Irish Ferries Announce Newbuild for UK/Ireland/France

[cvabishop]

Probably just as well, it would only make him unhappy...

[Solo]

Just finished another bottle that I got from some place near Roscoff, so all is well.

[neilcvx]

48 minutes ago, Solo said:

I don't know what's happening Chris can't get the pictures on PC, Phone, Blackberry or ipad.

Me neither 

[hhvferry]

The interior design of the WBY was by Steen Friis, who also did things like the Maersk Ds, Stena's rather nice Killingholme ships, and knocked the Hammerodde and Dueodde into shape to make them vaguely appealing compared to the rather horrible Ben my Chree from which they were derived. The design approach for all those vessels is for them to be modern, quite elegant but distinctly understated which is an approach carried onto the WBY. Closer to home, Steen Friis also did the Dana Sirena in her original DFDS guise, and their masterpiece was supposed to be the Norman Leader where the company was responsible for softening her brutal exterior lines, looking after the entire interior, the graphic design including signage plus developing LD Lines' corporate identity.

I quite like the Yeats - although she could do with a bit more colour, the approach is rather more sophisticated than the absolute monocrhome applied to things like the DFDS North Shields ships in their most recent guises. Certainly dispensing with things like the awful, vast Irish pub on the Ulysses is a step forward. But the compromises between her short sea and long-distance modes present themselves in things like the absence of a proper show bar, a place for entertainment or a proper kids play area. She's quite nice for three or four hours but a long crossing to France...? Perhaps less so.

Edited March 18 by hhvferry

[jonno]

7 hours ago, Fine Whine said:

My fear has always been that she would be an IKEA ship,

My feelings too especially for only €140m... and to think I'm having a week in Denmark including flights & hire car for less than one way in a WBY suite. My cancelled July 2018 crossing now may be a dodged bullet.

For me Oscar Wilde was the saving grace of all Irish sea crossings, even the large reception area felt cosy, the rest are all very utilitarian. I won't be surprised if Ulysses' replacement is no better and now she's had her more flamboyant refit, I bet she's in the shop window ready to depart on the QT in 18 months...

When you consider that you're only aboard MSM for 90 minutes longer than Isle of Inishmore, two very similar vessels built on the same blocks, there's no contest in terms of onboard quality. 

You're right, the extra funding in Honfleur isn't just due to the bespoke LNG set up, there's far more going into the quality of the consumer services & public spaces, She's costing near on €200m for a reason. I'm not really expecting much in the cabin dept though, they all seem to buying into the pseudo IKEA modular stuff now as it's a far simpler to maintain and clean.

Oh, no joy on the pics on my end either.

 

 

Edited March 18 by jonno

[Cabin-boy]

I had the photos on my phone last night but this morning they've gone back to text. Weird! Ed. 

[Ryan_H]

Where is Oscar Wilde at the moment, laid up? Has she been sold?

[Cabin-boy]

She's in dry dock in Belfast right now. Ed. 

[jonno]

1 hour ago, Ryan_H said:

Where is Oscar Wilde at the moment, laid up? Has she been sold?

She was listed on Horizon for a grand total of 5 days at the end of February, there are other scraps of info too which would suggest that she's being moved on to warmer waters.

[Ryan_H]

On ‎18‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 20:54, hhvferry said:

The interior design of the WBY was by Steen Friis, who also did things like the Maersk Ds, Stena's rather nice Killingholme ships, and knocked the Hammerodde and Dueodde into shape to make them vaguely appealing compared to the rather horrible Ben my Chree from which they were derived. The design approach for all those vessels is for them to be modern, quite elegant but distinctly understated which is an approach carried onto the WBY. Closer to home, Steen Friis also did the Dana Sirena in her original DFDS guise, and their masterpiece was supposed to be the Norman Leader where the company was responsible for softening her brutal exterior lines, looking after the entire interior, the graphic design including signage plus developing LD Lines' corporate identity.

I quite like the Yeats - although she could do with a bit more colour, the approach is rather more sophisticated than the absolute monocrhome applied to things like the DFDS North Shields ships in their most recent guises. Certainly dispensing with things like the awful, vast Irish pub on the Ulysses is a step forward. But the compromises between her short sea and long-distance modes present themselves in things like the absence of a proper show bar, a place for entertainment or a proper kids play area. She's quite nice for three or four hours but a long crossing to France...? Perhaps less so.

I've only sailed on the Ulysses the once and was distinctly under-whelmed, but I have to say I thought the large 'Irish pub' overlooking the bow was probably her best feature...!

[neilcvx]

Oscar Wilde confirmed as sold.

https://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/icg2/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=500&newsid=1247074

 

[rogerpatenall]

Had my first sighting today of the WBY. Quite impressive.

[jonno]

Siem no8 will be floated out at the end of this month. I've been told that sections of the hull have already been fabricated in the yard for IF2 and a keel laying ceremony is pencilled in for Friday November 1st. The Hull for the 2nd Irish Ferries RoPax won't take very long to construct as it's freight decks all the way up to bridge level. I've also been lead to believe that Marine Projects will begin the 2 and 3 deck superstructures at the same time and will be delivered "more advanced, for sure"

3 hours ago, Fine Whine said:

it's WB Yeats from 28th March until end of September.

Chris, surely this is how it should be... WBY full time to Cherbourg? The 2nd build is exclusively for Dublin-Holyhead.

