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Displaying items by tag: Cancelled HSS festive sailings

#CancelledHSSsailings – Stena Line have cancelled HSS fast-craft Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead sailings over the Christmas and New Year periods, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The decision to withdraw the scheduled sailings is only a month before the busy festive season from when sailings were due to start on 20 December and run up to early January 2015.

In response to Afloat.ie a statement was issued on behalf of Stena Line "In recent years Stena Line has deployed the HSS for a few days over the Christmas holiday period on its Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire service. For commercial and operational reasons the company has decided not to reactivate the vessel this year for the short Christmas holiday period. Customers who have already booked on the service will be accommodated on other sailings best suited to their travel requirements."

The statement added "Stena Line is currently engaged in ongoing discussions with Dun Laoghaire Harbour in relation to the provision of a seasonal fast craft service in 2015."

There has been widespread speculation in recent years over the future of the HSS service and that of the loss-making route. In addition the fast-craft which is expensive to run has for the last four years operated to a summer-only service between April to September.

This latest development of cancelled Dun Laoghaire route sailings over the festive season follows a previous report on Afloat.ie regarding Stena Line's route from neighbouring Dublin Port. A contractor to Stena Line, that is converting the ro-pax Stena Superfast X stated that she is to be deployed on the Dublin-Holyhead route in January 2015.

Stena Line confirmed their position as to the route deployment of the Stena Superfast X in which she will either be used within their network or that she may be chartered to a third party operator.

 

Published in Ferry

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!