Accredited official statistics

Sea passenger statistics: Notes and definitions

Updated 11 December 2024

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 Department for Transport (DfT) Maritime Directorate, including the Security and Resilience Programme. They also support the Office for National Statistics (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 August 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. Cruise passengers are included at both departure and arrival if their journey begins and ends at a UK seaport. Passengers passing through on transit calls are not included in these figures.

Domestic sea passengers are defined as passengers travelling on:

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.

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

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

Domestic cruises: domestic cruises in the UK (no cruise stops at foreign ports). These figures 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.

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 used to 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 were attributed to the domestic route with the Channel Islands rather than the direct international route. The main routes affected were 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 and in 2023 there were no passengers from GB ports to St Malo.

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 DfT 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 is considered to be fit for purpose through comparison with industry figures, which show similar trends.

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.

Occasionally, a small amount of data is imputed where operators do not provide returns. This imputation is based on the missing company’s previous data and is ensured to be in line with the overall expected trend.

Revision of 2023 and 2021 data

Following the discovery of some duplicate figures in our raw data affecting the number of passengers that travelled on cruise and long sea journeys, revisions were made to the 2023 and 2021 figures in the latest Sea passenger statistics.

The revision made to the cruise and long sea passenger figures has had a minor effect on the total number of sea passengers for 2023 and 2021. This change has not affected the overall trends. Tables SPAS0101, SPAS0107 and SPAS0201 and the web release have been updated with the revised figures and charts.

Route coverage

Routes collected and included in our current statistics are outlined in the tables below. These routes have carried over 1,000 passengers in 2023.

International short sea routes

UK Port	Direction	International Port
Dover	to	Calais
Dover	to	Dunkirk
Felixstowe	to	Vlaardingen
Fishguard	to	Rosslare
Grimsby and Immingham	to	Hook of Holland
Harwich	to	Hook of Holland
Harwich	to	Rotterdam
Holyhead	to	Dublin
Hull	to	Rotterdam
Grimsby and Immingham	to	Cuxhaven
Grimsby and Immingham	to	Esbjerg
Grimsby and Immingham	to	Gothenburg
Grimsby and Immingham	to	Rotterdam
Grimsby and Immingham	to	Vlaardingen
Liverpool	to	Dublin
London	to	Zeebrugge
Milford Haven	to	Rosslare
Newhaven	to	Dieppe
Plymouth	to	Roscoff
Plymouth	to	Santander
Poole	to	Cherbourg
Portsmouth	to	Bilbao
Portsmouth	to	Caen
Portsmouth	to	Cherbourg
Portsmouth	to	Le Havre
Portsmouth	to	Santander
Portsmouth	to	St Malo
Tyne	to	Ijmuiden

Domestic short sea routes

Port 1	Direction	Port 2
Aberdeen	to	Kirkwall
Aberdeen	to	Lerwick
Belfast	to	Douglas, Isle of Man
Cairnryan	to	Belfast
Cairnryan	to	Larne
Gills Bay	to	St Margaret’s Hope
Heysham	to	Belfast
Heysham	to	Douglas, Isle of Man
Heysham	to	Warrenpoint
Lerwick	to	Kirkwall
Liverpool	to	Belfast
Liverpool	to	Douglas, Isle of Man
Penzance	to	Hugh Town
Poole	to	St Helier, Jersey
Poole	to	St Peter Port, Guernsey
Portsmouth	to	St Helier, Jersey
Portsmouth	to	St Peter Port, Guernsey
Scrabster	to	Stromness
Waverley Cruises	to	Various departure and arrival points throughout the UK

