A Scottish marine services company is considering launching a ferry service between Rosyth near Edinburgh and the Groningen port of Eemshaven, the company has confirmed to DutchNews.nl.

‘Yes we are looking the project,’ TEC Offshore David Kellas said. ‘We are doing everything we can to make it happen.’

According to local broadcaster RTV Noord, the ferry service would focus on freight traffic, although passengers and cars would also be carried.  The service would use ferries from the Stena Line freight group and is slated to start at the end of October.

Scotland is keen to open a direct service to the European mainland to supply whisky and timber products to important markets such as Germany, Denmark and Italy.

A service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge in Belgium was closed down in 2010. Travellers to Scotland now use the overnight service between IJmuiden and Newcastle while freight companies drive to the south.

‘The political situation is uncertain and that is why the Scottish government thought it a good idea to look for an alternative to the ports of southern England,’ Margaret Simpson of British trucking association FTA told broadcaster NOS.

‘Nice to see the Scots consider Groningen the gateway to Europe,’ home affairs minister Kasja Ollongren said on Twitter.