Accredited official statistics

Sea passenger statistics: Notes and definitions

Published 26 July 2023

These statistics present all sea passenger movements to and from the UK on both domestic and international routes.

The statistics support the work of the DfT Maritime Directorate, including the Security and Resilience Programme. They also support the ONS International Passenger Survey.

Short sea, long sea and cruise data are collected under the Statistical Returns Carriage of Goods and Passengers by Sea) Regulation 1997 SI 1997 No: 2330 covering the carriage of goods and passengers by sea.

Publication information

Sea passenger statistics: all routes: This statistical release is published in July following the calendar year end to which the data relates and includes:

• international long sea routes

• international cruises

• domestic short sea minor routes

• domestic river crossings

• domestic inter-island routes

• domestic cruises

Provisional international short sea passenger figures are published 6 weeks after the month end to which the data relates.

All sea passenger statistics are published through the maritime and shipping series.

Definitions

International sea passengers are defined as passengers travelling on:

Short sea routes: all ferry routes between Great Britain or Northern Ireland and the rest of Europe.

Long sea routes: all one-way scheduled voyages to and from ports outside Europe and the Mediterranean. Passengers traveling on cargo vessels (one-way) are not included.

Cruises: includes all passengers on international cruise journeys who start or finish their cruise journey at a UK port, as well as cruises between a UK port and a European or Mediterranean port. Passengers passing through on transit calls are not included. In 2021, UK domestic cruises were included for the first time.

Domestic sea passengers are defined as passengers travelling on:

Short sea routes: these can be major or minor routes

Inter-island routes: routes between the mainland and UK islands, such as Isle of Skye and the Isle of Wight. Also included are internal ferry routes on lochs such as Strangford to Portaferry in Northern Ireland.

River ferries: inland waterway routes with over 500 passenger kilometres on vessels of over 100 gross tonnes, travelling distances greater than 500 metres on a single ferry.

Domestic cruises: Domestic cruise passenger figures include all passengers on domestic cruises in the UK (no cruise stops at foreign ports). These figures have been collected for the first time in 2021 and can be found in table SPAS0201. Large domestic cruises did not previously occur but were a feature in 2021 when they were permitted under the domestic roadmap for England. This was the first stage of the wider restart of cruise following the industry’s pause during the coronavirus pandemic, with international cruises restarting from August 2021.

Short sea routes can either be:

Major routes: routes between Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, the Channel Islands.

Minor routes: all other short sea routes, including routes between Great Britain and the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Collection and methodology

Short sea passengers

Data is collected from ferry operators for vessels over 100 gross tonnes, and validated on a monthly basis. Passengers counted include drivers of lorries, coaches and other vehicles and their passengers. At the end of the reference year, the annual data is validated for a final time for publication.

The monthly short sea collection is a statutory return collected under the Statistical Returns Carriage of Goods and Passengers by Sea Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 2330).

The proportion allocation of passengers between some routes is occasionally estimated.

International passenger numbers collected include passengers on routes beginning or ending in Great Britain or Norther Ireland. Routes with foreign countries beginning or ending in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man are not included.

Some passengers travel between Great Britain and St Malo in France by going to the Channel Islands on one vessel and then transferring to another. Prior to 2016, where these passengers could be distinguished from other traffic, they were subtracted from the domestic route with the Channel Islands and added to the direct international route between Great Britain and France. From 2016 onwards, these passenger numbers are attributed to the domestic route with the Channel Islands rather than the direct international route. The main routes affected are the Poole to St Malo route and the Weymouth to St Malo route. In recent years, these routes accounted for less than 0.1% of the total international short sea traffic.

Inter-island ferry passengers

Data from crossings between the Channel Islands is collected and validated as part of the monthly short sea passenger collection, described above.

Data for crossings to Orkney and Shetland and Scottish inter-island routes is annually supplied by the Scottish Government. These data sets are checked in detail by the Department for Transport statisticians and considered to be very robust. Occasionally, data is revised in response to further information being submitted later in the year.

Some of the routes provided by the Scottish Government are not included in the final database as they do not meet the set criteria. For example, information relating to the Appin to Lismore route and the Camusnagaul to Fort William is not included as the vessels used are under 100 gross tonnes.

International cruise, domestic cruise and long sea passengers

Data is supplied by operators, typically on annual basis and is regularly reviewed.

