Ulysses goes to dry-dock, but W.B. Yeats is still not in service

Irish Ferries ULYSSES entered dry-dock at Cammell-Laird Birkenhead this evening having been replaced on the timetable by the Visentini Ro-Pax EPSILON this morning. It had been widely expected that W.B. YEATS, which was delivered just before Christmas, would be in service to release ULYSSES, but it appears the new vessel is still not ready. This is despite Irish Ferries previously stating that she would be in service in “early January”.

ULYSSES had actually been expected to go to dry-dock over a week ago, with the delay seemingly to have been to wait until W.B. YEATS was in service to provide more capacity. As the new vessel is not available, veteran cruise-ferry OSCAR WILDE has remained on the Dublin to Holyhead route on the secondary schedule with her planned sailing to France this evening cancelled. This means that there has been a significant cut in freight capacity on the Holyhead route and that those with bookings for the French service have had to make alternative arrangements.