Passengers on a Stena Line ferry from Rosslare that could not dock because of bad weather have finally disembarked at Fishguard – more than 23 hours after their scheduled arrival time.
The captain of the ferry successfully berthed the vessel at 11am after two previous attempts were hampered by “horrendous” weather.
The ferry left Rosslare, Co Wexford, at 9am on Monday and was unable to dock in Fishguard at 12.30pm due to high winds and rough seas. A further attempt to dock later in the day was also unsuccessful.
On Monday night the ferry was about 6km off the Welsh coast where Stena Line said it would remain overnight before a fresh attempt was made to land on Tuesday.
Stena Line also cancelled Monday night’s planned sailing of the Stena Europe from Rosslare to Fishguard. The company has advised passengers due to sail on routes between Ireland and the UK on Tuesday to check if their service is due to operate as normal.
Shortly before midday on Tuesday, Stena Line said: “This morning at 1100 hrs the Stena Europe berthed at Fishguard and all passengers have now disembarked.
“Yesterday, due to extreme weather conditions, the Stena Europe 0900 sailing from Rosslare was unable to berth and therefore crew and passengers spent a comfortable night onboard.”
A Stena Line spokeswoman earlier said the passengers on the Rosslare to Fishguard ferry are in “great spirits” despite the ordeal. “They are very relaxed, obviously anxious to get home or to the destination they are going to,” she told RTÉ radio.
She described the weather as “horrendous”, saying: “ The winds were just totally against our docking procedures... the captain will not take any risk in this situation whatsoever so he made the best judgement call and decided to shelter off Cardigan”.
She added that, in terms of compensation, “all passengers will be looked after”.
On Monday the Irish Coast Guard said conditions were not conducive to a pleasant voyage as a northerly wind was blowing down the Irish Sea creating large waves. The coast guard asked people to stay away from exposed shores.
