Understanding maritime transport route choice among Irish exporters: A latent class approach
Abstract The reduction in the level of maritime connectivity between Ireland and mainland Europe has been the focus of concern for Irish exporters since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union in January 2019. In a post-Brexit scenario, new proposals are being sought to address Ireland's reliance on the UK land-bridge. Policy developments aimed at circumventing the potential negative impact of UK customs checks for Irish exports include the proposals by the European Commission to introduce new direct shipping routes connecting main ports in Ireland with Zeebrugge and Antwerp in Belgium, as well as with Rotterdam in the Netherlands. From a transport policy perspective, f…
The potential impact of Brexit on Ireland's demand for shipping services to continental Europe
Abstract Ireland, as an island nation, has historically relied on the UK landbridge to export and import its goods to and from Europe. This provides a fast, reliable and secure service along the UK landbridge route relative to the more economical and less frequent direct continental route. However, the relative competitiveness of maritime services along both routes may be significantly influenced by the UK exit from the European Union or Brexit. This paper aims to understand the potential impact of Brexit on maritime freight transport demand from Ireland to continental Europe for export trade shipments. Based on data collected from an efficient stated preference (SP) experiment, discrete ch…