Cruise and Ferry Review - Summer/Spring 2020

1 2 4 D espite a year of Brexit uncertainty, revenue at Irish Continental Group (ICG) rose by 8.2% to €308.8 million (US$339.8 million) in the first 10 months of 2019. Not a bad effort for a business whose Irish Ferries operations could be negatively affected by a sharp drop in sterling or a decline in the number of tourists crossing the Irish Sea following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU). Higher turnover was achieved across all ICG businesses, with the ferry division performing particularly strongly. Key to the company’s success in 2019 was the arrival of the multi-award winning W.B. Yeats, which initially sailed on the Dublin to Holyhead, Wales route and then transferred to the Dublin to Cherbourg, France route for the summer season. By moving its French services from Rosslare to Dublin with the introduction of W.B. Yeats, Irish Ferries essentially brought the continent closer to most of the population of the island of Ireland. “It’s simply a question of demographics, with over 75% of the population living north of a line from County Wicklow to County Clare, we have removed around 6.5 million car miles per year in Ireland,” explains Andrew Sheen, Irish Ferries’ managing director. “With a rolling seven-day schedule over the peak summer months in June, July and August, we have a departure every other day from the nation’s capital. “We have an operationally flexible layout on W.B. Yeats, which allows us to switch between the luxury overnight long-sea Cherbourg route during the summer and short-sea Holyhead service during the winter,” he says. “It’s a concept that is working very well and allows us to put our fast craft, Dublin Swift, into winter lay-up.” Sheen says the market has responded well, in spite of issues caused by Irish Ferries having to cancel W.B. Yeats’ W.B. Yeats is now a vital part of Irish Ferries’ fleet on the Irish Sea INTERV IEW Staying strong Andrew Sheen reflects on an exciting year for Irish Ferries in a conversation with Justin Merrigan Photo: Gary Davies/Maritime Photographic