COVID-19 and ferry travel

Started by Futureskipper, March 17, 2020, 11:43:58 PM

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Futureskipper

I was thinking today about the current pandemic situation that we are in. This is thought I had today has confused me, you know how Ireland have shut all of their pubs and bars since Sunday, will the ferries with the bars and pubs such as WB Yeats Stena Estrid Ulysses and Stena Adventurer -that operate from ireland have to close the bars onboard the vessle

Kieran

From what I can make out, they are just implementing "social distancing" onboard, but are keeping facilities open.

Irish Ferries have cancelled some events on W.B. Yeats.

A83

With Ulysses coming home in a few days WBY will be freed up and the summer schedule for IF can get underway.

However there will be very few cars/ tourists/ travellers going to the UK and I suspect none to France. I wonder what volume of freight traffic is crossing the Irish Sea or indeed going to France. I saw a report on RTE saying that demand in France for Irish fish [from Castletownbeare] had stopped. However one assumes most freight is continuing.If not then I suppose ships could be mothballed. Anyone have a sense of what is happening?

Kieran

It's hard to tell at the moment, Brittany Ferries have suspended all passenger sailings, only running some sailings to carry freight.

I imagine Irish Sea sailings will remain in operation to bring in food, Ireland France is a bit more difficult to predict at the moment.

awaityourreply

 I would NOT be expecting any passenger services to resume anytime soon between Ireland and Spain following the latest announcements today.

Below was reported in The Telegraph online this evening at 16:48hrs

"4:48pm Spain to restrict entry for 30 days over coronavirus" is a sub-headline under it's main headline:
"Live  Coronavirus latest news: Government outlines isolation plans for 1.5m vulnerable people, with food from councils and help from Army"

Spain will restrict entry for most foreigners at air and sea ports for the next 30 days to help stem its coronavirus epidemic, the Interior Ministry said.

The ban - starting at midnight - comes a few days after Spain imposed restrictions on its land borders with France and Portugal, after European Union leaders agreed to close the bloc's external borders for 30 days.

Spanish nationals, foreigners living in Spain, air crew, cargo and health workers and diplomats will be allowed to travel as normal, the ministry said in its statement."

Source: The Telegraph

This will likely result in further delays to the resumption of Brittany Ferries direct link between Rosslare and Bilbao in Spain  which had only launched towards the end of February when it replaced it's previous ferry link between Cork and Santander.

ccs

Brittany Ferries stops Plymouth passenger service and asks for coronavirus aid UK Chamber of Shipping 'demands an immediate multi-million pound government support package'


https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/local-news/brittany-ferries-stops-plymouth-passenger-3975755?fbclid=IwAR29hkbv20W9AyOt9m5ma0KLwA20CAFDnFEPZuhAiu_Pl6Muoe4hiRVgGNs

A83

Alan G makes the point over on the News Board that the Dublin Swift may not operate this year. He set me thinking about what type of services we are likely to see in 2020.

The airlines are considering restarting with reduced seating [middle row of a 3 row seating left empty, use of masks, social distanced queuing etc]. Surely social distancing would be easier to manage on ferries? Cars by definition are enclosed boxes, transfer from the car to the passenger decks could be managed on a phased basis. Numbers on ships could be limited, cabins could be used for at risk travellers. It seems to me properly managed social distancing on a car ferry may be safer and more attractive than travelling by plane. To come back to the question of Dublin Swift, I would not rule it out quite yet. However the ferry companies need to think through how social distancing will operate until a vaccine comes along hopefully next year.

jgf

Something Kicked off in Liverpool due to the cash flow squeeze

from rte.ie

'A key supply line linking Liverpool and Dublin has been indefinitely delayed after Peel Ports prevented a P&O Ferries vessel from sailing.

Peel Ports is the owner of The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, which operates the docks at the Port of Liverpool.

The Norbay, a ropax vessel, is a ship carrying food, medicine and other supplies between the port of Liverpool and the port of Dublin.

However, it was stopped in Liverpool this morning after P&O was presented with what the company described as "a sudden demand for payment of almost £600,000".'

Kieran

Liverpool Echo has a bit more on this - P&O claiming they own far less than what Peel Ports are asking for.
Quote
P&O 'key supplies' ferry detained in Liverpool over port fees row
A major row has broken out between Peel Ports and P&O Ferries
A heavyweight financial row has broken out at Liverpool docks today which has left a ship sending key supplies back and forth to Ireland and England stranded.

