#Ferry- Irish Ferries brand new W.B. Yeats which departed from its German shipyard yesterday, has it transpired seemingly taken a different delivery route bound for Ireland as previously outlined, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 54,983 gross tonnage W.B. Yeats having departed shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) in Flensburg, was understood to be taking a short-cut through the Kiel Canal, Germany into the North Sea. Instead, however the 194m cruiseferry headed northward into the Kattegat, the sea between Denmark and Sweden.

The new €147m cruiseferrry, accommodating 1,885 passengers and crew and 1, 200 vehicles, along with fleetmates, is a client of Matrix Ship Management which has its head office based in Limassol. The port city is a renowned international hub for ship management.

Afloat tracked the Cypriot flagged W.B. Yeats this morning off the Danish coast between Saeby on the mainland and Læsø, the largest island in the Kattegat. Alongside of the cruiseferry, was the Latvian flagged Zircon apparently supplying bunkers (fuel). 

It remains uncertain as to which way W.B. Yeats is to continue the maiden delivery route to Dublin en-route via Cherbourg, where these ports form the direct Ireland-France route the cruiseferry is to enter service in mid-March 2019, and not this summer as originally scheduled due to delays caused by sub-contractors cited FSG. 

On the capital-continental route W.B. Yeats will offer customers a total of 440 cabins, including luxury suites with private balconies. Such a feature from rivals, Brittany Ferries was introduced in 2004 when flagship Pont-Aven was launched on the Cork-Roscoff route. 

W.B. Yeats is understood to be scheduled to arrive in Cherbourg in the early hours of Wednesday, before continuing also next week its maiden delivery voyage to Dublin Port.

As of this afternoon, the tanker Zircon remains alongside the largest newbuild ever ordered by Irish Continental Group and the first from a German shipyard, FGS, where Brittany Ferries cruiseferry Honfleur was launched on Friday. The liquified natural gas (LPG) powered cruiseferry built for English Channel service is due also to enter service next summer.

Returning to Danish waters, where working in relative proximity of W.B. Yeats this afternoon was the diminutive domestic ferry, Margfrete Laesoe which compared to W.B. Yeats, is only 3,688 in gross tonnage terms.

Margfrete Laesoe operated by Færgeselskabet Læsø K/S, has capacity for just over 500 passengers and 76 cars, on crossings made between Vestoroe on Læsø and Frederikshavn on the Jutland peninsula. The service taking 1 hour 30 minutes to complete. 

Currently, Irish Ferries Dublin-Cherbourg route takes between 17 and 19 hours to complete and is served by cruiseferry Oscar Wilde and ropax Epsilon offering an economy no-frills service.