A west Wales port dealing with an overflow of sea passengers after the temporary closure of Holyhead Port is facing its own delays due to a “technical issue”, it has been confirmed. Holyhead Port in north Wales sustained significant damage two weeks ago during Storm Darragh, leading to the cancellation of crossings between Wales and the Irish coast.
Because of that damage, many services have been rerouted to Pembrokeshire, and with that in mind the Isle of Innisfree ferry – operated by Irish Ferries – berthed at Fishguard Harbour to allow it to carry passengers out into the St George’s Channel and north towards Dublin. The ferry was due to leave Fishguard for a crossing to the Irish capital at 5.30pm on Friday evening, with an expected arrival time in Ireland of 11pm. However, the ferry was still at the port of Fishguard late into Friday evening. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
It has been reported that the vessel has sustained damage upon arrival at Fishguard Port earlier today and is now deemed unsafe to carry passengers until the issue is resolved. Irish Ferries has refused to confirm or deny reports that damage has been caused to the ferry while it was docking earlier on Friday, but the company has confirmed there are delays to the new service because of a “technical issue”. A ferry tracker on the Irish Ferries website at 10pm on Friday said: “Apologies, rectification of technical issue is still ongoing. Our next update will be latest 1 hour from now.”
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A spokeswoman for the company told Wales Online: “Irish Ferries apologises for the delay in this evening’s 1730 departure from Fishguard, which is due to a technical issue which arose on the ship’s arrival into the port earlier this evening. This issue is currently being resolved and the intention is for the ship to depart for Dublin as soon as is possible. All passengers are being kept fully informed of progress.”
It will be hoped that whatever issue is facing the Isle of Innisfree will not severely impact travel routes between Pembrokeshire and Ireland in the coming days, especially in the wake of the ongoing closure of Holyhead Port. Just hours before the incident at Fishguard Port on Friday evening, Ken Skates MS, the Welsh Government’s cabinet secretary for transport, said:” I’d like to thank everyone for their efforts so far in working to ensure people can travel to and from Ireland. Both myself, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning and the First Minister continue to work closely in partnership with the Irish Government on this issue.
“There have been extensive efforts to bring everyone together to quickly and effectively find and implement solutions, also including the UK Government, the Metro Mayor for Liverpool and others. I understand how important it is for people to be able to travel home at this time of year, the ferry companies are delivering on alternative routes and I thank them for this. I know the situation will have caused anxiety at this particular time of year, when travel to see loved ones is so important. I am grateful to all our partners who have made every effort to deal with this situation.”