Irish Ferries Fleet movements

Started by Collision-course, January 05, 2010, 02:52:47 PM

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ferryfan

Ulysses docked stern first in Dublin last week. I was on SFX and from what I could make  out only one of Ulysses lower stern ramps can be deployed with the current linkspan at Dublin.

Steven


12 JUN 2018
Press Release 12th June 2018 3pm 

Irish Ferries Regrets to Announce Further Delay to W.B. Yeats

German shipbuilder, Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft & Co.KG (FSG), has advised Irish Ferries of a further delay to the delivery of the W.B. Yeats

New ship was due to commence sailings between Ireland and France from the 30th July 2018

Irish Ferries regrets to announce that, due to extraordinary circumstances beyond its control, the delivery of the W.B. Yeats has been further delayed by FSG. Because of the uncertainty caused by this additional delay, Irish Ferries has no option but to cancel all the planned sailings to France for W.B. Yeats this Summer, with the ship now likely to commence sailing with Irish Ferries on Dublin / Holyhead as scheduled in September. Irish Ferries is contacting affected customers this afternoon to inform them of the cancellations, offer them alternative travel options, and apologise for the disruption to their travel arrangements.

Approximately 6,000 bookings will be impacted by this issue.  Customers affected are being offered a number of alternative travel options e.g. alternative direct sailings on the Oscar Wilde, or a 'land-bridge' option i.e. sailing to the UK (from either Dublin or Rosslare) and then to France (Customers who choose the land-bridge option, will also be reimbursed the cost of their fuel requirements from the port of arrival in the UK to the port of arrival in France).If alternative travel arrangements do not suit, customers will, of course, be entitled to a full and immediate refund of all monies paid.

Irish Ferries was previously forced to cancel July sailings for the W.B. Yeats when they were informed in April by FSG, of the initial delay.  Approximately 2,500 bookings were impacted by the earlier cancellation, however, 95% of those chose to switch to Irish Ferries' other cruise ferry, the Oscar Wilde.

Irish Ferries very much regrets the inconvenience these cancellations cause our customers and hopes that as many as possible will choose to be accommodated via the company's alternative arrangements and continue with their holiday plans. As valued customers of Irish Ferries, we are offering each affected customer a €150 voucher which can be used on any of our Ireland-France routes next year.

Irish Ferries is contacting customers directly, however, any customers who wish to contact Irish Ferries can call +353 (0) 818 300 400 or email customersupport@irishferries.com.
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

Steven

As I've detailed on NI Ferry Site, W.B. YEATS is now off the booking engine.  Totally.  Oscar is doing some Dublin to France sailings at the start of October by the looks of things with Swift still coming off the schedule on October 8th.  Strangely just Ulysses on the Dublin - Holyhead route from then forward at the moment!

https://www.niferry.co.uk/irish-ferries-cancels-all-sailings-of-wb-yeats/
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

IFPete

The Holyhead time table has not yet been updated.

Epsilon is not showing after 18th September and Swift is not showing after 8th October.

Steven

Quote from: IFPete on June 12, 2018, 09:53:35 PM
The Holyhead time table has not yet been updated.

Epsilon is not showing after 18th September and Swift is not showing after 8th October.

Swift wont do since shes going seasonal.  I imagine mid-September is sensible for Yeats possibly to enter service but they wont want to take a chance.  3rd time lucky!
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

IFPete

I would say the shipyard is paying out big time.

Steven

Quote from: IFPete on June 14, 2018, 08:26:24 PM
I would say the shipyard is paying out big time.
Depends on what was negotiated in the contract.  Could even be a case of arbitration.
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

IFPete

#1177
The delays now are not excusable. Hopefully the missing parts particularly for the electrical system will arrive before the end of june.

Steven

Quote from: IFPete on June 17, 2018, 03:23:38 PM
The delays now are not excusable. Hopefully the missing parts particularly for the electrical system will arrive before the end of june.
That depends on the cause of the delay.  Has the specification changed mid-build for example (not saying it has, but it wouldn't be the first time)?  3 months isn't really all that long to be honest in the grand scheme of things (heck, pride of Kent was out for about 6 months for repairs!).  It's seems longer because the build time was so short in the first place, something that was no doubt dictated by commercial pressure from the purchaser (who for all we know were warned at the time things might slip due to the rather optimistic schedule - a schedule that experienced builders of large RoPax ferries would struggle with.  That FSG say they are paying suppliers directly indicates a third party or middle man is at fault.  It could happen to any yard in the world. 

It's easy for us to sit behind our keyboards or touch screen and say this is unacceptable, but in reality we know very little.  The nature of shipbuilding and certification means that what seems to be a relatively trivial component can cause a major knock on delay if it is delayed or even faulty.  I doubt a lot of this stuff is sitting around on shelves gathering dust either.
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

IFPete

For bespoke interior parts this is a risk, however the electrical system is hardly bespoke.

I agree the build time was ambitious, however FSG did a very good job building and launching in four month,

I am just wondering if they would have been better to contract a cruise ship interiors specialist for the fittout.

Steven

Quote from: IFPete on June 18, 2018, 08:58:07 AM
For bespoke interior parts this is a risk, however the electrical system is hardly bespoke.

I agree the build time was ambitious, however FSG did a very good job building and launching in four month,

I am just wondering if they would have been better to contract a cruise ship interiors specialist for the fittout.
Any ship is effectively a mobile power plant, and needs to be able to provide a stable voltage in both AC and DC.  For example the Superfast VII class output around 5,400kW from their diesel generators alone. Providing 1000kW + for each transverse thruster on-demand puts a huge strain on the electrical system of a ship for example.  Add the demands of all the other essential onboard systems plus those from lighting, heating, onboard entertainment, and supplying power to refrigerated vehicles and you have a huge electrical demand.  To put that into perspective, the average UK household draws a max of around 700w at peak (thats watts, not kilowatts).  You cant just go down to your local hardware store or electrical wholesaler and by the electrical components and cabling for a 54,000 ton ferry.  If you could I'm sure FSG would have done so!

Like many industrial systems, electrical components for large vessels have lead times.  Given the cost of things like bridge systems there aren't large stocks of the specific items needed sitting around on shelves somewhere.  As with plumbing, the design of the electrical system will be largely bespoke to the class (its one of the economies gained by building multiple units to the same design).  In the case of FSG a 12 driver RoRo will require a very different electrical system to W.B YEATS as the demands on the system will be very different. 

With regard to fit-out, I'm not 100% on who is doing the interior fit out if I'm honest.  However, given the names of the suppliers we DO know I doubt they've just brought in the local handyman to do the work.  However what I can say is that procurement and installation for items consisting from shaft generators to bridge systems (including all cabling and installation) WAS outsourced to a very well known name in the maritime sector.
Steve in Belfast (suburbia)

Flickr: www.flickr.com/tarbyonline

Ulysses17

Ulysses 0240 and 0805 sailings cancelled. Quoting technical. The price seems fairly high this year for not sending to dry dock?

Cillian

Travelled back on the superfast X last night and i thought Ulysses was moving very slow.

ferryman972411

Ulysses delayed again tonight and tomorrow passengers transferred to 'alternative' 0230 and 1400 Holyhead sailings (Stena?). Looks like Ulysses maybe docked in Holyhead for repairs or taken out of service to go to be repaired.

ferryman972411

how do shifts work on Ulysses? 1 crew working the 0805 DUB-HOL until the 2055 DUB-HOL when the 2nd crew take over? Captain always seems to be present announcing on the 0805 DUB and 1410 HOL at-least.