Holyhead Port Closure Until January 15

[Blindtraveler]

In which case I suspect it's a case of one side or the other or indeed both can't. For whatever reason, resource additional capacity to do another load on and load off for a Dublin sailing, especially given that these Dublin sailings are going to have to slot onto the existing link span in between the two scheduled passenger Belfast's and the freight sailing, plus the Dublin freight service

 

[185143]

In which case I suspect it's a case of one side or the other or indeed both can't. For whatever reason, resource additional capacity to do another load on and load off for a Dublin sailing, especially given that these Dublin sailings are going to have to slot onto the existing link span in between the two scheduled passenger Belfast's and the freight sailing, plus the Dublin freight service

You'd think they could even bring the buses over from Holyhead. Assuming they are Road legal of course, they may well not be if only operating within the confines of the secure area of the port.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

My family has options so they are traveling Belfast to Cairnyran for one of my daughters wedding.

 

[Flying Snail]

In which case I suspect it's a case of one side or the other or indeed both can't. For whatever reason, resource additional capacity to do another load on and load off for a Dublin sailing, especially given that these Dublin sailings are going to have to slot onto the existing link span in between the two scheduled passenger Belfast's and the freight sailing, plus the Dublin freight service

There are 2 linkspans at Birkenhead, the freighters use the single deck while Stena Estrid has easily slotted in between the Belfast sailings on the main double deck span. There is another slot available between 11pm and 6am.

The main capacity constraint at Birkenhead is the lack of space for freight and cars at the port, they were struggling already with just the Belfast traffic.

I have no reason to doubt that Immigration/customs is the problem stopping foot passengers from Dublin, the attitude towards foot passengers (and scheduled coach passengers) at UK ports is very different to motorists.

If as is being suggested that Holyhead is likely to be out of action for months then some better arrangements need to be made by all concerned.

 

[kevconnor]

In normal times, part of the problem is that the Stena Birkenhead - Dublin service users terminal 5 at Dublin, which is shared with CLdN services. Terminal 5 has no facilities for foot passengers. This is not a problem currently as there is spare capacity at terminal 2, but it is impossible when things return to normal.

 

[philthetube]

I wonder if the Ben-My-Chree and Mannanan will be swapped over after the new year, the Ben could probably cope with capacity to the Isle of Man so the result would be extra capacity for Stena and more money for the Steam packet company

 

[Flying Snail]

I wonder if the Ben-My-Chree and Mannanan will be swapped over after the new year, the Ben could probably cope with capacity to the Isle of Man so the result would be extra capacity for Stena and more money for the Steam packet company

Mannanan is their fastcraft, I assume you mean Manxman.

Manxman does not have a higher freight capacity and is no faster (Ben has struggled to do Heysham and return in a day) so swapping them not be of much use.

January to March is normally the refit season for the Irish sea fleets as it is by far the quietest period and has in recent years seen temporary dropping of service on Rosslare routes, that is not likely to be acceptable this year as long as Holyhead is out of action but refits will still be necessary for some ships.

In normal times, part of the problem is that the Stena Birkenhead - Dublin service users terminal 5 at Dublin, which is shared with CLdN services. Terminal 5 has no facilities for foot passengers. This is not a problem currently as there is spare capacity at terminal 2, but it is impossible when things return to normal.

If they really wanted to take foot passengers it would be a trivial matter to do so, using T2 for check-in and bussing to the ship from there would probably be the simplest.

So far they have leased a single unaccompanied freight ship for the route so were not even taking truck drivers or cars.

 

[kevconnor]

If they really wanted to take foot passengers it would be a trivial matter to do so, using T2 for check-in and bussing to the ship from there would probably be the simplest.

So far they have leased a single unaccompanied freight ship for the route so were not even taking truck drivers or cars.

I have kept an eye on this hoping they may allow cars as Sea Truck Ferries did. Currently, the Stena Freight booking system allows accompanied freight from the size of a van upwards to be booked for Liverpool - Dublin.

 

[Cloud Strife]

If they really wanted to take foot passengers it would be a trivial matter to do so, using T2 for check-in and bussing to the ship from there would probably be the simplest.

Honestly, they should sort out Dublin Port as a whole. The current experience is just a mess, there really should just be a single terminal building for foot passengers regardless of which terminal they actually use. The entire area used for Stena / Irish Ferries / CLdN / IoMSP is a complete mess and a lousy experience for passengers.

