By Leeza Clark and Aileen Robertson

SCOTLAND WILL bid a sad “bon voyage” to the final Superfast sailing between Rosyth and Zeebrugge on Saturday.

The withdrawal of the only direct ferry route between the country and mainland Europe comes only 15 weeks after Superfast Ferries made its shock announcement that it was pulling the plug on its flagship service.

It is all so different from the optimism felt only six years before when it sailed off on its maiden voyage from the Rosyth port following years of campaigning and negotiations.

It is thought Superfast’s parent company, the Attica Group, made the decision based on a failure to build up the freight side of the business and the rocketing price of oil.

The weakness of sterling against the euro is also believed to be a factor as the company’s costs are paid in euros and they get their revenue in sterling.

Experts maintain that the Rosyth-Zeebrugge service is commercially viable but despite behind-the-scenes discussions in the last three months no replacement operator has yet been found, although rumours are rife that an announcement on a successor is imminent.

It was a bright summer’s day on May 17, 2002, when excited tourists headed up the gangplank on the inaugural Superfast IX crossing.

Along with German-built sister ship Superfast X, the two vessels would open up Scotland to continental Europe with daily sailings of 16 and a half hours for the first time.

The roll-on, roll-off ferry carried more than 620 passengers, 115 cars, caravans and motorcycles and 110 lorries, as well as the hopes of many that Rosyth would become a major hub port.

The fully booked Superfast IX was given a VIP send-off by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown and former First Minister Jack McConnell.

It was the climax to years of campaigning from politicians and business leaders who fought to bring the service to Fife.

Superfast was chosen as the preferred operator after a long tendering process and then work had to start on redeveloping the former naval base at Rosyth to cater for a new generation of commercial boats.

The work, which cost between £10 million and £12 million, hinged on the government approving a freight facilities grant.

This stalled the project and in 2001 those working on the project warned the whole thing could run aground if the grant was not released.

Eventually, the green light was given and the old naval base was reborn as a ferry terminal.

However, even at the launch in 2002 the Greek-based Attica Group sounded a warning saying its survival would ultimately depend on its profitability and the key to that was the level of freight attracted.

Only three years later the daily service was drastically reduced to a sailing every other day as one of the ships was redeployed to the Mediterranean.

And then in May, almost six years to the day since its glittering arrival, came the bombshell that the entire service was being withdrawn.

There were mixed feelings among local politicians yesterday over the loss of the link to Zeebrugge.

However, the Greek company behind Superfast was praised for “putting Fife on the map.”

The council’s environment, enterprise and transportation chairman Tony Martin said there was no doubt Superfast had made a major contribution to the life and economic prosperity of Fife.

“We want to make Fife a great place to live work and visit,” he added.

“Superfast has been extremely important in doing this.

“Superfast put Fife on the map, bringing business and tourism to the kingdom.

“It will be much missed but efforts continue apace to restore this vital link as soon as possible.”

Dunfermline West MSP Jim Tolson said it was encouraging that the Scottish Government was in talks about a Superfast replacement.

“I was one of a number of people in west Fife who welcomed Superfast when it came in and I am sad to see it go, although there are reasons for that,” said Mr Tolson.

“I am now looking forward to a new service being introduced as soon as possible. Unfortunately, however, there will be a break in the service.

“I hope the break in the service will be as short as possible, but it will probably be six months to a year.

“The most important thing is that discussions are moving along in an attempt to make sure there will be a replacement ferry service.”

Mr Tolson’s Lib Dem colleague, Dunfermline and West Fife MP Willie Rennie, said Fife had been like “an island” before the Forth bridges and the ferry provided important transport links.

He said, “The ferry changed people’s perception of the area. It not only boosted morale but has been tremendously important for the economy and the environment, because it has prevented lorries from having to trundle down to the north-east of England.”

Meanwhile Helen Eadie, the Labour MSP for Dunfermline East, said Superfast had provided a “tremendous” service.

“It was a lifeline to the middle of Europe, and tremendously cut down miles travelled by road,” she said.

“To reduce carbon emissions, the highways of the sea are what we want to use in the future, not the highways of the roads.”

And Labour MEP Catherine Stihler said, “As far as I know there will be no ferry after Saturday, which is hugely disappointing and highly regrettable.

“We have to put as much pressure on the nationalist administration to deliver a new service as quickly as possible.

“I had hoped there could be the possibility of an almost seamless transition from Superfast to another operator but that is not to be.

“The impact on the economy and jobs should have been avoided.”

She added that everyone should remember Scotland would be losing its only link with mainland Europe on Saturday.

“I will be doing all I can to ensure another service. I would hope we could replace the Rosyth-Zeebrugge service before January.

“The more delays, the more Scotland is left alone and isolated at a time when we need a continental route.

“We are trying to get freight off our roads—environmentally a failure to have a freight service from Rosyth is detrimental to meeting our targets on climate change.”

Labour MSP John Park said the break in the service could have been avoided had the Scottish Government not “dithered.”

“Having said that, I am very keen to work on a cross-party basis to make sure we get a replacement service in place.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said, “I am deeply disappointed that the Superfast service is to cease.

“However, excellent facilities have been created at Rosyth through our successful attraction of freight facilities grants, and there was major growth in freight traffic after 2004.

“That leads me to believe that an experienced operator can build on that infrastructure, and make a success of this route.”