Type Division | ||
Industry Transportation & Tourism Predecessor B&I Line; Irish Continental Line Number of locations Dublin Port, Ireland, Holyhead, Wales, Rosslare Europort, Ireland, Pembroke Dock, Wales, Cherbourg, France & Roscoff, France Area served France, Ireland & United Kingdom Key people Eamonn Rothwell, C.E.O. Irish Continental Group (ICG plc) Services Passenger transportation, Freight transportation; Headquarters Dublin, Republic of Ireland Founded 1992, Dublin, Republic of Ireland Profiles | ||
Irish Ferries is a division of the Irish Continental Group (ICG) which trades on the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
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The company operates passenger and freight routes between Ireland, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe, particularly: Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Roscoff and Cherbourg in France. ICG also owns the Eucon container line which operates vessels on routes operating between Ireland and the continent.
The company's flagship, MV Ulysses, is currently the largest ROPAX ferry operating on the Irish Sea and when launched (2001) was the world's largest car ferry in terms of car-carrying capacity. Other ships in the fleet include MV Isle of Inishmore, MV Oscar Wilde and the fast ferry HSC Jonathan Swift (a.k.a. Dublin Swift as she is currently promoted). The company also charters out a vessel, MV Kaitaki to Interisland Line, and charters in a ro-pax vessel, MV Epsilon. The company used to charter Pride of Bilbao, but sold her to St. Peter Line in 2013, who renamed her MS SPL Princess Anastasia (1986).
History
Irish Continental Line was formed in 1973 as a joint venture between Irish Shipping Limited, 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 Ltd. went into liquidation in 1984, Irish Continental Line was sold off in a management buyout and emerged as Irish Continental Group.
In 1992, Irish Continental Group 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 Irish Continental Group (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 (1).
New vessels were built such as Ulysses, Isle of Innisfree (now on charter in New Zealand as Kaitaki), 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 the 31st May 2016, ICG announced that it had entered into an agreement, with the German company Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesselschaft & Co.KG ("FSG"), whereby FSG has agreed to build a cruise ferry for ICG 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 (165 freight vehicles) plus an additional dedicated car deck with capacity for 300 passenger cars.
Awards
In 2001, the newly completed vessel Ulysses was awarded the title 'Most Significant Newbuild – Ferry' by Lloyds List Cruise & Ferry.