Irish Ferries is to see the return of James Joyce, as its owners, Tallink Grupp in Estonia, have signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Irish Continental Group plc to sell the passenger ferry currently renamed Star I, writes Jehan Ashmore.
Originally, the former Star was chartered to Irish Ferries between early 2023 and January this year, and in that timeframe, it was renamed twice, firstly Oscar Wilde and James Joyce, but it is to revert to the latter name with Irish Ferries. It will resume service on the Dublin-Holyhead route in May, in the lead-up to the busier peak season, rejoining Ulysses and high-speed craft Dublin Swift, which is due to enter service albeit earlier this month.
James Joyce along with the route’s Ulysses, was built by Aker Shipyards, the same Finnish shipyard group that custom-built in 2007 for Tallink the cruise ferry launched as Star to serve the popular Tallinn-Helsinki 'shuttle' service. As Afloat reported in January, it was pending a re-entry onto the Baltic Sea with Tallink but on a different route. Subsequently, to that report, it was noted the ship was renamed simply as Star I just days after its voyage from Ireland to Tallinn via France, and with the flag of Cyprus changed back to Estonia.
The acquisition of Star I by ICG is a boost of confidence on the Ireland-Wales route, as the James Joyce is the largest and fastest cruise ferry on the Irish Sea, with an impressive capacity for 2,080 passengers, along with 134 cabins and vehicle decks with space for 2,380 lane metres to carry cars, coaches, and freight vehicles.
The 36,249 gross tonnes cruise ferry offers a self-service restaurant, an à la carte restaurant, a bar, club class lounge, a gaming zone, family-friendly features such as a children’s play area and pet facilities. In addition to the usual separate facilities for freight drivers. Another advantage of James Joyce’s return is the largest duty-free shop on the Irish Sea, with more than 17,000 square feet, offering customers more choice on the Ireland-UK link.
In addition, the James Joyce is also the fastest cruise ferry on the Irish Sea, with a speed of up to 27.5 knots when running the short-sea route of 3 hours 30 minutes. This proved to be the case as, on its debut with Irish Ferries, initially on the Rosslare-Pembroke route, the first sailing was delayed, but the ship’s faster capability allowed for better timekeeping.
As Star I, the cruiseferry this winter was introduced on a Baltic Sea service for Tallink, allowing ‘motorist passengers’ for the first time onto the route between Paldiski, Estonia, and Kapellskär, Sweden, which until then had used freight-only tonnage.
The sale transaction to ICG follows the return of Tallink’s Superfast IX to the Baltic following a long-term charter in Canada, and it is to replace Star 1, as this is to help optimize the company’s operations with a vessel more suited to the Estonia-Sweden route.
According to Tallink, there has been repeated interest in companies intending to acquire the Star 1; coupled with favourable circumstances, this has led to the sale while allowing them to have an equivalent vessel on the Baltic Sea route, as an idle vessel is not a sustainable option in the long run.
Superfast IX has more spacious cabins on the longer route, in which it is to take over duties this month on 12 April, and then Tallink is to transfer Star I to ICG in the following weeks.
