#ICGnewbuild - Senior management of Irish Continental Group (ICG),parent company of Irish Ferries, visited the German shipyard of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesselschaft & Co.KG that is to build a new €144m cruiseferry.

It is almost a year to when ICG announced the contract for the 50,000 gross tonnage cruiseferry to the FSG yard.

Eamonn Rothwell, Chief Executive of ICG accompanied by Andrew Sheen, Managing Director of Irish Ferries on Friday visited the FSG yard in Flensburg to oversee the cutting of the first steel plate for use in the construction of their cruise ferry. The newbuild is scheduled for delivery in mid 2018.

Commenting at the ceremony Mr Rothwell said "This first steel cutting is more than symbolic and starts the practical construction of our new build. This investment underpins the confidence the Group has in both the freight and passenger tourism markets between Ireland, Britain and France”.

When in service, the cruiseferry will accommodate 1,885 passengers and crew, with 435 cabins and with capacity for 2,800 lane metres of freight (165 freight vehicles). An additional dedicated car deck with also provide capacity for 300 passenger cars.