea. The elimination of competition means only one thing for customers - they inevitably loose out.

"I welcome the referral of this merger to the Competition Commission for a thorough investigation and await its findings in July," he said.

At the time, the company said the move would create 195 shore-based jobs and 250 sea-based posts.

The two routes were previously operated by Danish shipping company DFDS.

At the same time, Stena announced that it was closing its competing Fleetwood-Larne route, with the Irish Sea Area Director Michael McGrath saying the decision to close the Larne to Fleetwood route was unconnected to the DFDS purchase.

"The decision to close Larne to Fleetwood was taken some time ago on the basis of the current and projected performance of the route, and before the opportunity arose to buy these other routes," he explained.

Now, in considering the acquisition the OFT said it had looked at whether Stena would have closed the Fleetwood-Larne route even if the merger had not been in progress.

"If so, then the closure and not the merger may be the reason for the loss of any competition between the parties," it said.

"However the evidence available to the OFT was not compelling enough to dismiss its concerns that the closure of the route may have been influenced by the merger."

The OFT examined how the acquisition would have proceeded if Stena's Fleetwood-Larne service had continued to operate.

It came to the conclusion that the acquisition may result in "a substantial lessening of competition in the supply of ferry services for freight from the north-west of England to Northern Ireland".

In light of this the OFT referred the merger to the Competition Commission for a more detailed investigation.

(BMcC/GK)