A new ferry service directly linking Scotland and France could launch later this year as the port of Dunkirk embarks on a €40bn (£35bn) regeneration project.
The plans include a proposed cargo and passenger route from Rosyth in Fife to Dunkirk, eight years after the last freight ferries connected Scotland to mainland Europe.
It has been more than 15 years since the last passenger service ran.
The Dunkirk ferry plans have already been backed by about €4bn (£3.5bn) in private and public investment, the Guardian reports.
Earlier projections to re-establish the international link by spring 2026 appear to have been set back while the Scottish government establishes a new border control post for checking goods.
However, Dunkirk Port said last week that it was looking forward to the new crossing to Rosyth ahead of the Six Nations rugby tournament in early 2027.
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Dunkirk officials claim the overall regeneration programme will mirror the WWII resilience for which it is famed.
The proposed ferry route, which would be operated by the Danish company DFDS, would run three return trips per week, with a journey time of around 20 hours.
The ferry would become one of the longest sea journeys in Europe.
Currently, the longest journey across the continent is Portsmouth to Bilbao in Spain, which takes between 27 and 30 hours.
The new route seeks to re-establish both passenger and freight links between Scotland and mainland Europe, boosting trade, tourism and economic growth.
One of the biggest barriers to the project had been the need for a new border control post facility in Rosyth where goods could be processed.
The ferry would also make Scotland easier to access for tourists travelling with campervans, motorbikes and bicycles.
A similar transport link previously provided a ferry service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge, in Belgium, first launching in 2002.
The service, which took around 17 hours and was initially operated by Superfast Ferries, was reduced from four to three times per week in 2005 due to lack of demand, and discontinued entirely in 2008.
In 2009, Norfolkline, a subsidiary of Danish company DFDS, picked the route back up again, only to pull the passenger service the following year, citing insufficient demand.
DFDS continued to run a freight-only service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge until 2018, when it closed following a fire onboard its freight ship.
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