Cardiff and shipping industry concerned by lack of talks between Dublin and London about issues facing Holyhead and others

The Welsh port of Holyhead faces “chaos” if a hard border is introduced between the UK and Ireland, with the shipping industry and local politicians warning of lorries carrying perishable goods queueing for miles while they wait for customs clearance.

Holyhead, on Anglesey, is the busiest roll-on-roll-off port in the UK after Dover, with 400,000 trucks a year passing through on the way to and from Dublin.

A report by the Welsh assembly on how Brexit could affect ports in Wales says customs delays could have an unwelcome impact, while the route’s two ferry operators, which have previously remained silent on Brexit, told an assembly committee of their concerns for Holyhead.

Irish Ferries said it feared a reintroduction of customs checks could lead “UK plc” to quickly grind to a halt, while Stena Line said any custom or border checks could disturb the whole business model for the “open port” of Holyhead.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marks & Spencer truck arriving in Holyhead. Supermarkets on both sides of sea get same day delivery of perishable goods via the Welsh port Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

The assembly’s external affairs and additional legislation committee called for transition arrangements to protect Welsh ports. It said it was extremely concerned at the lack of talks between Britain and Ireland over the issues facing all Welsh ports – including Pembroke, Fishguard and Milford Haven.

The committee also expressed concerns that electronic checks, often touted by politicians as a means of enabling swift passage across EU borders after Brexit, would not provide a solution.

That is a fear shared by the UK Chamber of Shipping (UKCS), which represents 140 shipping companies. “It doesn’t matter if it is a pole across the road or a cyber barrier, the point is that the passage of trucks out of the port is on someone’s say so,” said Tim Reardon, its director of policy.

Welsh assembly members heard that more than 70% of Irish cargo comes through Wales, including produce from Northern Ireland, because it offers the quickest route to the UK for exporters of perishable goods.

They fear that traffic to Wales from the Republic of Ireland could “leak” to the Northern Ireland-Scotland route if the land border on the island of Ireland does not involve customs checks.

Reardon said the problems Holyhead faced post-Brexit were worse than those at Dover because of ferry schedules designed to get fresh produce to Dublin or Holyhead before dawn for onward distribution to supermarkets across Ireland and the UK.



Industry leaders have already warned that Brexit could choke roads around the Kent port, through which 2.5m lorries pass each year. Holyhead’s traffic is smaller, but Brexit could overwhelm the town.

“When the ferries arrive the problem is more acute than Dover because the traffic arrives in pulses unlike Dover where it is a steady stream,” said Reardon. “When the two ferries arrive together you have 400 trucks coming off in 15 minutes: there is simply not space in the terminal for all to park and wait for someone in a yellow jacket to say their can either proceed or not. It is particularly acute in Holyhead.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Local Labour MP Albert Owen in Holyhead. He says prospect of a hard border needs urgent government attention. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

The local Labour MP, Albert Owen, said the prospect of a hard border on the needed urgent government attention.

“Everyone is talking, quite rightly about the hard border between [Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland] and that is hugely important because of the Good Friday agreement, but the Common Travel Area between Wales and Ireland is hugely important because of the scale of business,” he said.



Owen pointed out that there was already gridlock in Holyhead when weather did not permit sailings or when there was a problem on the bridge to mainland Wales.



“Traffic backs up very quickly. If there were checks, congestion would be a daily occurrence. If you have two ferries in at once, the queue could be 7km,” he said. “There’s potential for chaos, and there’s potential for restrictions for companies that need to get to the market quickly.”

The UKCS believes the only way to avoid disruption is for the UK to stay in the EU customs union.

“Nobody is going to bulldoze part of Holyhead or Dublin to make way for inspection sheds. Nobody is going to buy land on a contingency plan until we know what the Brexit deal is like,” said Reardon. “This is not a port issue, this is a state issue. The government created the problem for the country, it is the state that is toying with the idea of interrupting the supply chain, it’s their problem, they have to solve it.”