Irish Ferries has ordered a second new cruise ferry that will be built in Germany at a cost of €165 million.
This will start sailing between the UK and Ireland in 2020.
The same shipyard is already building Irish Ferries’ new ship, the W.B. Yeats, which will sail by summer.
After being built, the new ship will be the largest cruise ferry in the world in terms of vehicle capacity holding 1,500 cars, or up to 330 freight trucks and will weigh approximately 67,300 tonnes.
The cruise ferry is said to be designed specifically to sail between Holyhead and Dublin.
This will be in tandem with Irish Ferries’ current flagship Ulysses, which will replace the chartered ferry Epsilon.
Keeping in mind the highest standards of cruise shipping, and equipped with systems to meet current and known future environmental regulations, that will delivering optimal fuel consumption the new cruise ferry will be built.
Eamonn Rothwell, chief executive for Irish Continental Group (the owners of Irish Ferries) commented that the investment underpins the confidence they have in markets where they operate. After the recent investment in W.B. Yeats, their total investment comes to €315 million for two vessels.
Tags: Dublin, Eamonn Rothwell, Holyhead, Irish Ferries, Ulysses