About Holyhead: I've heard anecdotally that T3 may already have been somewhat damaged before this latest incident. My contact alleges that IF have been quite reckless with the infrastructure for years, and that there were several incidents where sailings had to be moved to T5 as a result of hard hits to the T3 side of the jetty.

 

[chiltern trev]

Mannanan is their fastcraft, I assume you mean Manxman.

Manxman does not have a higher freight capacity and is no faster (Ben has struggled to do Heysham and return in a day) so swapping them not be of much use.

Manxman is a larger ship than Ben My Chree so I assume it can carry more freight. Biut Manxman cannot do Dublin certainly in passenger mode due to it having a new evacuation system which Ireland does not like. Plus you would have loads of complaints from the Manx residents!

 

[philthetube]

Manxman is a larger ship than Ben My Chree so I assume it can carry more freight. Biut Manxman cannot do Dublin certainly in passenger mode due to it having a new evacuation system which Ireland does not like. Plus you would have loads of complaints from the Manx residents!

Suspect the Manx Government would be rubbing their hands if it meant less subsidy.

Mannanan is their fastcraft, I assume you mean Manxman.

Sorry yes

 

[Flying Snail]

Manxman is a larger ship than Ben My Chree so I assume it can carry more freight.

You'd think so but the published figures disagree.

 

[poffle]

There seems to have been a statement from Stena today saying that they now expect to resume services from T5 by 16/Jan unless bad weather delays work.

Holyhead reopening on 16 January 'remains achievable'

Part of the Holyhead ferry port is on course to reopen on 16 January, after damage caused by Storm Darragh meant it was forced to close over the Christmas period.

www.rte.ie

Part of the Holyhead ferry port is on course to reopen on 16 January, after damage caused by Storm Darragh meant it was forced to close over the Christmas period.

Ferry company Stena Line, which owns the port in Anglesey, north Wales, confirmed it would reopen the Terminal 5 berth subject to reasonable weather conditions.

It is yet to provide a timeline for the reopening of Terminal 3.

A statement said: "After diligent assessments and planning, we can now confirm that the timeline for reopening the Holyhead Terminal 5 ferry berth by 16 January 2025 remains achievable.

"This prediction is subject to reasonable weather conditions, and we will provide further updates as our progress continues."


All ferry services between Dublin and Holyhead have been cancelled over recent weeks, affecting thousands of people travelling to and from Ireland over the festive period.

Stena Line said that when Storm Darragh hit on the weekend of 6 December, there were two incidents at the berth at Terminal 3.

It said that this resulted in part of the structure collapsing and rendering it unusable.

Damage was feared to have been much worse than initially thought and a spokesman for the port said it had been necessary to perform underwater inspections of the structural integrity of the adjacent Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 berths.

On the latest announcement, Stena Line added: "Up until the reopening of the Terminal 5 berth, alternative routes for travel include Birkenhead to Dublin (motorists only), Fishguard to Dublin, Fishguard to Rosslare, Cairnryan to Belfast and Liverpool to Belfast."

A spokesman for Irish Ferries said: "With clarity now on the situation for the coming weeks, Irish Ferries will continue to review what further route measures are required to ensure the needs of its passenger and freight customers are met.

"With a phased reopening plan of Holyhead port that involves more limited berth availability, Irish Ferries has agreed a timetable with the other operator that will allow Irish Ferries to operate full schedules into Terminal 5."

 

[poffle]

Statement in the Senedd by the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates on 7th January.

It's quite long and wordy and obviously the Senedd has been off for most of the time since this started so there is a bit of catching up.

Key thing he says is that Holyhead still expects to reopen on 16th January with 4 sailings per day to Dublin. ( This would correspond to the normal Stena sailings alone. Irish Ferries would also have had four sailings per day.)

There is also talk of establishing a Welsh Government-led multistakeholder taskforce to develop a new strategy for the future of Holyhead, he says he hopes to bring in Irish and UK governments along with other stakeholders.