Occasionally, a small amount of data is imputed where operators do not provide returns. The data are considered to be fit for purpose- comparison with industry figures show similar trends although the annual totals can differ.

Long sea passenger numbers can fluctuate greatly over time, in part because operators can use these trips to reposition vessels around the world as needed. Data supplied by operators are compared against ship schedules to ensure long sea voyages are not incorrectly entered as cruise voyages, and vice versa.

River ferry passengers

Data is collected annually from operators and council government sources.

Data is only collected on inland waterway routes with over 500 passenger kilometres on vessels over 100 gross tonnes, travelling distances greater than 500 metres in a single ferry.

Although there have been occasional changes in operator reporting methods, the data are considered to be fit for purpose.

These routes are not covered by the legal requirement to provide data on passengers on sea crossing routes. Operators are not legally required to provide us with this data.

Every 5 years, the ‘non-survey’ routes are updated. These are only used to calculate passenger kilometres and are not part of the normal collection or outputs.

Route coverage

Routes collected and included in our current statistics are outlined in the tables below. Routes in bold carried passengers in 2022 but the other routes carried passengers in previous years and therefore are included in published tables.

International short sea routes

UK Port	Direction	International Port	Carried passengers in 2022?
Dover	to	Boulogne	No
Dover	to	Calais	Yes
Dover	to	Dunkirk	Yes
Felixstowe	to	Vlaardingen	Yes
Fishguard	to	Rosslare Harbour	Yes
Harwich	to	Cuxhaven	No
Harwich	to	Esbjerg	No
Harwich	to	Europoort	No
Harwich	to	Hook of Holland	Yes
Harwich	to	La Spezia	No
Harwich	to	Paldiski	No
Harwich	to	Rotterdam	Yes
Harwich	to	Turku	No
Heysham	to	Dublin	Yes
Holyhead	to	Dublin	Yes
Holyhead	to	Dun Laoghaire	No
Hull	to	Europoort	Yes
Hull	to	Zeebrugge	No
Immingham	to	Antwerp	No
Immingham	to	Brevik	Yes
Immingham	to	Cuxhaven	Yes
Immingham	to	Esbjerg	Yes
Immingham	to	Frekstad	No
Immingham	to	Gothenburg	Yes
Immingham	to	Halden	No
Immingham	to	Hamburg	No
Immingham	to	Hook of Holland	No
Immingham	to	Kristiansand	No
Immingham	to	Moss	No
Immingham	to	Oslo	No
Immingham	to	Rotterdam	No
Immingham	to	Vlaardingen	Yes
Immingham	to	Zeebrugge	No
Ipswich	to	Rotterdam	No
Killingholme	to	Hook of Holland	Yes
Killingholme	to	Rotterdam	Yes
Killingholme	to	Zeebrugge	Yes
Liverpool	to	Dublin	Yes
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	to	Ijmuiden	Yes
Newhaven	to	Dieppe	Yes
Pembroke	to	Rosslare Harbour	Yes
Plymouth	to	Bilbao	No
Plymouth	to	Caen	No
Plymouth	to	Roscoff	Yes
Plymouth	to	Santander	Yes
Plymouth	to	St Malo	No
Poole	to	Bilbao	No
Poole	to	Cherbourg	Yes
Poole	to	Santander	No
Poole	to	St Malo	No
Portsmouth	to	Bilbao	Yes
Portsmouth	to	Caen	Yes
Portsmouth	to	Cherbourg	Yes
Portsmouth	to	Le Havre	Yes
Portsmouth	to	Roscoff	Yes
Portsmouth	to	Rouen	No
Portsmouth	to	Santander	Yes
Portsmouth	to	St Malo	Yes
Purfleet	to	Esbjerg	No
Purfleet	to	Leixoes	No
Purfleet	to	Rotterdam	Yes
Purfleet	to	Zeebrugge	Yes
Ramsgate	to	Calais	No
Ramsgate	to	Ostend	No
Rosyth	to	Zeebrugge	No
Swansea	to	Cork	No
Teesport	to	Europoort	Yes
Teesport	to	Zeebrugge	Yes
Tilbury	to	Calais	No
Tilbury	to	Gothenburg	No
Tilbury	to	Zeebrugge	Yes
Weymouth	to	St Malo	No

