P&O Ferries’ EUROPEAN CAUSEWAY has gone to a scheduled drydock at Harland and Wolff, Belfast. The vessel operated her regular Cairnryan – Larne sailing at 0800 this morning, then departed for Belfast shortly before midday. The ship sailed straight to Belfast Dry Dock.
Replacing the EUROPEAN CAUSEWAY is P&O’s Liverpool – Dublin vessel, the NORBAY. That vessel operated her morning sailing from Dublin as normal on 22 September, before being replaced on the roster by the STENA FORECASTER, currently on charter to P&O by Stena RoRo.
NORBAY departed the Mersey for Larne around 2100, arriving at Larne 8 hours later on 23 September.
The ship took up the Larne – Cairnryan route on a delayed 1200 sailing.
The NORBAY is due to replace the EUROPEAN CAUSEWAY until the 0400 sailing ex Larne on 9 October. The height of trailers onboard her sailings will be height restricted as this vessel has a deck height of 4.9m.
Amended Timetable
Whilst the NORBAY is covering for the EUROPEAN CAUSEWAY a slightly reduced frequency will be provided with a maximum of 6 sailings from both ports per day (on the 2359, 0400, 0800, 1200, 1600, 2000 pattern). This should ensure the stern-only ship has adequate time for loading.
Earlier this year, NORBAY’s sister-ship NORBANK covered both EUROPEAN CAUSEWAY and near-sister EUROPEAN HIGHLANDER on the Cairnryan route. This took place during two three-week periods in April and May when both vessels attended H&W in-turn.
This is the fifth time that NORBAY has provided relief on the Larne – Cairnryan route. She has previously covered maintenance periods on the service during 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. The ship also provided a one-off sailing from Liverpool – Larne overnight on 1st March 2018 after severe weather closed Dublin port. NORBANK’s visit earlier in the year was her first spell of service at Larne.
