A New Ferry Tale Begins

A new era in the history of Ireland-France ferry services began on 30th May 2016 when the Irish Continental Group (ICG) placed a €144 million order with Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) in Flensburg, Germany, for a new ship to operate Irish Ferries’ Dublin-Cherbourg service March-September and Dublin-Holyhead over the winter months. For the time being, the winter service to Cherbourg will be handled by the chartered 26,375gt/2011 built Epsilon, a Visentini built Ro-Pax ship that also operates Dublin-Holyhead in the summer (until another newbuild is delivered in 2020).

ICG secured €75 million in financing from The European Investment Bank (EIB) towards the capital cost of the new ship with a further €80 million made available for the second newbuild project, which has commanded a price of €162.5 million. These long-term loans were made under the EU’s Green Shipping initiative, aimed at supporting newbuild or retrofit projects regarded as having particular merits as to emission-reducing and energy-saving elements.

The present-day ferry service between the two countries can trace its roots back to 1973 when Irish Continental Line was formed as a joint venture between Irish Shipping, Fearnley & Eger and Swedish company Lion Ferry. The first route was Rosslare-Le Havre using the 7,819gt/1973 built Saint Patrick. This vessel was renamed Saint Colum I in 1982 and ended her operating life as the Express Poseidon in the Greek Islands in 2005. When Irish Shipping went into liquidation in 1984, Irish Continental Line was the subject of a management buyout and re-emerged as Irish Continental Group.

In 1992, ICG took over the British and Irish Steam Packet Company Limited, which traded as B+I Line, and operated services on the Dublin-Holyhead and Rosslare-Pembroke routes. The new trading name was announced as Irish Ferries Ltd. and a 10 year/€500 million fleet renewal programme followed. When the new ferry operator was unveiled, the Rosslare-Cherbourg/Le Havre services were in the hands of the 10,256gt/1973 built St. Killian II (enlarged in 1981) and the 7,984gt/1973 built St. Patrick II. In 1995 the Le Havre calls were replaced by Roscoff and the ageing ships were themselves replaced in 1998/1999 by the 25,745gt/1982 built Normandy (the former St. Nicholas/Stena Normandy). This ship was then replaced when ICG acquired Color Lines’ 31,914gt/1987 built Kronprins Harald and renamed her Oscar Wilde for a debut on the Rosslare-Cherbourg/ Roscoff schedule in 2008. The christening of the Oscar Wilde heralded the start of the Irish literary themed naming policy for Irish Ferries, which was followed by the 5,992gt/1999 built Jonathan Swift and the 50,938gt/2001 built Ulysses.

The steel cutting ceremony for Yard No. 771, Irish Ferries’ first newbuild since 2001 and the first new Ireland-France service newbuild since the Saint Patrick in 1973, took place at FSG on 7th April 2017 and the keel laying followed on 11th September 2017. The ship’s name was announced in October 2017 as W. B. Yeats, the result of an online naming competition that attracted 100,000 entries. The winning name suggestion was made by Lee Maxwell, who won free travel for life from Irish Ferries. Continuing the literary naming pattern, the ship takes her name from William Butler Yeats who was born 13th June 1865 and died 28th January 1939. He was an Irish poet and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. In his latter years he served as a Senator of the Irish Free State for two terms and was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival. W. B. Yeats was born in Sandymount, Ireland and educated there and in London. His earliest volume of verse was published in 1889.

A Multi-Sectional & Multi-National Build

The W. B. Yeats was named by Ms Rikki Rothwell, daughter of ICG Chief Executive Eammon Rothwell, at FSG on 19th January 2018 and the ship’s hull was subsequently launched from the covered shipbuilding hall at 1200 local time. The shipyard has regularly subcontracted the construction of the superstructure sections to Marine Projects Ltd. in Poland and, on this occasion, the forward and aft segments were built via this routine. Due to the volume of work, Marine Projects then subcontracted Stoczina in Gdansk to fabricate the flat steel sections and Gdansk-based Holm Construction Ltd. to build the middle section of the passenger accommodation. The superstructure sections were each transported by barge from Poland to Germany and had already been partially fitted out with the majority of the ceilings, walls, floors, ducting etc. On 20th January the forward and middle sections arrived at FSG, followed by the aft section two days later. The three modules, the heaviest of which was 2,000t, were lifted onto the hull in a bow to stern sequence by the heavy lift cranes Matador and Taklift on 6th/7th/8th February. Unfortunately, it would appear that this routine method of sectional construction encountered difficulties and the associated work to correct the problems triggered a series of delays to the ship’s delivery, which became a very sorry tale indeed. The original maiden voyage was scheduled for 6th July 2018 but on 20th April Irish Ferries had to announce that all sailings 12th-29th July had been cancelled. Then, on 6th July all 2018 France-Ireland bookings on the W. B. Yeats were announced as cancelled due to delays with deliveries and the fitting out process. Around 8,500 bookings were affected and costs to Irish Ferries reportedly exceeded €7 million. Some 88% of affected passengers were still able to travel via the Epsilon, Oscar Wilde or via a land-bridge alternative to Wales and then onward travel from Plymouth/Portsmouth. News reports later suggested that the mid-section of superstructure had wrongly positioned deckheads, requiring all walls, fixtures and fittings to be removed and refitted once the ceilings had been realigned with the rest of the superstructure. A weight issue with this same section was also reported locally. Either way, FSG endured extreme pressure to right the situation and faced considerable financial implications. Ironically, FSG had expanded its ferry building ambitions from Ro-Ro to Ro-Pax to boost profitability but the latter is a far more complex field. Indeed, FSG has endured very public problems with the completion of CalMac’s 8,680gt/2014 built Loch Seaforth, the 51,388gt W. B. Yeats and now the 42,500gt Honfleur. Hopefully the TT Line and second Irish Ferries build will avoid such complications.