Domestic short sea routes

Port 1	Direction	Port 2	Carried passengers in 2022?
Birkenhead	to	Douglas, Isle of Man	No
Cairnryan	to	Belfast	Yes
Cairnryan	to	Larne	Yes
Heysham	to	Belfast	Yes
Heysham	to	Douglas, Isle of Man	Yes
Heysham	to	Warrenpoint	Yes
Liverpool	to	Belfast	Yes
Liverpool	to	Douglas, Isle of Man	Yes
Northern Ireland	to	Isle of Man	Yes
Mainland Scotland	to	Orkney	Yes
Mainland Scotland	to	Shetland	Yes
Penzance	to	Hugh Town	Yes
Poole	to	St Helier, Jersey	Yes
Poole	to	St Peter Port, Guernsey	Yes
Portsmouth	to	St Helier, Jersey	Yes
Portsmouth	to	St Peter Port, Guernsey	Yes
Troon	to	Larne	No
Waverley Cruises	to	Various departure and arrival points throughout the UK	Yes
Weymouth	to	St Helier, Jersey	No
Weymouth	to	St Peter Port, Guernsey	No

Inter-island routes

Port 1	Direction	Port 2	Carried passengers in 2022?
Ardrossan	to	Brodick	Yes
Ballycastle (NI)	to	Rathlin (NI)	Yes
Claonaig/Tarbert	to	Lochranza	Yes
Colintraive	to	Rhubodach	Yes
Cowes	to	East Cowes	Yes
Corran Ferry	to	Various departure and arrival points on Loch Linnhe	Yes
Cuan	to	Luing	Yes
Fionnphort	to	Iona	Yes
Gourock	to	Dunoon	Yes
Gourock	to	Kilcreggan	Yes
Gutcher	to	Yell-Oddsta, Fetlar	Yes
Houston	to	Lyness	Yes
Islay	to	Feolin (Jura)	Yes
Kennacraig	to	Islay	Yes
Kirkwall	to	Stronsay	Yes
Kirkwall	to	Shapinsay	Yes
Largs	to	Cumbrae Slip	Yes
Laxo or Vidlin	to	Symbister, Whalsay	Yes
Lerwick	to	Bressay	Yes
Lochaline	to	Fishnish	Yes
Lymington	to	Yarmouth	Yes
Mallaig	to	Armadale	Yes
Nether Lochaber	to	Ardgour	No
Oban	to	Craignure	Yes
Oban	to	Castlebay-Lochboisdale	Yes
Oban	to	Coll-Tiree	Yes
Otternish	to	Leverburgh	No
Portsmouth	to	Fishbourne	Yes
Portsmouth	to	Ryde	Yes
Sconser	to	Raasay	Yes
Seil	to	Easdale	Yes
Southampton	to	East Cowes	Yes
Southampton	to	Cowes	Yes
Southsea	to	Ryde	Yes
Strangford (NI)	to	Portaferry (NI)	Yes
Stromness	to	Graemesay	Yes
Tarbert	to	Portavadie	Yes
Tayinloan	to	Gigha	Yes
Tingwall	to	Rousay	Yes
Toft, Mainland	to	Ulsta, Yell	Yes
Uig	to	Tarbert	Yes
Ullapool	to	Stornoway	Yes
Wemyss Bay	to	Rothesay	Yes
Other Scottish west coast routes	to	Unspecified	Yes
Other Shetland routes	to	Unspecified	Yes

In the inter-island routes:

• “other Scottish West Coast routes” include Oban to Kennacraigh or Colansay or Lismore, Barra to Eriskey, Mallaig to Eigg or Much or Rum or Canna, Tobermory to Kilchoan

• “other Shetland routes” include routes to and from Skerries and Papa Stour

River ferries

Port 1	Direction	Port 2	Carried passengers in 2022?
Battersea	to	London Bridge	Yes
Devonport	to	Torpoint	Yes
Embankment	to	Woolwich	Yes
Embankment	to	Greenwich	Yes
Hilton Docklands	to	Canary Wharf	Yes
Liverpool	to	Birkenhead	Yes
Portsmouth	to	Gosport	Yes
Putney	to	Blackfriars	Yes
Sandbanks	to	Shell Bay	Yes
Southampton	to	Hythe	Yes
Westminster	to	Greenwich	Yes
Westminster	to	Hampton Court	Yes
Westminster	to	St Katharine’s Dock	Yes
Westminster	to	Thames Barrier	Yes
Woolwich	to	London Eye (Thames Clipper)	Yes
Woolwich	to	North Woolwich	Yes