Streamline launches challenge to ro-ro ‘big bag’ rate

The Streamline Shipping Group is to pursue further legal action against both the Scottish Government and Serco NorthLink to stop what they describe as “predatory pricing” for bagged freight.

This comes after both the Scottish transport minister, Keith Brown, Serco NorthLink management and Transport Scotland officials failed to acknowledge concerns raised about the pricing regime on the subsidised NorthLink ro-ro service.

Streamline has run a twice-weekly freight service from Shetland and Orkney to Aberdeen for 30 years but now find their rates being massively undercut by the NorthLink, which operates on a daily basis.

Streamline managing director Gareth Crichton said: “Concerns were raised over the new ‘bulk bag’ rate some time ago, with the operator, officials and the minister himself and it is disappointing that none has reacted to what is a damaging and predatory below market pricing mechanism.”

“The new contract for the ro-ro required a price to be included for the carriage of big bags of things like animal feedstuff. The one currently charged by Serco is less than half of the established market rate and one quarter of the prevailing lane metre rate on its own vessels.”

Streamline, through its subsidiary Shetland Line, is already engaged in action against Scottish ministers over what it maintains was a flawed procurement process for the NorthLink ro-ro contract.

Streamline Shipping has now asked both the Office of Fair Trading and the EU Commission to review the situation.