Services at Pembrokeshire ports have returned to normal after history-making moments and ‘unprecedented and exciting’ developments.
Both Fishguard and Pembroke Ports swung into action after Holyhead Port was closed following December’s Storm Darragh.
Both Pembrokeshire ports saw increased sailings.
At Fishguard Harbour, history was made with the arrival of the port’s largest-ever ferry, the Stena Adventurer to work on the Dublin route.
(Image: Marc Evans) At 211 metres long and weighing 43,532 tonnes she is the biggest ever ship to have docked alongside at Fishguard.
For the first time ever, according to Stena which owns the port, Irish Ferries also ran a service out of Fishguard Harbour with the Isle of Innisfree sailing from the port to Dublin.
(Image: Marc Evans) Then on January 7 the Pembrokeshire ferry port received its third new visitor in four weeks as the Isle of Inisheer came to Fishguard for berthing trials.
(Image: Marc Evans) It is believes that this was a contingency measure in case the planned re-opening of Holyhead Port was delayed.
At Pembroke Port an ‘unprecedented’ second Irish Ferries service was put on when Irish Ferries began a new service from Pembroke Dock to Dublin using the Isle of Innisfree.
This ran alongside Pembroke Dock’s existing twice-daily sailings to Rosslare being carried by the James Joyce – brought on to the route following the Holyhead closure because of her larger capacity than the Innisfree.
However, business is now back to normal as Stena Line confirmed that ferry services on the Holyhead – Dublin route resumed this morning January 16.
“Fishguard is back to its normal timetable operating one Stena Line service to Rosslare with Stena Nordica,” said a Stena Line spokesperson.
A spokesperson for the Port of Milford Haven, which owns Pembroke Port added:
“We are pleased to confirm that following the re-opening of Holyhead Port tomorrow, normal service will resume at Pembroke Dock Ferry Terminal with Irish Ferries’ twice daily sailings to Rosslare, with the Isle of Innisfree in operation at the usual timetabled slots of 02:45 and 14:45.
“We would like to thank the community of Pembroke Dock for their understanding whilst there’s been increased traffic through the town.
From today, Stena Line will operate its normal sailing schedule of four sailings from Holyhead to Dublin with the revised timetable of 04:00hrs, 10:00hrs, 16:00hrs and 22.15hrs. [04:30hrs, 10:15hrs, 16:30hrs and 22:30hrs from Dublin] “The last few weeks have been an extremely challenging time for our customers and staff,” said Johan Edelman, Stena Line trade director (Irish Sea South).
“The extended closure of the ferry berths at Holyhead Port at one of the busiest times of the year was unprecedented and I would like to thank our customers and staff for their patience and resilience.
“Now that the berth has been cleared to be safely reopened, we moved quickly to put the resources in place to ensure that we could provide a fully operational service on our Holyhead – Dublin route from today onwards.”
Stena Line bookings can be made online at stenaline.co.uk and stenaline.ie or via our Contact Centre by calling from the UK on +44 344 770 7070 or from ROI on + 353 1 907 5555.
Irish Ferries scheduled sailings from Holyhead to Dublin are also taking place.