Last night an Irish Ferries cruise ferry, Isle of Innisfree, was tracked underway on the English Channel, having departed Dunkirk (East) and fresh from planned dry-docking, bound for the Irish Sea to resume routine sailings, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The former Strait of Dover serving ferry, at midnight was offshore of Dungeness, Kent, and according to the Irish Ferries sailing update, the Isle of Innisfree was to return to service but from Pembroke in the early hours of this morning for the scheduled 0245 sailing, but that was not possible given the lack of time to cover the repositioning voyage to South Wales.
Since then the sailing update was revised, and, at the time of writing this morning, there was a new re-entry into service of the Isle of Innisfree, but later and instead departing from Rosslare this morning at 0845. Once again, this timing cannot be achieved, as Afloat tracked Isle of Innisfree this morning still in the English Channel between the Cotentin Peninsula, France, and Portland Bill, Dorset.
According to AIS, the cruise ferry is bound for the Irish Sea but for Pembroke Dock, with an estimated arrival at the South Wales port tonight at 2100.
Afloat has sought a comment from Irish Ferries for the delayed return of the cruise ferry, as this is a major disruption on the southern Irish Sea, as since Friday’s early morning sailing by relief ferry James Joyce to Rosslare, was the only and last sailing to take place between Ireland and South Wales before adverse weather set in, forcing all sailings to be cancelled. (In an update this afternoon, Afloat adds) a statement from Irish Ferries said the 0845 hrs sailing this morning, Rosslare-Pembroke, was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.
In addition, the same reason last night was given by Stena Line on their Rosslare-Fishguard route, but due to the temporary space-charter agreement with Irish Ferries, passengers have been automatically transferred to the competitor, as Fishguard had no ferry due to planned dry-docking of the routine ropax Stena Nordica.
But of course this route out of Pembroke Dock was not an option either, as the routes remain severely disrupted to passengers and freight.
The charter of the Isle of Man Steam Packet’s reserve ropax ferry Ben-my-Chree to Stena was to cease midweek; however, this did not occur due to adverse weather, as the small ropax ferry left earlier than scheduled on the Dublin-Holyhead route (space chartered to Irish Ferries) on Saturday morning and returned to the Manx owners that same day.
This led to the non-reappearance of the ‘Ben’ to Rosslare-Fishguard as originally planned since last week for several days, allowing Irish Ferries James Joyce to return to Dublin-Holyhead with the return of the dry-docked Isle of Innisfree, but as outlined, delays took place, leading to a knock-on effect of cancelled sailings on the route as outlined below. As this did not occur, James Joyce returned to Holyhead on Saturday to resume routine service, given that the 'Ben' as alluded to returned to Douglas the same day.
However, on the preceding day (Friday), the North Wales port was again beset by damage to one of its terminals (T5) following a "berthing incident" caused by severe weather conditions, as reported by BBC News yesterday. The port remains partially open, as its second berth (T3) (see related Storm Darragh story) remains operational. The port authority said it will remain temporarily closed to ensure safety but added the port "continues to facilitate the full sailing schedule for ferry operators."
According to Stena Line’s sailing update this morning, the next scheduled sailing by Stena Nordica is from Fishguard this evening at 1930; however, under sailing status is given ‘No sailing.’ Further information outlined by the company stated: We are sorry to advise that the 19:30 sailing on Monday the 8th is cancelled due to operational reasons. You can amend your booking online to an alternative sailing or route without any change fee or fare difference applied, etc.
Likewise with such disruption, Afloat has also sought a comment from Stena as to the delay in the return of the ropax on the Rosslare-Fishguard route.
It is not surprising, given the current sailing status, as the Stena Nordica continues to remain in dry dock at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, where it entered the facility on Merseyside last month, following a relief stint role on the Dublin-Holyhead route.
