IRISH Sea passengers can expect a 99 minute crossing on the new Dun Laoghaire Holyhead superferry from next weekend, Stena Line predicts. However, "British and Irish marine safety authorities say no date has been fixed for introducing the new ferry.
Delayed by six months due to a combination of bad weather and construction difficulties, the £65 million high speed catamaran is expected to be on the route from March 30th, according to the company. Marine evacuation systems still had to be approved by the authorities, but Stena was "very confident" of this, a spokesman said.
The British Marine Safety Agency (MSA), which has been co operating with the Department of the Marine on safety clearance, told The Irish Times that "no firm date had been agreed", although this was a matter for the company. Further trials for the evacuation procedures still had to be completed, a spokeswoman said.
The MSA also disputed the company's claim that the ship was "all weather". All high speed ferries worked with operating limits, including weather restrictions, the MSA said.
The terminal at Dun Laoghaire, which is part of a £20 million State funded harbour development for the new ship, is "99 per cent complete", Stena Line said blast week. Its completion had not contributed to delays in introducing the new craft, which is in Holyhead, he said. "We eased up on the work when we knew the arrival had been deferred."
Bookings for the superferry opened in February, and brochures carried a new start date of March 1st. But passengers who had booked for the first sailings were phoned and offered an alternative passage on the existing catamaran or conventional ferry, the spokesman said. "People were given loads of options."
The company's Lynx I catamaran, which was due to run on the Rosslare Fishguard route, has been diverted to Dun Laoghaire and will not return to the southwest until May 15th. This was a commercial decision and was not weather related, a spokesman said. Weather has affected Lynx sailings generally, however, and 22 such sailings on the Dun Laoghaire Holyhead route were lost up to March 22nd for this reason.
The superferry, named Stena Explorer, has a speed of 40 knots and aims to give passengers a much smoother trip than the current Lynx I. Damage sustained en route to Holyhead from Sweden was "superficial", the spokesman said. The prototype aims to be more stable than the conventional ro ro. Even if the bottoms of both hulls are ripped open and fill with water, the car deck will remain two metres above the sea surface, the designers state.
