A ferry link between Rosslare and Cherbourg in France is being shelved from the end of the current summer season, Stena Line has announced.

Travel industry expert Eoghan Corry said it’s bad news for Rosslare as a port, as it leaves it with just two direct but long routes to the continent.

One is a 23-hour, 860km trip to Dunkirk near Calais in northern France, and the other is a 1,050km sailing to Bilbao in northern Spain.

Corry said: "They’re left really with one player on the continental market.

"It’s interesting Stena is putting all its investments on the Irish Sea now instead of direct services to Europe, but it probably does reflect the way they’re reading the freight market, because it’s that which keeps the routes open during winter. Things may have changed there with the latest agreements between the EU and Britain."

The company will beef up sailings between Ireland and Britain, which was helped by the recent EU-UK post-Brexit trading reset.

Stena decided to scrap the route, which has been operating for 11 years, from September 30, saying: "These plans have been developed after an extensive review with the intention of strengthening the company’s investment in the Irish Sea, whilst delivering the most efficient use of the company’s resources."

Rosslare Europort said it currently has record demand and volumes overall, up 14 per cent in freight volume and 10 per cent in passenger numbers so far this year.

The number of direct European sailings from the port has risen from six weekly pre-Brexit to up to 36 weekly now as freighters avoid the UK as a "landbridge" due to red tape.

Glenn Carr, director of Rosslare Europort, said: "We have already received queries and will immediately engage with other operators to ensure our record European frequency of up to 36 sailings per week is maintained."

(Pic: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)