Plenary 07/01/2025 - Welsh Parliament

The Welsh Parliament is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people.

record.senedd.wales

 

[Blindtraveler]

Positive to hear that at least some level of service will be provided from North Wales as of the tail end of next week, can't imagine Irish fairies are too happy about the continued disruption however, but well done to everyone who's made at least this level of service possible. It will hopefully relieve the pressure a little on some of the other routes that are perhaps more easy to access for foot passengers such as birkenhead, and the service I use most regularly when going across the pond

 

[berneyarms]

Not sure if someone has got their wires crossed?

Irish Ferries are selling four round sailings a day from 16th January with both ferry companies adjusting their schedules accordingly to use the single jetty.

 

[poffle]

Irish Ferries have published a timetable that they intend to operate on the Dublin - Holyhead route from 16/1/25 until 28/2/25.

Departures from Holyhead at 01:30, 07:30, 13:15 and 19:30.
Departures from Dublin at 01:15, 07:30, 13:45 and 19:45.

I presume that for some/all of these the ferry will dock at Holyhead, unload, undock and then subsequently redock, load and depart as there are quite long intervals between arriving in Holyhead and departing for the next sailing.

I think this breaks the Sailrail connection on the 09:00 Avanti service from Euston.

I can't see any info on Stena about what timetable they propose to operate.

Holyhead / Dublin sailing update | Irish Ferries

Irish Ferries welcomes the announcement of the anticipated re-opening of the Port of Holyhead.

www.irishferries.com

 

[berneyarms]

Irish Ferries have published a timetable that they intend to operate on the Dublin - Holyhead route from 16/1/25 until 28/2/25.

Departures from Holyhead at 01:30, 07:30, 13:15 and 19:30.
Departures from Dublin at 01:15, 07:30, 13:45 and 19:45.

I presume that for some/all of these the ferry will dock at Holyhead, unload, undock and then subsequently redock, load and depart as there are quite long intervals between arriving in Holyhead and departing for the next sailing.

I think this breaks the Sailrail connection on the 09:00 Avanti service from Euston.

I can't see any info on Stena about what timetable they propose to operate.

Holyhead / Dublin sailing update | Irish Ferries

Irish Ferries welcomes the announcement of the anticipated re-opening of the Port of Holyhead.

www.irishferries.com

As I posted above, Stena have changed their times too - timings can be seen in their booking engine.

Ex Holyhead: 04:00 (Tu-Sa); 10:00; 16:00; 22:15

Ex Dublin: 04:30 (Tu-Sa); 10:15; 16:30; 22:30

There won’t be any undocking and redocking (except on Sundays and Mondays when Stena drop sailings) - each ferry will arrive, unload, reload, and depart again. The timetable has been constructed to facilitate both companies.

The Sail/Rail connection out of the 09:00 ex-Euston is indeed broken for Irish Ferries. Let’s be honest, that’s really not the most important factor here - it’s getting the freight back on track.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I don't know about Stena, but half of the Irish Ferries departures do not operate on some dates because of ship maintenance.

The MAIB have said there are no further investigations needed.
There's apparently a video of the jetty collapse on the Daily Post site, but I haven't been able to get it to load.

Video shows moment Holyhead port structure collapses beside ferry

The platform collapsed into the sea on the weekend Storm Darragh arrived

www.dailypost.co.uk

Marine Accident Investigation Branch - a UK Government organisation authorised to investigate all maritime accidents in UK waters - started making enquiries to "better understand the circumstances which may have contributed to the incident".
They have now released a new statement to North Wales Live. They said: "The MAIB has completed its preliminary enquiries into the maritime aspects of the incident at Holyhead. The information gathered does not indicate any significant safety issues that would necessitate further investigation at this time."

 

[43055]

I don't know about Stena, but half of the Irish Ferries departures do not operate on some dates because of ship maintenance.

The MAIB have said there are no further investigations needed.
There's apparently a video of the jetty collapse on the Daily Post site, but I haven't been able to get it to load.

Video shows moment Holyhead port structure collapses beside ferry

The platform collapsed into the sea on the weekend Storm Darragh arrived

www.dailypost.co.uk

Reports elsewhere that Irish Ferries 'James Joyce' is leaving the fleet shortly.

 

[75A]

It's just good to hear that the ferries are back up and running

 

[berneyarms]

I don't know about Stena, but half of the Irish Ferries departures do not operate on some dates because of ship maintenance.

The MAIB have said there are no further investigations needed.
There's apparently a video of the jetty collapse on the Daily Post site, but I haven't been able to get it to load.

