Stena Line ferry services resume from Holyhead: Welcomed by Irish Exporters Association

Stena Line’s ferry services on the Holyhead – Dublin route resumed this morning (16th Jan) following the closure of the ferry berths at Holyhead Port in early December.

From today, Stena Line will operate its normal sailing schedule of four sailings from Holyhead to Dublin with the revised timetable of 04:00hrs, 10:00hrs, 16:00hrs and 22.15hrs. [04:30hrs, 10:15hrs, 16:30hrs and 22:30hrs from Dublin]

Johan Edelman, Stena Line Trade Director (Irish Sea South) said: “The last few weeks have been an extremely challenging time for our customers and staff.  The extended closure of the ferry berths at Holyhead Port at one of the busiest times of the year was unprecedented and I would like to thank our customers and staff for their patience and resilience.

“Now that the berth has been cleared to be safely reopened, we moved quickly to put the resources in place to ensure that we could provide a fully operational service on our Holyhead – Dublin route from today onwards.”

During the closure, Stena Line ensured continuity of connectivity between the UK and Ireland with new services from Dublin to both Birkenhead and Fishguard redeploying Stena Adventurer and Stena Estrid from the Dublin – Holyhead route. The company also chartered the Ben My Chree to operate a freight only service on Dublin – Heysham. Both Estrid and Adventurer have returned to service on Dublin – Holyhead.

IEA welcomes the reopening of Holyhead port
The Irish Exporters Association (IEA) has welcomed the reopening of Holyhead Port ferry services.
The Dublin-Holyhead (and return) route, a vital link between Ireland and the UK, plays a crucial role in the Irish export and import industry, facilitating the smooth transit of goods and services.
Simon McKeever, CEO of the IEA, commented, “We welcome the reopening of Holyhead Ferry services. The Port is a critical infrastructure not only for the Irish export community, but also for Wales and the UK. As we have seen over the last number of weeks, any disruption can significantly impact the movement of goods into and out of Ireland to the UK and further afield.
It is now vital that the port authorities do everything possible to expedite the reopening of the second docking berth. While the current arrangement is welcome, it could easily be derailed by weather or other external factors.  We will continue to engage with government and stakeholders on both sides of the Irish sea until both berths are fully operational.”