Inter-island routes

Port 1	Direction	Port 2
Ardrossan	to	Brodick
Ballycastle (NI)	to	Rathlin (NI)
Claonaig/Tarbert	to	Lochranza
Colintraive	to	Rhubodach
Cowes	to	East Cowes
Corran Ferry	to	Various departure and arrival points on Loch Linnhe
Cuan	to	Luing
Fionnphort	to	Iona
Gourock	to	Dunoon
Gourock	to	Kilcreggan
Gutcher	to	Yell-Oddsta, Fetlar
Houton	to	Lyness
Islay	to	Feolin (Jura)
Kennacraig	to	Islay
Kirkwall	to	Stronsay
Kirkwall	to	Shapinsay
Largs	to	Cumbrae Slip
Laxo or Vidlin	to	Symbister, Whalsay
Lerwick	to	Bressay
Lochaline	to	Fishnish
Lymington	to	Yarmouth
Mallaig	to	Armadale
Oban	to	Craignure
Oban	to	Castlebay-Lochboisdale
Oban	to	Coll-Tiree
Portsmouth	to	Fishbourne
Portsmouth	to	Ryde
Sconser	to	Raasay
Seil	to	Easdale
Southampton	to	East Cowes
Southampton	to	Cowes
Southsea	to	Ryde
Strangford (NI)	to	Portaferry (NI)
Stromness	to	Graemesay
Tarbert	to	Portavadie
Tayinloan	to	Gigha
Tingwall	to	Rousay
Toft, Mainland	to	Ulsta, Yell
Uig	to	Tarbert
Ullapool	to	Stornoway
Wemyss Bay	to	Rothesay
Other Scottish west coast routes	to	Unspecified
Other Shetland routes	to	Unspecified

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
Battersea	to	London Bridge
Devonport	to	Torpoint
Embankment	to	Woolwich
Embankment	to	Greenwich
Hilton Docklands	to	Canary Wharf
Liverpool	to	Seacombe
Portsmouth	to	Gosport
Putney	to	Blackfriars
Sandbanks	to	Shell Bay
Southampton	to	Hythe
Westminster	to	Greenwich
Westminster	to	Hampton Court
Westminster	to	St Katharine’s Dock
Westminster	to	Thames Barrier
Woolwich	to	London Eye (Thames Clipper)
Woolwich	to	North Woolwich

