Irish Ferries’ new Holyhead to Dublin ferry, OSCAR WILDE began activity one day earlier than expected, commencing service on 10 February. The vessel departed her maintenance lay-up at Larne Harbour late on 9 February and entered service with the afternoon sailing from Dublin the following day.
To date, the vessel appears to have settled in well to the route. From this weekend, OSCAR WILDE will operate a weekend roundtrip on the Dublin to Cherbourg route. For the next few months, this will be a 1830 sailing from Dublin on Fridays, arriving Cherboug 1430 on Saturday. The return will be ex Cherbourg at 1830 on Saturdays, arriving 1230 on Sunday. Once the Summer schedule begins in June, OSCAR WILDE will sail alternatively at weekends with trips departing ex Ireland on Fridays and Saturdays due to the main French ship, W.B. YEATS sailing 7 days per week.
OSCAR WILDE, joins Holyhead to Dublin mainstay ULYSSES as the secondary conventional vessel on the route. Being the long-term replacement for EPSILON, her arrival allows a much shorter season for the DUBLIN SWIFT high-speed craft, the third vessel on the route. This year the fast craft will only be used on the route from 17 May to 30 September inclusive.
Prepared for Holyhead to Dublin ferry service
Irish Ferries’ chartered RoPax OSCAR WILDE arrived at the port of Larne just after 0600 on 1 February. Docking at Larne’s Curran Quay, she is the biggest vessel to ever dock at the port in terms of gross tonnage, at 36,249 GT.
The vessel had sailed overnight to Larne, having departed Rosslare at 1730 on 31 January. The vessel’s final sailing on the Southern Corridor route was the early morning sailing from Pembroke Dock that day. Irish Ferries replaced her with the chartered NORBAY.
Whilst at Larne, OSCAR WILDE underwent various items of maintenance. The most significant was the extension of her bow ramp. This was necessary to allow her to operate as a drive through vessel on the Holyhead route. She is now normally berthing bow-in at Dublin.
NORBAY will maintain the Rosslare to Pembroke Dock for the foreseeable future until Irish Ferries secure a vessel with more substantial passenger capacity. However, the P&O-owned vessel is due to drydock at Falmouth around 26 February for approximately three weeks. Although Irish Ferries has not yet cancelled any sailings, it does not appear if any cover has yet been sourced during NORBAY’s overhaul.
Second role for Irish Ferries
OSCAR WILDE entered service with Irish Ferries at the end of May 2023.
In April last year Irish Ferries announced that it would charter STAR from Tallink to boost its fleet ahead of the busy summer season. The company said that she would “initially” sail on the Rosslare to Pembroke Dock route. This sparked widely held beliefs that she would eventually end up on the Dublin to Holyhead route. This was especially due to the expected departure of EPSILON from the company’s routes. EPSILON eventually left the Irish Ferries fleet in January
The vessel is the second Irish Ferries vessel to carry the name OSCAR WILDE. The previous vessel to carry the name is the current GNV ALLEGRA which previously served Irish Ferries’ Ireland – France services. She also acted as a relief vessel on the Pembroke Dock to Rosslare and Holyhead to Dublin routes.
OSCAR WILDE has the largest passenger capacity of any ferry on the Irish Sea. With a potential service speed of 27.5 knots, OSCAR WILDE is the fastest conventional ferry on the Irish Sea. However, this speed has not generally been used by Irish Ferries.
OSCAR WILDE has capacity for 2,080 passengers and provides 520 berths in her 131 cabins. The 2007-built ship sails under the Cypriot flag and has space for 2,380 lane metres of freight. With the second highest cabin capacity in the Irish Ferries fleet (behind W.B YEATS), OSCAR WILDE will prove to be a useful vessel for the company on the Dublin to Cherbourg route.
Amongst the facilities offered on OSCAR WILDE is the largest duty free shop on the Irish Sea, a Club Class lounge, Boylan’s Brasserie self-service restaurant, the Sea Pub bar, Café Lafayette coffee shop and a freight drivers’ lounge.
