No IF Rosslare France service after end September

Started by ccs, June 06, 2018, 11:20:58 AM

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ccs

According to the IF website the last Rosslare to Cherbourg sailing is the Oscar Wilde on Friday 28th September. There are no sailings from Rosslare to France for the rest of the year.
Couple of questions
1. Is the Rosslare- France service going to continue as a summer only service?
2. Whats going to happen to the Oscar Wilde?

IFPete

Oscar Wilde will go into hibernation for the winter months and could reappear during drydock season.

Epsilon will operate Dublin - Cherbourg 3 times a week for remainder of year.

There is a possibility this may change as rumour is Dublin Swift will operate to Christmas and possibly WB Yeats will do one Dublin - Cherbourg sailing per week.

A83

One trip by W B Yeats per week [presumably on a Saturday] would pick up those passengers who would otherwise have gone to BF on the Pont Aven during the shoulder season. Not everyone is a Visentini fan and Visentinis currently are scheduled to provide all Ireland- France sailings during the October - March period.

One query: if the Oscar Wilde is in hibernation, how long does it take to wake it up? Get a crew together, stock it etc.

IFPete

The term used was Warm Layover which means she would be docked in presumably Le Havre with a small crew to keep her in working order during the winter months.

giftgrub

Quote from: IFPete on June 07, 2018, 09:12:03 AM
The term used was Warm Layover which means she would be docked in presumably Le Havre with a small crew to keep her in working order during the winter months.

Could see some use in charter market during drydock season, would be ironic if Stena chartered for cover while Europe, Superfasts etc went to drydock in early 19, of course all this assumes W B Yeats arrives on time, judging by latest images, we will have to wait and see.

Steven

Quote from: A83 on June 07, 2018, 07:45:25 AM
One trip by W B Yeats per week [presumably on a Saturday] would pick up those passengers who would otherwise have gone to BF on the Pont Aven during the shoulder season. Not everyone is a Visentini fan and Visentinis currently are scheduled to provide all Ireland- France sailings during the October - March period.

One query: if the Oscar Wilde is in hibernation, how long does it take to wake it up? Get a crew together, stock it etc.
October to March isn't exactly busy for tourist traffic on the France routes, hence why services are being scaled back.  Alternatively the operators could all run "Cruise" ferries almost empty of passengers and add the cost on to everyones ticket during peak season I suppose.  At present the plan appears to be for the Swift to miss the Autumn/Winter season when sailings often get cancelled due to weather anyway, with the lost capacity made up with WB YEATS (assuming she arrives in time), both in terms of passenger space and the freight space lost by moving EPSILON to the France route which lets not forget is only moving from a weekend only service this year.  EPSILON will be a cheaper vessel to operate on what is really a new route for midweek sailings.  With freight expected to move to the year-round through the week Dublin route instead of driving to Rosslare the need for OSCAR WILDE in Autumn/Winter is significantly reduced (it goes without saying that EPSILON will be more cost efficient to operate than OSCAR WILDE, and by having all services running from Dublin there are potential cost synergies there as well).  She will also be there as a sort of backup and refit relief vessel of course, with plenty of time to undertake all the tasks needed to keep her in service as she ages. 

Perhaps if the right offer came along ICG might be tempted to cash in on Oscar though?  Of course that would leave them without a vessel for Rosslare - France.  What happens when FSG777 arrives is anyones guess really.  At present to my knowledge ICG have not mentioned a fast craft being in service after the arrival of the second FSG ship, so it is perhaps likely that WB YEATS will replace EPSILON on the France sailings and operate Dublin - Cherbourg year round, while 777 sees off the final fast craft to Wales.  This would allow EPSILON to be returned to her owner of course and let ICG make a tidy profit on the sale or charter of DUBLN SWIFT which was picked up at a bargain price, while reducing overall operating costs as well.  Going seasonal could also potentially prolong the operational life of OSCAR WILDE.  Brittany Ferries increased Cork - France frequency may affect Oscar's route as well, but that remains to be seen.
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

Collision-course

The enhanced Brittany Ferries service from Cork - Roscoff is having an impact with loads well ahead of target, the Cork - Santander service has also exceeded expectations but keep in mind expectations of a new route in its second month of operation would not be overly high, from what I have seen so far most of the passenger traffic is Irish and the bulk of the HGV's are Spanish (with a surprising number of UK registered units using it also).
Talking to people involved in the operation there is strong speculation that another Brittany Ferries vessel will be added to the Cork operation next year (bringing it to a 3 ship operation), Brittany Ferries is planning to rebrand its Economie services to differentiate them from their premium product (cruise ferries), if another ship does arrive in Cork it is not yet known if it will be another Economie vessel or a cascade from Brittany Ferries own fleet.
All that said it is still early days and the winter timetables for Cork - Roscoff and Cork - Santander have yet to be published, and those will be a good indication of how well the service is deemed to be performing.