[Fine Whine]

1 hour ago, jonno said:

Siem no8 will be floated out at the end of this month. I've been told that sections of the hull have already been fabricated in the yard for IF2 and a keel laying ceremony is pencilled in for Friday November 1st. The Hull for the 2nd Irish Ferries RoPax won't take very long to construct as it's freight decks all the way up to bridge level. I've also been lead to believe that Marine Projects will begin the 2 and 3 deck superstructures at the same time and will be delivered "more advanced, for sure"

Chris, surely this is how it should be... WBY full time to Cherbourg? The 2nd build is exclusively for Dublin-Holyhead.

So Friday 1st November Jonno, the day after Halloween 🎃. I don’t mention the dreaded « B » word on here but wonder how the political landscape will look the day after the dreaded night before...🤭

If Flensburg can get their act together then that’s great news, but everyone I’ve met from Irish Ferries over the last few weeks are either very clever bluffers or  being kept in the dark - the default answer has been emphatically ‘we haven’t a clue what’s going on’ - to be sure.. 

Of course the new build is for Dublin - Holyhead and as the Stena E-Flexers will be operational soon IF won’t want them stealing market share on this particular cash cow route. My comment about timetabling was that in theory WB Y should be rostered beyond the end of September to Cherbourg, let’s watch this space.

Chris

[TonyMWeaver]

2 hours ago, jonno said:

Chris, surely this is how it should be... WBY full time to Cherbourg? The 2nd build is exclusively for Dublin-Holyhead.

I've been hearing that 'WB Yeats' is doing berthing trials in Pembroke on Sunday. I don't think she will as she's too long for the quay. However, WB Yeats is going to Dunkirk, arriving on Monday morning for 'Warranty Work' and maintenance.

[jonno]

3 hours ago, TonyMWeaver said:

I've been hearing that 'WB Yeats' is doing berthing trials in Pembroke on Sunday. I don't think she will as she's too long for the quay. However, WB Yeats is going to Dunkirk, arriving on Monday morning for 'Warranty Work' and maintenance.

Yes I doubt they'd get her on the dolphins at the Dock. Epsilon has been there and her bow just scrapes on the 185m of outrigger spans, a further 10 metres of ship not to mention the displacement of of over 50,000 tonnes is probably too much.

[BigDW1946]

5 hours ago, jonno said:

Yes I doubt they'd get her on the dolphins at the Dock. Epsilon has been there and her bow just scrapes on the 185m of outrigger spans, a further 10 metres of ship not to mention the displacement of of over 50,000 tonnes is probably too much.

Does rule WBY out of doing Rosslare to Pembroke if ever Inishmore is out of service? We know WBY fits Rosslare as this was first Irish port she docked at before entering service.

[Gareth]

Maybe IF just wants to go and check?  If she is being sent for berthing trials at Pembroke then maybe the aim is to find out whether she fits or (as suspected) not?

[captjack]

She due in next Monday at 0600 and sailing at 0900

[Fine Whine]

FREIGHT AND PASSENGER FERRY SERVICES     PORT OF PEMBROKE WEBSITE

We operate a year round, twice daily international ferry service from Wales to Ireland with Irish Ferries, and have the capacity to expand.

Pembroke Dock Ferry Terminal can accommodate vessels of up to 185 metres in length, with a draft of up to 6.5 metres. With a two-tier linkspan we can process your freight and passenger traffic quickly, safely and efficiently, allowing you to manage your costs and get your passengers to their destination on time.

 

Taken from Pembroke Port website so as Jonno correctly mentions her length of almost 195M and depth of 6.7M could cause a few technical issues if she attempts to dock on Monday morning! I'll try to winkle out some information on this from a couple of friends at Irish Ferries.....

Chris

 

 

[jonno]

4 hours ago, BigDW1946 said:

Does rule WBY out of doing Rosslare to Pembroke if ever Inishmore is out of service? We know WBY fits Rosslare as this was first Irish port she docked at before entering service.

Yes Rosslare's berth 1&2 are both 200m+... capable of ship lengths of  205m & 215m after extension the larger E-Flexer variant will also be able to dock there too.

 

 

[jonno]

4 hours ago, Gareth said:

Maybe IF just wants to go and check?  If she is being sent for berthing trials at Pembroke then maybe the aim is to find out whether she fits or (as suspected) not?

There's adequate space to increase the outriggers & dolphins to well over 200m, the problem lies in the anti collision area and the sea room passing St Annes through the Haven but again dredging would probably deal with that... and bring up more Shorts Sunderland sea plane artefacts for the museum in a similar way to the finds made when Portsmouth was dredged for the carriers.

I quite like the idea of a WBY drive by at Pembroke... a bit like Bullseye, "here's what you could of won!"

[Fine Whine]

WB Yeats now steaming south, and it looks as though she's heading to Rosslare as a first port of call - it will be interesting to see what she does overnight....

Chris

Edited October 12 by Fine Whine
Can't spell...

[jonno]

2 hours ago, Fine Whine said:

WB Yeats now steaming south, and it looks as though she's heading to Rosslare as a first port of call - it will be interesting to see what she does overnight....

Chris

Chris, she's due into Milford 0730 tomorrow according to A.I.S. I think it's significant if she fits.

[jonno]

Had a bit of a play with WBY... She'll fit Milford, more so bow on to the linkspan as her near 3m long forefoot will hide underneath the ramps and her stern ropes are nearly 20m inboard. Her back end can stick out as much as it likes as it's open water all the way to the Cleddau Bridge.

In real terms and unrestricted I.F only need 175m to moor her.