23 September 2015
by Chris Price
cprice@thekmgroup.co.uk
A ferry expert is hoping to take control of a quiet Kent port and re-launch passenger services after a series of meetings with senior politicians who have backed his idea.
Bill Moses, a veteran of 45 years in the industry, has outlined plans for an operator to carry up to 500,000 passengers by its second year of full-time operation at the Port of Ramsgate.
The commercial docks have laid largely dormant since TransEuropa Ferries went bust two years ago, owing £3.4 million in unpaid fees to the site owner Thanet council, which wrote off the money.
Mr Moses, who was born in Ramsgate, said economic conditions were ripe for a passenger service despite several previous failures, including Sally Line, which he ran in the 1990s.
He has had meetings with Kent County Council and Thanet South MP Craig Mackinlay, as well as Thanet council, and says he has attracted interest on the other side of the Channel.
“It is surely time to invite local residents to a public meeting to seek their endorsement of proposals for a more professional approach…” – Bill Moses, passenger and freight shipping consultant.
He said: “My interest and involvement is driven by experience, industry contacts and a heartfelt desire to see Ramsgate fulfil its enormous potential as a ferry port. I want it to be an economic powerhouse for Thanet with all the jobs and economic gains that would follow. We have tremendous support from the other side of the Channel. Unless Thanet District Council provides evidence that a credible ferry operator is in the offing, it is surely time to invite local residents to a public meeting to seek their endorsement of proposals for a more professional approach.”
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