Aldergrove

Has anyone noticed the Flensburg Web Cam http://31.209.185.102/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=18721
of WB Yeats fit out at the pier has had a username and password applied ?

It would make me think they don't want anyone to see it possibly may not be ready even for August now ?

Just a thought ?


Steven

Quote from: IFPete on June 11, 2018, 08:07:04 PM
maybe we should call them
They probably have more important matters to worry about tbh.  We are lucky it was there in the first place given many shipyards barely have websites never mind a live video feed!
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

IFPete

lets see what tomorrow brings,

The shipyard as learned some hard lessons here.

awaityourreply

Quote from: Collision-course on June 09, 2018, 09:23:24 PM
The enhanced Brittany Ferries service from Cork - Roscoff is having an impact with loads well ahead of target, the Cork - Santander service has also exceeded expectations but keep in mind expectations of a new route in its second month of operation would not be overly high, from what I have seen so far most of the passenger traffic is Irish and the bulk of the HGV's are Spanish (with a surprising number of UK registered units using it also).
Talking to people involved in the operation there is strong speculation that another Brittany Ferries vessel will be added to the Cork operation next year (bringing it to a 3 ship operation), Brittany Ferries is planning to rebrand its Economie services to differentiate them from their premium product (cruise ferries), if another ship does arrive in Cork it is not yet known if it will be another Economie vessel or a cascade from Brittany Ferries own fleet.
All that said it is still early days and the winter timetables for Cork - Roscoff and Cork - Santander have yet to be published, and those will be a good indication of how well the service is deemed to be performing.

Brittany Ferries has traditionally withdrawn it's sailings ex-Cork by early November until the following March in previous years so; I'm not sure if they will do likewise next Winter following the increased capacity on Cork to Roscoff this season in addition to it's new route from Cork to Santander, Spain which began this Summer. Maybe Brittany Ferries will want to build on it's freight/cargo from Ireland to France & Spain in case of a hard BREXIT which would be problematic for Irish exporters who previously tended to use the UK as a landbridge to the European mainland. Following the delays in Irish Ferries W.B.Yeats vessel and subsequent 19,000 people affected by booking cancellations, I'm sure the other ferry operators like Brittany Ferries & Stena Line will be anxious to accommodate as many passengers as possible on their services as I've read that some Irish Ferries customers have vowed never to book with Irish Ferries again following the problems surrounding the W.B. Yeats vessel which had been due in service this Summer. Hope everyone gets sorted out properly in the end!

Collision-course

Indeed the year round service is a new element which is squarely aimed at the freight market, the expectation for the winter is that Pont Aven will head off onto its winter schedule and Connemara will operate its current timetable through the winter, (depending on demand, the Santander route could fall to once weekly for the winter if demand is weak), Brittany ferries fleet usually has a reshuffle around the end of October for refits and lay ups ect, if demand exists to maintain twice weekly on Roscoff and a suitable ship has schedule availability (like Bretagne) you might see something other than Pont Aven appear, but of course this is all speculation until wee see what Brittany Ferries decides after the peak season is over.

awaityourreply

Very interesting to hear of a year-round service planned by Brittany Ferries ex-Cork especially at a time when it's main competitor from these shores, Irish Ferries may be about to cease all Rosslare-France sailings after 28th September crossing.

I wonder if Brittany Ferries has ever attempted a year round operation ex-Cork at any other point over the years or will this be a first for the operator from it's Irish base. Last time, Brittany Ferries had an additional route was around the mid-90's when they had a Cork to St.Malo service on the MV Duchess Anne if I recall correctly.

Steven

If Brittany Ferries were to use anything other than CONNEMARA to maintain a year round schedule from Cork, I imagine it would be ETRETAT to be honest.
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline