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Displaying items by tag: Swansea Cork Ferries

#SWANSEA CORK FERRY – The merchant ship MV Julia which operated as the Cork Swansea Ferry for the last two years is up for sale following the closure of The Fastnet Line ferry service and the loss of 78 jobs.

According to Dominic Daly Auctioneers the owners of the 1982–built vessel, a Finnish Bank, are inviting offers for the vessel on an 'AS SEEN AS IS' basis'. A guide price is expected shortly

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the operator had been in examinership since last November, and a restructured business plan had been submitted with a view to resuming high-season service in April. However, in a statement the owners of the Fastnet Line said they had been unable to raise the €1m-plus investment required and that the examinership had "failed".

The ship is currently lying alongside at Cork Port.

The basic details of the vessel are as follows:

IMO Number: 8020642

Year of Build: 1982 (Germany)

Gross Tonnage: 22,161

DWT: 2,880

Net Tonnage: 8,921

LOA: 153.4

Length (BP): 136.02

Breadth: 24.24

Draught: 5.82

Height: 43.0

Displacement: 12,380

Passengers: Unberthed: 1,062

Cabins 344

Berths: 938

Crew: 110

Lorries: 110

Cars: 550

Ro-Ro Lanes: 710m x 5.20m 4.50m

Ramps: 1 Port 5.56 x 6.16 x 0

1 Starboard 5.56 x 6.16 x 0

1 Centre Or Only 9.95 x 6.68 x 0

Bow Door & Ramp, Stern Ramp

Published in Ports & Shipping
#Ferry – The High Court has appointed an interim examiner to the Fastnet Line group of companies, which operates the M.V. Julia (1981/22,161grt) on the Cork-Swansea ferry service, according to report on RTE.ie
The 154m German built ferry which can take 1,500 passengers and 325 cars is to discontinue its full published service with immediate effect. The next sailing was to be this Thursday with an outward sailing from (Ringaskiddy) Cork Harbour. A statement said all booked passengers would be contacted in the coming days, and full refunds would be issued.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly appointed Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton interim examiner at a sitting of the High Court. Mr McAteer will present a progress report to the court on November 15.

The Fastnet Line companies are owned by the West Cork Tourism Co-Operative Society Limited, which was formed in April 2009. Over 400 members have invested funds in the venture which started in March 2010 following the closure of Swansea Cork Ferries which ran on the route until 2006.

Published in Ferry

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).