Stena Line is continuing to work at pace to try and secure alternative Irish Sea ferry crossings as the closure of Holyhead Port enters a second week. Freight and passenger traffic on the busy Dublin-Holyhead route has been severely impacted following the closure of Holyhead Port on 7th December. Stena Line has cancelled all sailings on the Dublin – Holyhead route until Friday 20th December.
Stena Line can now confirm that it has chartered the Ben My Chree vessel to operate on a new Dublin – Heysham freight route which is due to begin at 01:00 on Tuesday morning. This temporary service will provide an extra round trip between Ireland and Great Britain with approximately 850 lane meters of space for freight.
The company has also secured permission to take cars and their passengers on additional Dublin – Birkenhead sailings on Stena Estrid, commencing at 03:30 tomorrow (17th) morning out of Dublin. These sailings are currently for car passengers with existing bookings on cancelled Dublin – Holyhead sailings.
Johan Edelman, Stena Line’s Irish Sea Trade Director said: “The unprecedented closure of Holyhead Port in the run up to Christmas has caused major upheaval in freight flows between Ireland and Britain. Our priority in the coming days will be to mitigate as much as we can by trying to secure as much additional capacity as possible throughout our Irish Sea network. High levels of pre-Christmas bookings have made this a very challenging operation, but we are working around the clock to examine every conceivable opportunity.
“I can confirm that our operational teams have now been able to establish a new temporary freight only ferry route between Dublin-Heysham which will launch on Tuesday 17th Dec providing one round trip per day. We have also established a new temporary route on Dublin-Fishguard for passengers and freight which will be served by the Stena Adventurer. To support our foot passengers, we are operating a free bus service for transport between Holyhead and Fishguard for passengers with existing Holyhead – Dublin bookings.
“Extra sailings have also been introduced on our Dublin-Liverpool service provided by Stena Estrid and we are pleased that we have now secured permission to carry cars and their passengers on this route going forward.
“This unprecedented port closure has created a stressful situation for everyone involved, including both passengers and staff, so I would appeal for as much flexibility and patience as possible in the days ahead as we seek to reduce the pre-Christmas backlog.”
ENDS
For more information please:
Stena Line Group Press Office
press@stenaline.com
Tel: +46 (0)31 858532
Stena Line is one of Europe’s leading ferry companies with approximately 40 vessels and 20 routes in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, operating 33,300 sailings each year. Stena Line is an important part of the European logistics network and develops new intermodal freight solutions by combining transport by rail, road and sea. Stena Line also plays an important role in tourism in Europe with its extensive passenger operations. The company is family-owned, was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Gothenburg. Stena Line has 6,300 employees and an annual turnover of 19 billion SEK.
For more information please visit www.stenaline.com
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