SWANSEA FERRY: Who pays, where does it dock, and how does it hit 60 knots? — councillors sharpen their questions as leader hails “remarkable” support
The two councillors who forced the Swansea ferry report into the open have set out the questions they want answered when its authors face a scrutiny panel — from who pays for the prototype to whether a 60-knot vessel could dock on the Devon coast at all.
The council-funded report behind the proposed crossing was published in full last week, projecting £15 fares, up to 800,000 visitors a year and a vessel faster than the current world record holder.
Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Chris Holley — a long-standing supporter of a Bristol Channel crossing — is calling the report into his scrutiny panel, with Ocean Prime Industries invited to answer for it in person.
Cllr Holley told Swansea Bay News that nobody can answer the questions hanging over the plan “until this company can come in front of my own scrutiny board”.
His list starts with the vessel itself: how a ferry reaches a 60-knot top speed — faster than any commercial ferry ever built.
Then the money: who funds the working prototype promised within the next two years — the councils, or the Welsh Government? Cllr Holley believes funding for a project of this scale must come from central government, not local taxpayers.
Then the destination: no berthing infrastructure currently exists on the Devon and Somerset side, he said, and building it would cost millions.
And then history. When Swansea last had a ferry — the Cork crossing — much of its traffic simply “turned right to go onto the M4 and left Swansea”, he said, questioning whether 800,000 arrivals would translate into a visitor boom for the city rather than driving straight past it.
He also wants answers on how passengers without cars would connect onwards by bus. A date for the scrutiny session has yet to be set.
Cllr Brigitte Rowlands — an independent (unaffiliated) councillor, whose written question to full council forced the report’s publication — said the council leader should be “honest and open with the residents of Swansea” about the project.
She said a vessel of the size described “would struggle to dock on the Devon coastline”.
“In principle the idea is very appealing,” she said. “The reality is going to be difficult to achieve.”
Scrutiny of the plan, she added, is essential “so the taxpayer in Swansea has good value for money should the project ever set sail”.
“What real research has been done? Who has been in discussion regarding the project on both sides of the water? So many unanswered questions.”
The question of engagement across the water is not new. In March last year, Francesca O’Brien — then a Conservative councillor, now the Reform UK Member of the Senedd for Gŵyr Abertawe — told the council chamber that her group at the time had contacted Devon’s council directly about the project, and that its cabinet member was not aware of any recent correspondence.
Devon was consulting on its strategic transport investment plan at the time. “No pun intended — we’ve missed the boat on that consultation over there,” she said. “That’s a great shame.”
She asked how serious the council was about the project and who the stakeholders in its working group were — saying that as far as she could see, the councils on the English side had had no correspondence since January 2022.
Labour council leader Cllr Rob Stewart told her then that the council was “very keen” for the ferry to go ahead — “but of course we don’t control all of the elements to make it happen” — pointing to the technology, a suitable vessel and port infrastructure on both sides of the channel.
The council’s chief executive told the same meeting that no commercial operators had come forward when the project was first explored, and that the consultation was designed to assess demand before going back to the market.
On the hydrogen ambition, the leader acknowledged a “chicken and egg” problem — not enough demand yet to build a refuelling network — saying the hydrogen option “is the aim eventually, but we’re probably away from that at this point in time”.
They are not the only ones with questions. Uplands Party councillor Cllr Stuart Rice said the report’s mistaken claim that the science fiction author Isaac Asimov backed a Minehead pier project — the town’s celebrated writer is in fact Arthur C. Clarke — summed the document up. In March, he had asked whether the plan was “more of a fairy story than a ferry story”.
“The reference in the report to Isaac Asimov truly shows what a science fiction this ‘Ferry’ story is,” he said. “Can we trust its findings given some of the statements made and figures included in the report?”
“I will continue to ask questions about this and welcome the scrutiny it is due to receive — as it certainly deserves it. We need to make sure that public money is spent wisely and not wasted on chasing any more white elephants and pipe dreams.”
For his part, Cllr Stewart points to the strength of public feeling behind the idea.
“The response has been remarkable,” he wrote in the report’s foreword. “More than 4,300 people and organisations took part in the consultation, with overwhelming support for exploring the idea further.”
“What stands out most clearly from the findings is the level of enthusiasm for a transport option that could significantly reduce journey times by up to half or better, while avoiding congestion on major road routes such as the M4 and M5.”
“People also recognise the importance of developing cleaner forms of transport that support our environmental ambitions and help tackle climate change.”
The consultation ran from October 2024 to February 2025 through the project’s own website, with 4,396 people and organisations taking part and 97.8 per cent expressing support.
Swansea Bay News put questions about the report’s figures — including a carbon-saving claim that appears to overstate the true number by a factor of one hundred — to Swansea Council and Ocean Prime last week. Responses are still awaited.
The scrutiny session will be the first time the report’s claims are formally examined.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
SWANSEA FERRY: Report promising 800,000 visitors and £600m heads for scrutiny — as its own numbers face questions
The full report behind the crossing — and the figures that don’t add up.
FERRY FARCE? Doubts grow over Swansea crossing as ‘fairy story’ jibe lands
The March council exchange where the first cracks in the plan appeared.
Ferry plan gathers pace as 98% back Swansea crossing
The consultation result at the heart of the report’s claims of public support.