New changes for Irish Ferries took place at the weekend on the company’s Irish Sea routes linking Wales in advance of the peak season, as a recently renamed cruise ferry and a redeployed fleetmate from the Strait of Dover entered service, writes Jehan Ashmore.
James Joyce last night made its debut on the Holyhead-Dublin route, as the Tallink Grupp chartered-in cruise-ferry had just ended Pembroke-Rosslare duties on the Wales-Ireland route; it had originally entered service for Irish Ferries last year, albeit then named the Oscar Wilde. Under that name, the ferry has also served the Dublin route along with the capital’s connection to Cherbourg.
The facilities of the James Joyce include restaurants, a club class lounge, a large shopping area, children’s play area, a freight driver’s club, and a range of cabin accommodation.
James Joyce is the central corridor route's second ship to the cruise-ferry Ulysses and the fast-ferry Dublin Swift, whose seasonal service likewise from last year has been extended. This permits James Joyce to offer additional sailings when partnering W.B. Yeats on the Ireland-France route.
While an Irish Ferries former Dover-Calais cruise-ferry, Isle of Innisfree made its introduction on the Rosslare-Pemborke route with an overnight sailing on Saturday from Ireland to Wales. Passenger facilities include a reception, club class lounge, bar, childrens play area, a freight driver's club and cabins.
Prior to the Isle of Innisfree’s arrival on the southern corridor route, the cruise ferry on Friday night departed dry-dock in A&P Falmouth, Cornwall, to Milford Haven, so to enable berthing trials at Pembroke Dock. This was followed with a first time passage to Rosslare, where further trials took place at both linkspans on the port’s inner pier, where James Joyce had berthed before it made a repositioning to Holyhead to take up its respective role as outlined.
Now that the Isle of Innisfree cruise-ferry is the route’s permanent ship, this is a boost to the service, which, aside from being served by James Joyce as alluded since renaming last month, had beforehand been run by another chartered ferry in the form of P&O’s ropax Norbay. The freight-orientated ferry drew much controversy due to its limited and basic passenger facilities and accessibility issues given no lifts, and that foot passengers nor cyclists could be conveyed.
Norbay, which had been on charter since November, yesterday afternoon made its final Irish Ferries sailing from Dublin to Holyhead, and then last night Afloat tracked its repositioning passage to Larne to layover, where the company operates on the North Channel crossing to Cairnryan, Scotland.
Replacing the Isle of Innisfree on the Dover-Calais route is the former P&O cruise ferry Spirit of Britain, recently renamed by reusing the name of Oscar Wilde. The development followed as Irish Ferries parent company, Irish Continental Group (ICG) agreed in a deal to charter and purchase the ‘Spirit’ class ship from DP World, owners of P&O had run the ship on the same UK-France short-sea link.
After dry-docking also at A&P Falmouth, emerged the rebranded Oscar Wilde that entered service last month to join fleetmates Isle of Inishmore and Isle of Inisheer, which resumes the company’s three-ship service competing with P&O and DFDS.
