Irish Ferries


Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin Port-Cherbourg and Rosslare to Cherbourg and Roscoff in France.
The company is a division of the Irish Continental Group which trades on the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. ICG also owns the Eucon container line which operates vessels on routes operating between Ireland and the continent.
Irish Ferries' flagship, MV Ulysses, is currently the largest ROPAX ferry operating on the Irish Sea and when launched in 2001 was the world's largest car ferry in terms of car-carrying capacity. Other ships in the fleet include, MV W.B. Yeats and the fast ferry Dublin Swift. The company also charters in a ro-pax vessel,. The company used to charter which was sold to Interisland Line and Pride of Bilbao, but sold her to St. Peter Line in 2013, who renamed her Princess Anastasia. The company have one additional ship is under construction - the vessel was ordered in January 2018 for a 2020 delivery and will replace the Ulysses on the Dublin - Holyhead route. The Ulysses will then replace the Epsilon, the company's economy ship.

History

Irish Continental Line was formed in 1973 as a joint venture between Irish Shipping, Fearnley & Eger and Swedish company Lion Ferry. It originally operated on the Rosslare–Le Havre route with the 547 berth, 210 car ferry Saint Patrick. When Irish Shipping went into liquidation in 1984, Irish Continental Line was sold off in a management buyout and emerged as Irish Continental Group.
In 1992, ICG took over the British and Irish Steam Packet Company Limited, a nationalised company which traded under the name B + I Line and operated ferry services between Dublin and Holyhead and between Rosslare and Pembroke Dock.

Investment

As part of its offer to buy B&I Line, management at ICG undertook to invest in replacing what was an ageing fleet. Over the following decade, a programme of fleet renewal was undertaken involving investment of €500 million to create what was described as the most modern ferry fleet in western Europe.
New vessels were built such as Ulysses, Isle of Innisfree, Isle of Inishmore and a fast ferry Jonathan Swift, all for service on its Ireland–UK routes. As a result, the company put itself in a position to attract increased passenger and freight business, influenced by the modern facilities and improved reliability of each vessel and the extra capacity that was available on board.
On 31 May 2016, ICG announced that it had entered into an agreement with the German company Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft to build a cruise ferry at a contract price of €144 million. The new cruise ferry will accommodate 1,885 passengers and crew, with 435 cabins and with capacity for 2,800 lane metres of freight plus an additional dedicated car deck with capacity for 300 passenger cars. Summer 2018 bookings for the new ferry were cancelled due to delays in its delivery.

Awards

In 2001, the newly completed vessel Ulysses was awarded the title 'Most Significant Newbuild – Ferry' by Lloyds List Cruise & Ferry.

Controversy

Irish Ferries was at the centre of a bitter industrial relations controversy in 2005 after the company’s managing director, Eamonn Rothwell replaced almost 500 staff with lower-paid migrant workers through an outsourcing arrangement.

Fleet

In 2005, Irish Ferries began to re-register its fleet under flags of convenience, enabling the company to save approximately €11.5 million by replacing crew with agency staff. As of February 2018, all vessels owned by Irish Ferries or Irish Continental Group are registered in either the Bahamas or Cyprus
ShipBuiltEntered ServiceRouteCrossing TimesGross TonnageNotesFlagImage
Isle of Inishmore19971997Rosslare - Pembroke Dock4 hoursCarrying up to 2,200 passengers and 855 cars.Cyprus
Ulysses20012001Dublin - Holyhead3 hours 15 minutesOne of the largest ro-pax ferry currently operating on the Irish Sea, carrying up to 1,875 passengers and 1,342 cars.Cyprus
Epsilon20112014Dublin - Holyhead
Dublin – Cherbourg		3 hrs 25 minutes
19 hours		Operating Dublin - Holyhead and Dublin to Cherbourg Italy
'Dublin Swift'20012018Dublin – Holyhead1 hour 49 minutesCan only operate in calm weather. Carrying up to 820 passengers and 220 cars.Cyprus
W.B. Yeats20182019Dublin - CherbourgCarrying up to 1,800 passengers, with 440 cabins; 300-car deck and 165 freight vehicles Cyprus

Former ships

ShipYears in serviceGross Register TonnageStatus as of 2019
Saint Patrick1972–1982In 1982 renamed the St. Colum 1 and transferred to Belfast Car Ferries. Scrapped as EXPRESS P at Alang, India in August 2005
Saint Killian
Saint Killian II		1978–1981
1982–1997
Scrapped in Alang, India in 2007
Saint Patrick II1982–1997Since 2002 sailing as C.T.M.A. Vacancier for Coopérative de transport maritime et aérien
Thomas Wehr1992
Pride of Bilbaodid not operate for Irish FerriesChartered to P&O Ferries. Sold to St. Peter Line in 2014.
Isle of Innisfree1995-2002From 2002 chartered out as Pride of Cherbourg, Stena Challenger, Challenger and Kaitaki. Sold to Interislander in 2017.
Isle of Inishmore
Isle of Inishturk		1995–1996
1996–1997		Since 1997 sailing as Madeleine for Coopérative de transport maritime et aérien.
Normandy1998–2007sold to Equinox Offshore Accommodation and chartered to the Morocco-based FerriMaroc in 2008. Scrapped at Alang, 2012.
Jonathan Swift1999–2018sold to Balearia Eurolineas Maritimas, Denia, Spain and renamed Cecilia Payne
Oscar Wilde2007-2019Sold to MSC and reflagged to Cyprus