W.B.YEATS DELIVERY IS DELAYED

Started by alfie79, April 21, 2018, 12:09:53 PM

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alfie79

Just got word last night that Julys booking on W.B.Yeats have being cancelled due to the shipyard being delayed in delivering her.

has anyone any updates?

ferryfan

A quick check on the booking engine appears to confirm this. It appears that she will not be starting service until the 30th July

ferryfan

A monumental cock up disrupting the plans of thousands of families and holiday makers. A €150 voucher is a rotten insult to passsengers but no more than you would expect from them. If you had booked to sail on a new modern ship from Dublin and they were now offering a sailing on a worn out old ship from a different port I think that at least a 50% refund of the price paid would not be unreasonable.
In any other company there would be calls for the top brass to step aside.

Kieran

From the Irish Times

Quote...he company did not have an estimate yet as to how many people are likely to be impacted by the cancellations as the situation remains fluid. He said discussions with the shipyard were ongoing and the "outcome could yet be positive."

I looks like most people can be accommodated on an alternative sailing at this stage, but not great publicity to surround a new ship.

Chef

Quote from: ferryfan on April 21, 2018, 10:02:44 PM
A monumental cock up disrupting the plans of thousands of families and holiday makers. A €150 voucher is a rotten insult to passsengers but no more than you would expect from them. If you had booked to sail on a new modern ship from Dublin and they were now offering a sailing on a worn out old ship from a different port I think that at least a 50% refund of the price paid would not be unreasonable.
In any other company there would be calls for the top brass to step aside.
Not to mention all the hype they heaped on around this new ship with the naming competition etc .

The insider

The ship is not an Irish Ferries  ship until it is officially handed over to them on completion  so I would say it's not Irish Ferries  fault . Also I have to say that new fast craft is an ugly looking thingand not that  clean up close.

Chef

Maybe IF were a little over confident about when they would have the ship operational ,and who knows maybe the shipyard told them so .

TC

I recall when Spirit of Britain arrived from Aker Finnyards, she had a few teething issues. Even during the sea-trials Aker had to do some fine tuning, (Tho I don't recall Spirit of France having any issue).

I agree, its a PR and logistical screw-up, but even highly experienced yards like Aker Finnyards, who built a whole string of vessels (including Ulysses), can have issues.

Likewise, van-der-Giessen de Noord, despite building a vast number of very successful ferries - Konningin Beatrix (1986), Norbank (1993), Norbay (1994), Isle of Innisfree (1995), Isle of Innishmore (1996) etc, were late delivering Mont St Michel to Brittany Ferries. 

I am not sure the pricing structure, but I was quoted €307 return for two people, from Dublin Port to Cherbourg on WB Yeats for around mid September. The €150 voucher or the option to sail on an older ship is quite dissapointing. Though to be fair to Irish Ferries, Brittany Ferries are being quite brazen charging around €800 for a return with a car, 2 people, and a cabin, on a "very basic - no frills" Visentini - a vessel comparable to Epsilon and Stena Horizon. Even at the very end of the season Brittany Ferries are pricing €600+ and that's not including restaurant etc. I understand there is more fuel consumption on a sailing to Spain vs one to France, but I don't recall P&O charging anywhere near that to sail on the much better appointed (and thirstier) Pride of Bilbao (Portsmouth to Bilbao).


IFPete

Spirit of Britian had to go back to Aker after spirit of France was delivered to have additional pillers installed to ruduce her vibration. Even today her vibration issue is not fully solved. Spirit of France learned the lesson of the first delivery.


LongTimeReader

Judging by the articles in newspapers today this looks like a PR disaster for IF, I don't agree with people blaming IF wholesale, they agreed dates with the yard. However IF didn't handle this well at all. Voucher offer is too small, sending an email on a Friday night and then not having call center capacity to deal with the calls.

I have seen some people alluding that they are being asked to pay more for premium accommodation on the OW. This seems very unfair really and the charge ought to be waived.

Surprised IF didn't hold back story to today and give themselves the weekend to plan out how to address issue.

Also wonder did they consider keeping Epsilon on weekly Dublin to France run to soak up some capacity / affected travellers. Should be enough to capacity on central corridor to deal with the cancellation.

SEA

I am sure there is a clause in the contract whereby if the shipbuilder does not deliver the vessel on time there will be a financial penalty . I don't know if this is true or false but I remember hearing many moons ago the Isle of of inishmore was not delivered on time to Irish Ferries. By way of making up Van de Giesen Built the Glass bar which is now the club class lounge on the the top deck free of charge . True or False ??

Chef

We only have Irish Ferries side of the story so far, and seeing that FSG  have another ship on the books for Irish Ferries the shipyard is being diplomatic about things .

IFPete

We still dont know the extend of the delay. I agree Epsilon will probably be deployed on Dublin Cherbourg until the new ship is ready to take up service.

It was Irish Ferries decision to launch the ship on Ireland - France. If i had been Dublin - Holyhead the delay would never had to go Public. 

LongTimeReader

Agreed IF Pete - What's also curious is how intensively IF decided to use the WB on arrival - throwing it into the middle of busy with virtually no allowance for any teething issues, sailing 18 hours a day for just about two months coming from a shipyard with no experience of building anything this big. I presume that they felt there was some slack time between handover and maiden voyage.

To your point SEA - I imagine there would be a financial penalty, though IF may have agreed a lower contract price in return for bearing the risk of late delivery.

Their share price is only down 0.35% today which isn't too significant, so investors can't be too worried by this.


ccs

If the comments after this article on The Journal are anything to go by a lot of people seem more accepting of this than I thought they would be.
http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-ferries-bad-3972757-Apr2018/