Holyhead ferry port is to remain closed until January 15th at the earliest, the operators, Stena Line Ports Ltd, have announced.
The closure of the port and the Dublin-Holyhead ferry service means that approximately 100,000 people who were planning to use the route to travel to Ireland for Christmas will now have to make alternative arrangements.
While politicians urge airlines not to increase prices on the back of increased demand for plane tickets, the chief executive of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, said it was “too late” and that recent hikes in the cost of travelling to Dublin from London were due to the travel cap imposed at Dublin Airport, and not the closure of the Holyhead ferry service.
Stena, in a statement released at lunchtime, said that on the night of December 6th, during Storm Darragh, there were two incidents at the berth at Terminal 3 “resulting in part of the structure collapsing and rendering it unusable.”
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Underwater inspections of both Terminal 3 and the adjacent Terminal 5 berths were carried out after the storm had passed.
While the results are still being assessed, “we are taking the decision now to keep the ferry berths closed until January 15th at the earliest to provide certainty for passengers, freight customers and ferry operators and allow them to make alternative arrangements ahead of one of the busiest times of the year”.
In a joint communique, the Irish and Welsh governments said they were working in partnership on contingency plans and urged travellers to check the ferry companies websites for information.
“Stena have assured us of their commitment to the port of Holyhead and that the damage is repairable and will be repaired,” they said.
Welsh Secretary for Transport Ken Skates appealed to airlines not to increase fares “astronomically” for the estimated 100,000 people likely to be impacted by the closure of the Holyhead route.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show, he said he was appealing to airlines “not to increase fares given the severity of the situation.”
“We believe that the figure is around 100,000 people who return to Ireland at Christmas time, so the number is significant and we’re doing our utmost to identify not just ferries but flights as well,” he said.
On the Ryanair and Aer Lingus websites on Tuesday the lowest prices for December 24th flights from London to Dublin were €138 and €96 respectively. For December 22nd the lowest prices were €104 and €267.
On Monday Ryanair criticised the cap on flights into Dublin Airport and, having mentioned the closure of the Holyhead port, said there was now a “rapid rise” in the cost of its flights from London.
Mr Skates said he it “absolutely vital” that airlines assisted people in getting back to Ireland.
“I think it would be very helpful if they could be part of the solution and in the most sympathetic way,” he said. “We’ll wait and see.”
“Contingency plans are being rolled out and we’re identifying collectively the operators of the ferries and the ports across the UK,” he said.
“We’re identifying as much spare capacity as possible, to be able to utilise other ports to get ferries to and from Ireland,” he said.
Both Irish Ferries and Stena Line have been working on putting new freight and passenger ferry services in place to compensate for the loss of the Holyhead-Dublin route.
On Monday the Minister of State at the Dept of Transport, James Lawless, described the situation as “challenging” and said it was prudent to plan for the worst.
Ger Hyland, President of the Irish Road Haulage Association, said there are worries now that the Welsh port might not be back in operation “before St Patrick’s Day.”
He said the loss of the ferry route was causing his members “a fortune” and that they deserved the public’s thanks for the extra work they have been putting in to try move as much freight between the islands during what is the busiest time of the year.
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