Video shows moment Holyhead port structure collapses beside ferry

The platform collapsed into the sea on the weekend Storm Darragh arrived

www.dailypost.co.uk

Yes it would appear that Irish Ferries are operating:

Dublin/Holyhead - 07:30 & 19:45
Holyhead/Dublin - 01:30 & 13:15

The second set of sailings are not available to book.

 

[poffle]

Yes it would appear that Irish Ferries are operating:

Dublin/Holyhead - 07:30 & 19:45
Holyhead/Dublin - 01:30 & 13:15

The second set of sailings are not available to book.

Irish Ferries Ulysses is in dry dock on the Tyne for annual overhaul.

Ulysses Undergoes Overhaul for the First time At UK East Coast Dry-Dock, A&P Tyne

Irish Ferries main vessel on the Dublin-Holyhead route, Ulysses is receiving an annual overhaul but for the first time at A&P Tyne on the North Sea, which has the largest dry-dock on the east coast of England, writes Jehan Ashmore. The 2001 Aker Finnyards built cruise-ferry of 50,398 gross tonne...

afloat.ie

 

[berneyarms]

Irish Ferries Ulysses is in dry dock on the Tyne for annual overhaul.

Ulysses Undergoes Overhaul for the First time At UK East Coast Dry-Dock, A&P Tyne

Irish Ferries main vessel on the Dublin-Holyhead route, Ulysses is receiving an annual overhaul but for the first time at A&P Tyne on the North Sea, which has the largest dry-dock on the east coast of England, writes Jehan Ashmore. The 2001 Aker Finnyards built cruise-ferry of 50,398 gross tonne...

afloat.ie

I know that.

But it’s back at the end of the month and the WB Yeats will cover those two return sailings in the meantime.

I’ve checked the booking engine for the entire month of February and the other pair of return sailings that are listed in your post #47 are greyed out in the booking engine and are unavailable to book (shown as operated by Isle of Inisheer).

 

[poffle]

Historically the "second" Irish Ferries vessel on the Dublin - Holyhead route operated as a freight only vessel.

In recent times they've had Ulysses and James Joyce on the route so I think they were taking cars and maybe foot passengers. They weren't offering Sail Rail.

I think it was normal during refit periods to operate the "second" service as freight only. I think they're keeping their options open.

After 28/2 they're showing the Ulysses as their only ferry operating Dublin - Holyhead. I'd expect something will appear but they obviously aren't committing themselves at this stage.

 

[Blindtraveler]

As I posted above, Stena have changed their times too - timings can be seen in their booking engine.

Ex Holyhead: 04:00 (Tu-Sa); 10:00; 16:00; 22:15

Ex Dublin: 04:30 (Tu-Sa); 10:15; 16:30; 22:30

There won’t be any undocking and redocking (except on Sundays and Mondays when Stena drop sailings) - each ferry will arrive, unload, reload, and depart again. The timetable has been constructed to facilitate both companies.

The Sail/Rail connection out of the 09:00 ex-Euston is indeed broken for Irish Ferries. Let’s be honest, that’s really not the most important factor here - it’s getting the freight back on track.

Possibly the wrong place to ask, but are there now any Rail and sale options from London via North Wales in the current temporary timetable starting at the end of the week? Cheers

 

[berneyarms]

Possibly the wrong place to ask, but are there now any Rail and sale options from London via North Wales in the current temporary timetable starting at the end of the week? Cheers

Yes, but the times are now different, and they may require longer waits and/or more connections.

 

[Flying Snail]

Possibly the wrong place to ask, but are there now any Rail and sale options from London via North Wales in the current temporary timetable starting at the end of the week? Cheers

Sailrail tickets seem to be available for both ferry companies but the Rail ticket system is still quoting the normal times which will not be correct for connections. Using the quoted connections towards Dublin you would miss the Irish Ferries sailings and be unnecessarily early for the Stena Line sailings. I'd suggest buy the Sailrail Standby ticket and work out your own connections.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Cheers. Any idea which online booking system does the standby ones or are they only available from a booking office? I'm not fussed either way

 

[Flying Snail]

Cheers. Any idea which online booking system does the standby ones or are they only available from a booking office? I'm not fussed either way

Anywhere that offers one should also offer the other.

The name "standby" is a misnomer, they are more like an Anytime with slightly more restrictions, that being no Break of journey.