Patria Seaways of DFDS Ferry, which was delayed by almost a week, has finally begun its charter role on Stena Line’s Rosslare-Cherbourg route last night, writes Jehan Ashmore.
Due to technical issues since Thursday, Stena was unable to introduce the 152m replacement vessel while Stena Horizon was redeployed to Dublin-Holyhead to cover a ferry’s dry-docking. This also led to missing out on operating over the St. Patrick’s Day Bank Holiday, affecting customers on Stena’s only French connection with Ireland.
Last night the 242 passenger /114 freight trailer unit capacity Patria Seaways commenced its inaugural 18-hour sailing from Rosslare Europort; however, the scheduled 21:00hrs crossing was delayed by an hour and a half. Also, last night at the Wexford ferryport was a DFDS Ferry fleetmate, Optima Seaways, which operates their route to Dunkirk in northern France.
This morning, Afloat has caught up with the 18,332 gross tonnes Patria Seaways as it sails offshore of Cornwall while in the eastbound shipping lane of the English Channel. In addition, the Optima Seaways was also underway but closer to the Cornish coast as it heads for Dunkirk.
As for Patria Seaways scheduled arrival time to Cherbourg this afternoon, it was set for 1600hrs, however, issues with time-keeping continue, as Stena has advised that due to operational reasons, the arrival in Normandy has now been confirmed at 19:45hrs.
In the sailing update (at time of writing) for the corresponding France-Ireland sailing, Stena also stated its team will do their best to have the departure effective as soon as possible and advised passengers to be ready for check-in at Cherbourg around 21:30hrs. This is an hour later than the scheduled departure time on the sailing to Ireland, where the scheduled arrival at Rosslare tomorrow (20 March) is 13:30hrs.
Stena also said a further update on the actual opening time for the check-in will be sent by SMS to customers who have a booking.