Timeline of coronavirus (COVID-19) events affecting sea travel since March 2020

This is a timeline of the events that affected UK domestic and international sea travel from March 2020 to March 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 events	Date of Introduction	Month of Introduction
Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised against all non-essential international travel.	17/03/2020	March
UK lockdown applied.	23/03/2020	March
Persons travelling to the UK from outside the Common Travel Area (UK, Ireland and Crown Dependencies) required to self-isolate for 14 days.	08/06/2020	June
Travel corridors introduced, allowing travel into the UK from countries on an exempt list without the need to self-isolate. France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, which usually make up the majority of ‘Other EU’ short sea passenger volumes, were originally included in the exempt list.	10/07/2020	July
Spain removed from exempt list (that is, it is no longer part of travel corridors and self-isolation required) (UK).	26/07/2020	July
Belgium removed from exempt list (England).	03/08/2020	August
Belgium removed from exempt list (Wales).	06/08/2020	August
Belgium removed from exempt list (Scotland and Northern Ireland).	08/08/2020	August
France and Netherlands removed from exempt list (UK).	15/08/2020	August
Denmark removed from exempt list (UK).	26/09/2020	September
Denmark added to exempt list (UK).	25/10/2020	October
England lockdown applied.	05/11/2020	November
Denmark removed from exempt list (UK).	06/11/2020	November
England lockdown removed.	02/12/2020	December
Self-isolation period on arrival changed from 14 days to 10 days (Wales).	10/12/2020	December
Self-isolation period on arrival changed from 14 days to 10 days (UK).	14/12/2020	December
Test to release, to shorten the self-isolation period for international arrivals, was introduced.	15/12/2020	December
Varying Christmas travel guidelines across the UK.	Christmas period	December
England and Scotland lockdown applied.	05/01/2021	January
Pre-departure testing requirements introduced for all inbound international passengers to England.	15/01/2021	January
All travel corridors suspended (Scotland).	15/01/2021	January
Pre-departure testing requirements introduced for all inbound international passengers to Scotland and Wales.	18/01/2021	January
All travel corridors suspended (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).	18/01/2021	January
Pre-departure testing requirements introduced for all inbound international passengers to Northern Ireland.	21/01/2021	January
All inbound international passengers arriving from red list countries required to quarantine in managed quarantine facilities. All inbound international passengers required to take 2 mandatory COVID-19 tests, on day 2 and 8 of their 10-day quarantine (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).	15/02/2021	February
All inbound international passengers required to quarantine in managed quarantine facilities. All inbound international passengers required to take 2 mandatory COVID-19 tests, on day 2 and 8 of their 10-day quarantine (Scotland).	15/02/2021	February
Introduction of legislation where individuals can be fined for travelling abroad without good reason. Travellers obligated to complete a Travel Declaration Form prior to leaving the UK (England).	29/03/2021	March
Introduction of traffic light system for international travel. Passengers arriving from green list countries not required to quarantine. Passengers arriving from amber list countries required to quarantine for 10 days unless utilising the Test to Release scheme. Passengers arriving from red list countries required to follow rules introduced in February 2021 (England, Wales and Scotland).	17/05/2021	May
Introduction of traffic light system for international travel. Passengers arriving from green list countries not required to quarantine. Passengers arriving from amber list countries required to quarantine for 10 days unless utilising the Test to Release scheme. Passengers arriving from red list countries required to follow rules introduced in February 2021 (Northern Ireland).	24/05/2021	May
Passengers arriving from amber list countries and territories who are fully vaccinated in the UK no longer required to isolate for 10 days on arrival. These passengers must complete a mandatory COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after their arrival. France is not included in this exemption (UK).	19/07/2021	July
Passengers arriving from amber list countries and territories who are fully vaccinated in Europe and US residents fully vaccinated in the US no longer required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival. These passengers must complete a mandatory COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after their arrival. France is not included in the exemption.	02/08/2021	August
Passengers arriving from France no longer required to quarantine if fully vaccinated in the UK, Europe or the US. Norway and other European countries added to the Government’s Green list for travel.	08/08/2021	August
A new system of travel with countries identified as on “red list” and “rest of world” was implemented from 4 October 2021.	04/10/2021	October
Fully vaccinated travellers returning to England from “rest of world” countries (such as non “red list” countries) can replace day 2 PCR tests with lateral flow tests from 24 October.	24/10/2021	October
In response to the omicron variant, fully vaccinated travellers returning to England from “rest of world” countries (such as non “red list” countries) must self-isolate and take a PCR test before the end of day 2 after they arrive in England from 30 November. They may leave self-isolation if their PCR result is negative.	30/11/2021	November
All people aged 12 years and over must also take a PCR or lateral flow test before they travel to England from abroad from the 7 December. Similar rules also came in for travel to the rest of the UK.	07/12/2021	December
In response to the omicron variant being widespread in the UK, all but essential travel from the UK to France was banned by the French Government from the 20 December.	20/12/2021	December
People who qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England can end self-isolation after 7 days with 2 negative lateral flow tests from the 24 December. Similar easings were applied in the rest of the UK.	24/12/2021	December
People who qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England no longer need a pre-departure COVID-19 test or quarantine on arrival. Similar easings were also made in Scotland.	07/01/2022	January
Passengers arriving in England may choose either a PCR test or a lateral flow test as a post-arrival test.	09/01/2022	January
France allows fully vaccinated travellers to enter France without a compelling reason and fully vaccinated travellers to France are not required to self-isolate on arrival.	14/01/2022	January
Fully vaccinated passengers no longer need to take a COVID-19 test when arriving in the UK.	11/02/2022	February
France announces that fully vaccinated travellers from the United Kingdom are no longer required to take a pre-departure COVID-19 test.	12/02/2022	February
Unvaccinated British teenagers allowed to enter Spain provided they give a negative PCR test from Monday 14 February.	14/02/2022	February
All remaining UK travel restrictions end.	18/03/2022	March