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“We don’t know how long it will take before the service will be profitable, but we have applied for funding under the EU Marco Polo II programme. This initial subsidy should be sufficient to cover short term losses while we become established,” he says. Initially, two small ro-ro vessels, each capable of accommodating up to 108 trailers, have been deployed on the route, which will call at both ports three times a week. Journey time is 38 hours at an average speed of 20 knots. However, by early next year, two larger, new build ro-ro vessels will displace the existing ships. These will have a 196 trailer capacity.

“If traffic builds up in line with expectations, we may move to a daily schedule, excluding Sundays,” says Mr van Zijl.

He explains that the EU is particularly keen to remove as many trucks as possible from the motorway linking France and Spain, with 10,000 trucks a day crossing the border at Irún. Northern Spain is an especially interesting market given the long hauls involved and the limitations imposed on drivers. Trucks, for example, cannot move through France on Sundays, drivers are limited in the amount of time they can spend behind the wheel and speeds involved are strictly monitored.

“At the moment, we don’t have any plans to extend into other parts of the Iberian Peninsula, given that this MoS concept is entirely new and we don’t know how the market will react. Clearly, however, there does appear to be substantial potential for future growth,” observes Mr van Zijl.