DOUGLAS CHAPMAN says he is "hugely optimistic" that a Rosyth ferry service to Europe will return next year.

Sailings stopped in April 2018 but the Dunfermline and West Fife MP remains confident the link will be re-established – for freight and passengers – in 2022 and that lessons should be learned from the 'Brexit-busting' ships from Ireland.

Mr Chapman said: "Plans to start a ferry service between Rosyth and mainland Europe are well advanced and a full business case is being prepared.

"The success of the route must be based on a service that is sustainable in the long term.

"It is important that we learn lessons from previous operators and looking forward, much of our thinking is taken from the very successful ‘Brexit-buster’ ferries operating out of the Republic of Ireland."

Earlier this month, transport minister Graeme Dey said there were "no firm commitments" to restoring a Rosyth ferry service and that it would have to be commercially viable.

However, the MP for Rosyth responded: “If Scotland is serious about maintaining and building exports with Europe then a direct service is a key component of that push.

"A ferry also gives us access to new tourist markets and while COVID is currently depressing the travel industry, we must be ready to take advantage of an upturn when restrictions have subsided.

"Finally, if we are serious about net zero and taking more HGV lorry miles off our roads, then a low-emission maritime solution is one way to help reach those targets.

“For all these reasons, I remain hugely optimistic that 2022 will see a direct freight and passenger Euro ferry service from Rosyth.”

Mr Chapman is really pushing the boat out to try to bring back a Rosyth ferry service and in October he said "the pace of development has picked up" after discussions with key stakeholders, including the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack, and representatives from the Scottish Government, Forth Ports and the Port of Zeebrugge.

He added that Scottish businessman Derek Sloan, the former CEO of Norfolkline, had been developing "a strong business case".

The Rosyth ferry started sailing in 2002, by Superfast Ferries initially and then Norfolkline, but stopped carrying passengers in 2010 when it became a freight-only service.

It was then operated by DFDS but a fire on board the Finlandia Seaways ship in April 2018 hastened the end as the company could not find a replacement and “lost all hope” of turning around losses.

It was Scotland's only direct sea link to Europe.

Even before DFDS stopped sailing between Rosyth and Zeebrugge, P&O Ferries spoke to the Scottish Government about a possible ferry route to Scandinavia but that came to nothing.

In May 2018, the General Representative of the Government of Flanders, Nic Van der Marliere, told the Press that Belgium was "keen to ensure this historic link is revived".

He met Mr Chapman, who said at the time: "Even before the withdrawal of the DFDS service, we were already in talks with Flanders regarding a new passenger and freight ferry service from Rosyth into Europe."

In the summer of 2019, talks were at an "advanced stage" between the Scottish Government and Perthshire firm TEC Offshore, who wanted to operate a ferry service between Rosyth and Eemshaven – a port near Groningen – in the north of the Netherlands.

However, those plans ran aground amid complaints of a lack of support, with Mr Chapman commenting this was "no surprise" and that he was working with another "interested party".