Sea passengers down in 2012
There were 19.7 million passengers on UK international short sea routes in 2012 - a fall of 7% on 2011.
The DfT's provisional statistics cover passenger movements to and from the UK on international short sea (ferry) routes and domestic sea crossings - including vehicle drivers, their passengers and foot passengers on ferries.
Of the 19.7 million total, Thames and Kent ports handled 12.0 million passengers in 2012 - continuing their position as the largest port group in terms of passengers. Dover was the UK’s busiest ferry port, handling 11.9 million passengers.
And Dover-to-Calais remained the most popular international passenger route, carrying 9.4 million passengers and accounting for 48% of all short sea international passengers.
In 2012 there were 2.0 million passenger movements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland - the most popular destination for domestic sea crossings.
In 2012 the Channel Tunnel carried 20 million passengers - the first time since the Channel Tunnel opened in 1994 that Tunnel passengers exceeded international ferry passengers.
Final sea passenger statistics will be published in the autumn. These will include passengers on international cruises, long sea journeys, domestic river crossings and inter-island domestic routes.
Full details are at the DfT link below . .