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Met Eireann [The Irish weather forecasting service] has for a long time offered a 48 hour forecast for sea crossings for the Irish Sea and the passage from Rosslare to Cherbourg.

This week they have added a forecast for the Rosslare to Spain route something that will be of interest to those travelling on the twice weekly Brittany Ferries run.

https://www.met.ie/forecasts/marine-inland-lakes/sea-crossings

My wife and daughter travelled sail rail from Bath to Holyhead last Sunday. Train connections worked well and they arrived at 11pm to await the 2.40 am Ulyssess sailing. They found the train station pretty empty and under [re]construction. They eventually found their way to the ferry terminal where the cafe and ticket offices are located. All was closed and nobody was about apart from one old guy who tried to annoy my daughter and was given short shrift. Eventually staff appeared in the ticket offices and the process of booking in commenced. There were very few [less than 10 ] sail rail passengers.

I suppose the point of the post is to emphasise how challenging the ferry terminal is at night for women travelling alone. Surely the cafe should be open as a public facility, there should be evident security and the place should be welcoming. In an age when we are being encouraged to travel by ship and train for environmental reasons it is easy to see why people, particularly women, do not find it attractive.

I had missed it but it appears that Visentini have a new ship design, the first in 20? years.

This report from the ever dependable NI Ferry site describes the order for the second ship of this type [which will be delivered to Polferries]. This order has just gone through for delivery in 2024. The ship is dual fuel and looks to be bigger than previous ships, it is unclear to me if it is rear loading only or if it is drive through.

On a related topic it appears the Honfleur is still for sale /charter.

Source: https://www.niferry.co.uk/polferries-chooses-visentini-for-next-phase-of-fleet-renewal/

Here is an extract from Irish ferries trading update released yesterday [24th November]:

"The Group is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement for the purchase of the ro-pax ferry Ciudad de Mahon from Trasmed GLE. Title to the vessel will transfer to ICG on delivery which is expected by late January 2022. The vessel will serve the Dover - Calais route operated by Irish Ferries after dry docking and branding changes.
The Company commenced services on the Dover Calais route on 29 June 2021 with the Isle of Inishmore. The Isle of Innisfree (ex-Calais Seaways) was delivered to the Group on 3 November 2021. She is currently undergoing drydocking and is expected to commence services on the route during December. The Ciudad de Mahon is expected to commence services in the first quarter of 2022. The introduction of these two vessels, representing a total investment of €35.5m, alongside the Isle of Inishmore completes our previously announced plan to introduce three vessels on the Dover - Calais route. This will allow Irish Ferries to offer up to 30 sailings per day on the route with sailings in each direction approximately every 90 minutes."

So that is ship number 3. It will be interesting to see how 2022 trading works out on the Dover-Calais run, is there likely to be overcapacity or can all the operators [including Eurotunnel] survive? It would be nice if IF offer reduced landbridge sailings for cars.

Thought I was seeing things when I read this or perhaps that it was April 1st. But it appears Stena is going to run the Estrid to Belfast at weekends until the 18th July.

Now what would be the logic of this move?

https://www.niferry.co.uk/stena-to-introduce-new-temporary-belfast-holyhead-route/

Interesting report on NI Ferry site that Stena are intending to build an all electric ferry to enter service in 2030. The ship will have a range of 50 nautical miles and will be deployed in the Baltic. Incidentally the distance between Dublin and Holyhead is 58 nautical miles.

https://www.niferry.co.uk/stena-line-to-order-first-fully-electric-ferry-by-2025/

The  Estonia went down on a stormy night in the Baltic 26 years ago. It was said at the time that the storm ripped the bow doors off,  a pretty alarming thought. However new research suggests that there is another explanation. See the article below

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/04/maybe-now-well-get-some-answers-film-maker-challenges-official-story-of-estonia-ferry-disaster

Interesting article in Dublin Live puts forward an idea for a Dublin to Paris high speed rail link connected via ferry link from Cork to Brest. I wonder how long the trip might take.

https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/ambitious-plans-unveiled-high-speed-18501091

Does anyone know if there are plans to add new berths to Roscoff?

We arrived in the port yesterday [Friday] afternoon at around 4.30pm. The Armorique was on the berth, both the Oscar Wilde and the Pont Aven were cruising around the bay and had been doing that most of the day. When the Armorique left shortly after 5 pm the OW went on the berth and when she left near enough to 7pm the Pont Aven was coming in. As the captain wryly noted: 'there was congestion in the port'. This does not happen ever day but surely it suggests that additional capacity is required?

Having travelled on both this summer [and many summers previously] I wondered which is best?

I think I prefer Adventurer for ease of access when driving on to the ship however I find the shipboard experience is not great. The facilities [food/coffee etc] are fine but I find the rooms too big and the ship does not seem to accommodate large numbers of passengers easily [is that the way the seats are laid out?]. Also access to the decks is rather restricted, having to peer out over high metal sides does not afford a sense of being at sea.

Ulysses I find harder to drive on to [that second floor ramp] but the interior is more cosy, facilities are ok, access to the top deck is easy and gives fine views and the rear James Joyce lounge enables me to get a bit of peace and a rest after lunch [if I am taking the 14.10 to Dublin]. Lastly I have never found either ship bounce about in rough weather but I imagine that Ulysses is the more stable.

Both ships seem to be pretty punctual but on balance I prefer Ulysses.

What do others think?

What is the likely impact of Britain's exit from the EU on the ferry business. Obviously the different types of Brexit will determine different outcomes. What would total exit from the single market mean? Would leaving the customs union mean the return of duty-free? Clearly this will impact freight business as well as the car and passenger business but how?

On holidays in Charente I stayed in a bed and breakfast some miles north of Bordeaux not far from the coast. The hostess was French but her partner was English. It turned out that he was a retired sailor, he had spent 35 years working for P and O. Over a glass of wine he told a story of the storm that ran across northern France, southern England and the Channel on the night of 15th-16th October 1987. He explained that he was the helmsman on the P and O ferry that ran out of Le Havre to Portsmouth? that night [the Pride of Portsmouth he thought]. It left around midnight and took 13 hours to make the trip. He explained that the captain decided to sail as he feared the ship being smashed against the quays if it stayed in port. He said that the passengers had been warned that it would be a rough trip and that some chose not to sail. He noted that when it got out to sea the ship moved in a spiral motion- up and down and sideways at the same time-his view was that it made it very difficult not to be sick. There was a lot of damage caused to the passenger areas of the ship and some of the trucks turned over. The first truck off was a Pilkington's glass lorry, it took a long time to right it and get it off the ship. A sequel to the story was that some years later he was at the helm of the same ship and Michael Fish the weather forecaster who had made the famous forecast that evening was shown around the bridge----nobody said a word!

The cargo ship Swanland sank off the Llyn peninsula on Saturday night. Today's [Monday 28th November] Guardian newspaper reports on the tragedy where 5 sailors are feared lost and quotes a survivor describing " a huge wave rolling the ship, and she broke her back....and sank very quickly after that". There were gale force 8 and higher winds blowing and I think 6 metre waves but this wave seems to have been exceptional. I recall some years ago that something similar happened to a Stena ship [was it the Hibernia?]. What size waves are these, how do they come about and why off the North Wales coast?

In view of the fact that this is the refit season- the Oscar Wilde is in Birkenhead at the moment. How is it that the Celtic Horizon does not refit annually? Celtic Link advertise all year sailings, how can they do this?