After an absence of ferry services for almost a month between Rosslare and Fishguard, due in part to the routine dry-docking of Stena Nordica, sailings finally resumed on the southern Irish Sea route yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The 0130 sailing from Fishguard was the first to be operated by a Stena Line ferry since 18 November; however, the ropax ferry was delayed by almost two hours, with an arrival to Rosslare in the morning at 0640. Likewise, the 08:15 return to Wales was delayed by just over an hour, with the ferry departing at 09:41, and Afloat tracked it completing the round trip just before lunch hour.
Afloat had earlier this week sought a comment from Stena Line as to the delay of the ropax Stena Nordica return on the Ireland-Wales route but has not responded. Recently the company cited cancelled sailings due to operational reasons, and Wednesday's 0130hrs sailing from Fishguard was cancelled due to technical problems.
Prior to the Stena Nordica's return from dry docking and maintenance at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, the last sailing took place on 18 November from Rosslare but by the relief ferry, Ben-My-Chree, having been chartered from the Isle of Man Steam Packet. This involved a timeframe of almost three weeks, though spates of adverse weather and technical issues caused some disruption to St. George's Channel crossings.
The chartering of the Manx ferry facilitated the covering of sailings for Stena Nordica, which also took the same role while standing in for Stena Estrid on the Dublin-Holyhead route, which was followed by the southern ferry's arrival last month to Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. During a repositioning passage from Merseyside to Fishguard, Stena Nordica carried out circling maneuvers off Moelfre, Anglesey, North Wales.
As for the period of the Ben-My-Chree’s charter, the smaller ropax had limited facilities and no cabins available, which Stena clearly outlined to passengers on their website. On completion of the charter, customers who had travelled on the ropax were given a complimentary discount on their next sailing.
Before Stena Nordica became the route’s permanent ferry, replacing Stena Europe in 2023, the ropax was given increased passenger capacity and upgraded to include a Stena Plus lounge (added superstructure) forming the top deck. As for Ben-my-Chree, there is good news, as the Steam Packet’s former flagship, now reserve ferry, is also to receive a substantial interior refurbishment to passenger facilities, given its enhanced new role by operating on the Douglas-Larne link launching next year on a year-round basis, complementing the ‘seasonal’ link to Belfast.
When the Ben-my-Chree completed its Rosslare role, in the interim period to 4 December, the Port of Fishguard was closed to enable essential maintenance. However, as part of a space-capacity charter agreement, Stena customers were automatically transferred to competitor Irish Ferries on the Rosslare-Pembroke route. At that stage, the service was operated by another ferry, James Joyce from the Dublin-Holyhead route, which was standing in for the dry-docking of Isle of Innisfree.
Before Stena Nordica returned on yesterday's early hours sailing from Fishguard, Afloat recently reported of a major disruption between Ireland and Wales, as there were no sailings for three days by any operator. Once again, a spell of adverse weather took hold, causing inconvenience to Irish Ferries passengers and freight, with the nearest Irish Sea route alternative of Dublin-Holyhead.
As alluded to above, yesterday's 0815 sailing to Fishguard departed on time; however, according to the Stena Line sailing updates, the corresponding crossing from Wales faces some disruption, as the 1400 sailing (at the time of writing) is currently delayed by 90 minutes.
Both routes have similar crossing times; Stena Line’s Rosslare-Fishguard is 3 hours 30 minutes; however, the early morning (0130) sailing from Wales is extended to 4 hours. As for rivals, Irish Ferries' passage duration of Rosslare-Pembroke is also 4 hours.
