Holyhead Port will remain closed until at least January 15th due to damage from Storm Darragh.
Irish Ferries says it is actively engaging with alternative ports and expanding capacity on its Pembroke-Rosslare route to accommodate increased passenger numbers as the Christmas season approaches.
Stena Line has also initiated new routes to mitigate service cancellations stemming from the closure of the Dublin-Holyhead route, while officials express concerns over capacity limitations for the upcoming holiday travel. Stena Line will divert traffic to alternative routes including Dublin-Liverpool, Dublin-Fishguard, and Belfast-Cairnryan.
Holyhead Port shared: “Regrettably, both terminals will need to remain closed until Wednesday 15th January 2025 at the earliest. Our current priority is to establish when Terminal 5 can be re-opened safely, to resume ferry services.
This follows two incidents affecting the Terminal 3 berth on Friday 6th December and Saturday 7th December, resulting in part of the structure collapsing and rendering it unusable. Given the scale of the damage, it has been necessary to perform underwater inspections of the structural integrity of the adjacent Terminal 3 and Terminal 5 berths, which could only commence once Storm Darragh had passed, early last Tuesday (10t) morning.
Whilst we are still assessing the full extent of the damage, we are taking the decision now to keep the ferry berths closed until 15th January at the carliest to provide certainty for passengers, freight customers and ferry operators and allow them to make alternative arrangements ahead of one of the busiest times of the year.
We understand the closure of the ferry terminals has had a significant impact on trade, passengers and port customers. We are sorry for the disruption this has caused. The safety of our colleagues and customers is our first priority and we will only permit ferry services to recommence once we are sure it is safe to do so.
Irish Ferries shaered: “With the closure of Holyhead port, Irish Ferries is now cancelling Holyhead/Dublin sailings to end 15 Jan 25 and is contacting customers with alternatives, including the Pembroke/Rosslare route. See https://irishferries.com/ie-en/sailing-updates/dublin-holyhead/ for info. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.
Irish Ferries can re-confirm categorically as stated previously, that the current closure of Holyhead Port is not due to the berthing operations of our vessels, but due to port infrastructure damage that emerged during storm Darragh, and this is currently being assessed by the port operator. In the key week ahead with freight backlogs to clear, and thousands of passengers about to embark on their drive home for Christmas to reunite with family and friends, Irish Ferries remains actively engaged with alternative British ports to facilitate access for our vessels and help alleviate the significant pressures on both the freight and passenger markets.”
Minister James Lawless shared: “Is this a more serious issue than was first thought. Is it going to take time to resolve? My instinct last week was that it is more serious and that’s why I instructed my own team and everybody, all the stakeholders to really plan for the worst and look beyond Holyhead. And that’s we’ve been doing over the last four to five days.”
