Oscar Wilde, Irish Ferries newest addition, freshly repainted in the company’s livery, made its maiden call to Dublin Port yesterday while en route from Belfast to other Irish Sea ports, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The former shuttle ferry the Star that served a Baltic Sea capitals link, had undergone rebranding in dry-dock at Harland & Wolff, following its charter from the Tallink Grupp to the Irish Continental Group (ICG), the parent company of Irish Ferries.

Initially the Oscar Wilde is to serve on Irish Ferries Rosslare-Pembroke route by replacing another chartered ferry, Blue Star 1. The Greek flagged ferry is due in the Irish port this evening before 1900hrs.

Whereas the Oscar Wilde has been tracked by Afloat, having vacated the berth for the inbound Blus Star 1. As for the Oscar Wilde's maiden commercial sailing, it is understood this is to take place possibly tonight or in the next day or so. 

These sailing schedules, follow Afloat's observation of Oscar Wilde when entering Dublin Bay yesterday after an overnight passage from Belfast where also at H&W, the interior facilities had a makeover to match those of the fleet that includes ferries operating Dover-Calais.

Facilities on the Oscar Wilde that have been given the Irish Ferries rebranding treatment include, an a la carte restaurent, a bar, self-service restaurent, club class lounge, gaming zone, pet facilities and a children’s play area.

In addition, the newcomer with a 2,080 passenger capacity with 134 cabins, will have the largest duty-free shop on the Irish Sea.There will also be separate facilities for freight-drivers with use of 2,380 lane meters for freight vehicles as well for coaches and cars.

Once past the Baily Lighthouse on Howth Head, Oscar Wilde headed for the Dublin Bay Buoy yesterday morning at 0900hrs which was  followed by the ferry making a full circle turn before proceeding into the capital port.

Also in the bay was another Irish Ferries fleetmate, the ropax Epsilon which was at anchorage in between sailings that run in tandem with flagship cruiseferry W.B. Yeats on the Dublin-Cherbourg route.

When within the channel fairway, Dublin Port Company tugs Beaufort and Shackleton welcomed the Oscar Wilde with a traditional maritime display as the tug’s gave a water cannon salute over the bow of the ferry.

The call to Dublin Port was to conduct berthing trials at both linkspans of Terminal 1 where Irish Ferries also operate the cruiseferry Ulysses and fastferry Dublin Swift on the Holyhead route.

On completion of trials, which only took a few hours, Oscar Wilde was back in Dublin Bay, this time bound for Holyhead where further trails took place.

As of this morning, Oscar Wilde had arrived in Rosslare, having completed a second overnight passage in the Irish Sea when sailing from the north Wales port. The replacement ferry was preparing in Wexford for its debut on the southern Ireland-Wales route. 

Berthing trails were not necessary in both the Wexford and Pembrokeshire ports as Afloat previously reported, along with those at Cherbourg, as they had occured during the Star’s delivery voyage from Estonia to Ireland.

#ferry - A fresh new look involving a splash of colour across the Brittany Ferries fleet sees a bright new logo in striking shades of blue, orange and green!

The new design, which comes with a more modern, warm and lyrical typeface, will be applied to each ship during refit, and will eventually be emblazoned on the side of every vessel’s hull and funnel.

The logo according to Brittany Ferries is the result of extensive customer research. The design more truly reflects the fullness of the ferry operator's experience: the richness of travel by sea, the warmth of the welcome ashore and on board, and the spirit of discovery for some of Western Europe’s most beautiful holiday destinations.

As well as a ferry operator Brittany Ferries is a holiday company too, with four decades of experience arranging sail-and-stay packages. Today the company offers thousands of hotels and holiday properties in France, Spain, Ireland and the UK making it one of Europe’s leading tour operators. The new logo reflects its destinations, with blue, green and orange shades evoking the seas, landscapes and skies of the holiday regions Brittany Ferries serves

On the Irish services, Afloat adds is the Cork-Roscoff (seasonal) service that ended earlier this month (see Pont-Aven's Route du Rhum story) though the newly launched first ever direct Ireland-Spain route of Cork-Santander continues sailings on a year-round basis.

The new visual identity comes as part of a multi-million euro investment to make Brittany Ferries fit for the future. Three brand new ships are currently under construction and due to join the fleet in 2019 Honfleur, 2021 Galicia and 2022 Salamanca, see story. Afloat adds Honfleur, a LPG powered ferry under construction at the FSG yard in Germany, is to enter English Channel service between Portsmouth-(Oustreham) Caen.

A wide-ranging digital transformation programme is also underway, aimed at enhancing every aspect of the customer experience from researching to booking, checking-in, sailing, holidaying and returning home.

Florence Gourdon, marketing director explains: “This is the right time for an exciting change. We last evolved our logo 15 years ago (see Bretagne, former flagship on Irish route) and so much has changed in that time – for example we now live in a digital world. And while the previous logo fully communicated the reliability and trustworthiness of our ferry service, it didn’t fully embody the emotional side of travelling and holidaying with Brittany Ferries and the discoveries inherent in the fabulous destinations we serve.”

“This new look stands for everything that makes our brand: the quality of our products and services, the passion, pride and professionalism of our teams, and our bright future with brand new ships and rich experiences on the horizon.”

The new design was first glimpsed by eagle-eyed ship spotters at the shipyards where Armorique and Pont-Aven are currently undergoing winter refits.

Afloat adds Pont-Aven is recieving such work as part of routine winter drydocking in Spain at the Astander Yard in Astilleo. The flagship having shifted on 11 November from nearby Santander where the direct continental Cork service as previously mentioned is maintained year round by the chartered-in ropax tonnage, Connemara.

The ships from the fleet will shortly return to service sporting the new look. The new logo will be unveiled further over the coming days. Then, and throughout 2019 it will be rolled out across all Brittany Ferries sites, marketing and operations including everything from signs, brochures, uniforms, to advertising and websites.