A P&O Ferries vessel is currently moored at the city but is detained at the waterfront and cannot leave because of a dispute over outstanding payments.

The ship arrived in Seaforth this morning, loaded with food, medicine and other cargo, as part of a trip it is making every day during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But not long after getting to Merseyside, a disagreement broke out with Peel Ports, which owns and administers the dock facilities of the Port of Liverpool at Seaforth, asking for an unpaid sum of money.

P&O said a request was made for nearly £600,000 and then accused Peel of preventing them from sailing without the bill being settled.

The shipping company believe the amount they owe is substantially less for use of the port facilities - about two-thirds that figure.

And P&O claimed they'd been in ongoing discussion with The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company about the fees that were outstanding.

The firm said they had asked for flexibility to pay the money, due to the coronavirus financial meltdown, and have always remained committed to pay in full.

Their statement also added their point of contact at Mersey Docks and Harbour Company had been furloughed, without their knowledge, meaning communications had suddenly broken down.

This afternoon, the Norbay remained stuck at Peel Ports with no sign of a resolution near.

The company believes Peel Ports' stance will affect the flow of key supplies going to Ireland but also to the north of England, including Merseyside.

A spokesman said: "We have been in open discussions since this crisis began with all of our ports and network to ensure that we can manage payments while everyone deals with this unprecedented situation.

Peel Ports said some of P&O's claims were "factually inaccurate."

It described their detention of the Norbay as a "last-resort" and urged the ferry company to make use of the government's recent financial interventions to help pay their bill.

Other operators between Liverpool and Ireland were operating without similar problems, they added.

A Peel Ports spokeswoman said: "The Port of Liverpool plays a vital role in many critical supply chains from all over the world, handling products needed in the medical & healthcare sector, food industry and energy generation.

"Customers who refuse to pay their bills put these other supply chains at risk.

"Any decision to detain a vessel is always taken as a last-resort and only when there is a significant debt to repay.

"While we understand that we are in unprecedented times, the UK government has announced multiple financial interventions that will support companies with short-term funding issues as a result of Covid-19.

"These should be used as opposed to passing the cash-flow risk along the supply chain.

"Other ferry services from Liverpool to both Dublin and Belfast continue to operate, with multiple departures per day and spare capacity."

A83

Thinking of booking a trip to France on WBY seeing as we might be let in later in June/ July. However the fares on WBY are horrendous. Going out end of June and back mid July is 675 euro for 2 people without a cabin each way. I cannot remember paying fares like that. Anybody know what's going on?

ccs

Quote from: A83 on May 29, 2020, 12:52:40 PM
Thinking of booking a trip to France on WBY seeing as we might be let in later in June/ July. However the fares on WBY are horrendous. Going out end of June and back mid July is 675 euro for 2 people without a cabin each way. I cannot remember paying fares like that. Anybody know what's going on?

Seems about par. Just had a quick look on Stena site and ex Rosslare to Cherbourg is 621euro going out on Sat 27 June and returning 15th July is 591euro so total 1212euro without cabins :-X 

12345teacher

i booked roslare/bilbao return for august 2 cars 4 adults with cabin €828 x2 €1656.full total  ...with brittany ferries

ccs

Coronavirus: EU wants all borders re-opened by the end of the month
Commission to propose end of internal travel restrictions by 1 July All EU member states should lift their temporary coronavirus travel restrictions on each other by the end of the month, Brussels has said. The EU's home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, was speaking ahead of a virtual meeting of national home affairs ministers on Friday.
The 27 member states will discuss how to restore freedom of movement as the pandemic abates across the continent, with many EU countries no longer reporting daily coronavirus deaths.
"I think we're coming very close to a situation where we should lift all the internal border restrictions and border checks," Ms Johansson told the channel Euronews."I'm going to propose that the member states should lift all the internal border checks as soon as possible. And I think a good date should be the end of June."


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-eu-travel-border-reopen-quarantine-restrictions-a9550611.html


ccs

WB Yeats back on the Dublin-Cherbourg run from tomorrow. I'd assume that Irish Ferries expect some form of tourist travel to be allowed in the near future.

ferryfan

Quote from: ccs on June 08, 2020, 11:31:44 AM
WB Yeats back on the Dublin-Cherbourg run from tomorrow. I'd assume that Irish Ferries expect some form of tourist travel to be allowed in the near future.
Summer season is underway if people choose not to travel they probably will not be entitled to a refund as the full service is now being offered.