Business interests in Dún Laoghaire have said tourist revenues may be adversely affected if the Stena ferry service relocates to Dublin Port.
Stena confirmed yesterday that the future of its service between Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire was in doubt because of sharply rising fuel costs and competition from budget airlines.
The company is facing tough competition on many of its passenger routes from low-cost airlines and recently announced the withdrawal of the Harwich to Hook of Holland HSS service, due to high operating costs.
Some 85 Stena workers are employed in Dún Laoghaire and about 50 jobs in the port are supported by the ferry service.
In May 2006, an Indecon report put the value of tourism to Ireland coming through Dún Laoghaire at €250 million annually.
Yesterday, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Chamber vice president Brian Crawford said Stena "pulling out of Dún Laoghaire would not only have significant financial consequences for the Harbour Company, but would also damage the tourist trade in the immediate area and to Dublin and beyond".
Harbour Company member and former Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillor Victor Boyhan also said a change of port would be a disappointment. There was a worry that a significant portion of the €250 million annual spend may be lost as a result of a move to Dublin.
It is understood that Stena currently pays €6.4 million a year for use of Dún Laoghaire Port - a figure which it negotiated down from about €9 million when it agreed to extend its contract from 2006 to 2011.
The extended timeframe was agreed in 2004 but a continuing fall in passenger numbers led to the company maintaining there remained "a very real threat to the long-term viability of the route". In the last 10 years passenger numbers have fallen from about 1.7 million a year to about three quarters of a million a year.
Charges at Dublin are understood to be cheaper by a factor of almost four and the consideration for use of Dublin Port would be in the order of €1.5 million.
Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company chief executive Michael Hanahoe yesterday stressed the company had a contract with Stena until 2011. Mr Hanahoe said he had received no formal notification from Stena Line about plans to pull out of the port.
However, he acknowledged that there was some disagreement between the two companies about the timing of any negotiation of a new contract.
