Several scheduled sailings the Irish Examiner reports between Cork and mainland Europe have been cancelled by Brittany Ferries.

All planned sailings to and from Roscoff, France have been cancelled until May 31.

The routes affected are Roscoff to Cork tomorrow, May 24, and Cork to Roscoff on Saturday.

The cancellations are due to "a technical problem with the Pont-Aven ferry," according to the company.

Brittany Ferries has apologised for any inconvenience this has caused and in a statement said customers affected are being offered a full refund or an alternative sailing.

"Brittany Ferries sailings from Roscoff-Cork (May 24) and Cork-Roscoff (May 25) have regrettably been cancelled due to a hydraulic fault on the Pont-Aven affecting its rudder, the repairs for which have taken longer than first anticipated," a spokesperson said.

"We are currently contacting all passengers scheduled to travel the route tomorrow and Saturday to offer assistance.

To continue reading this story (click here) on the 40,000 gross tonnnage cruiseferry which is currently dry-docked in Brest at Damen Shiprepair. 

Afloat adds Armorique (see above photo) previously deputised on the Ireland-France service also this month because Pont-Aven had another incident during a crossing between the UK and Spain. This necessitated a detour to Brest from where passengers were safely disembarked.

On that occasion Pont-Aven used the same dry-dock in Brest to undergo repairs.

As for Armorique, this cruiseferry routinely serves on the English Channel between Portsmouth and Caen (Ouistreham). The ferryport in Normandy is adjacent to the beach (codenamed 'Sword') which formed part of the Allied invasion when the D-Day Landings took place on 6th June 1944.

Commemorative services to mark the 75th anniverary of that momentous day will be held in less than fortnight's time.