The U.K. Competition & Markets Authority is scrutinizing the collaborative cargo space-sharing agreement that DFDS and P&O Ferries struck on the Dover-Calais route.
The aim of the investigation is to find out whether there is sufficient evidence to suggest that competition rules have been violated.
Based on the agreement signed in May between the two carriers, cargo hauliers can board the first available ferry when they arrive in Dover or Calais, regardless of which of the two ferry companies performs the crossing.
According to the two operators, the deal will reduce customer waiting times and improve the flow of cargo traffic between the UK and EU during the summer period.
P&O Ferries currently operates five vessels on the Dover-Calais route. DFDS three. The agreement is limited to cargo traffic between Dover and Calais and has not been extended to the Dover-Dunkirk route operated exclusively by DFDS.
Translation by Giles Foster