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft was founded in 1872 and the yard has built over 750 ships, including Offshore and Ro-Ro vessels, passenger ferries, and naval vessels. The company takes pride in tailor made designs and solutions for both ship-owners and operators alike. FSG’s first newbuild was the Doris Brodersen in 1875, followed a year later by the cargo ship Septima. In December 2008 FSG was the subject of a management buyout from the previous Owner, the Oldendorff Group in Lübeck, and in 2014 the shipyard became a subsidiary of SIEM Industries following a further rocky period financially. Losses of around €7.5 million were recorded in 2017 but still the shipyard battled on to win contracts and complete existing orders. The issues with the W. B. Yeats was a severe blow that FSG simply did not need and it got to the point in late January 2019 when the company’s debts could not be serviced. As can happen, the yard’s orderbook totals in excess of €1 billion but the cashflow was not sufficient for the day-to-day requirements. Sadly, on 29th January, FSG and Brittany Ferries reluctantly announced a delay to the delivery of the newbuild Honfleur from July 2019 to late 2019 as a result of the difficulties. The presiding CEO of FSG was removed and replaced by Alexander Gregg-Smith from the Siem Group on 31st January and, on 12th February, Siem Europe announced that it had signed an agreement with an external investor, Sapinda Holding B.V., for the purchase of 76% of the shares of the business of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. This investment provided a €33 million cash injection for FSG and thus ensured the continuation of the shipyard’s business operations. Siem Europe remains an active shareholder and holds the majority of the Supervisory Board of FSG. The financial rescue plan had also involved intensive talks with the regional state government of Schleswig-Holstein. Once the various construction issues had been addressed, progress could then be made towards the landmark stage of sea trials and, ultimately, delivery to Irish Ferries. On 17th October an alleged act of sabotage took place when a valve on the main engine cooling system was deliberately closed during engine testing. This caused one of the four engines to overheat with the resultant damage requiring time consuming repairs by MaK, part of Caterpillar Marine. A Police investigation followed and the already deferred sea trials were again set back to 29th October when she ventured out under the cover of darkness. The trials took her towards the Danish Island of Bornhlom and, once everything had been tested successfully, the ship returned to FSG on the morning of 7th November. Despite all the issues faced by FSG in recent times, it must not be forgotten that so many highly successful ships have been delivered from the yard including a quartet of 19,722gt/2011-2012 built Ro-Ros for Seatruck (Seatruck Progress/Precision/ Power/ Performance), UN Ro-Ro newbuilds such as the 34,182gt/2012 built UN Karadeniz and the most recent Ro-Ro newbuilds, the 32,936gt/2018 built Alf Pollak and 32,887gt/2019 built Maria Grazia Onorato. The very latest newbuild, Yard No. 780, also deserves a mention as she was launched on 8th April at FSG. Named Leevsten (meaning Dearest in Lower German dialect), the 209.70m long and 283 trailer/4,076 lanemetre capacity ship will be delivered in September 2019. As per the wishes of the Shareholders and the Managing Director Alex Gregg-Smith, the name of the ship is dedicated to the staff of FSG. An employee’s life partner took the role of Godmother to name the ship.

A New Chapter

Finally, on 12th December, ICG announced that they had taken delivery of the much-anticipated W. B. Yeats and she departed from the shipyard on 15th December. The first port of call for berthing trials was Cherbourg on 18th December followed by Rosslare the next day. A celebratory arrival at her homeport of Dublin was justifiably made on the morning of 20th December under the command of Captain Peter Ferguson, complete with a fire tug escort. Further sea trials took place on 29th December. On the same day as the new ship arrived home for the first time came the news that the Rosslare-France services would not operate in 2019 and that the W. B. Yeats was deemed too large to serve the port of Roscoff. Irish Ferries gave the contractual 6 months notice to withdraw from the Brittany port, thus leaving Cherbourg as the only French destination now offered by the company. Furthermore, the Irish port for all sailings to Normandy would be Dublin, offering an 18 hour voyage time. The W. B. Yeats made her first commercial sailing on 22nd January 2019 from Dublin without fanfare, being quietly slotted in on the Epsilon’s schedule.

Unfortunately, the arrival at Holyhead was not without incident as the ship’s stern made contact with the berth, inflicting damage to both ship and linkspan. Having put this little hiccup behind her, the ship settled into service on the Irish Sea’s central corridor route having missed her entire scheduled first season on Dublin-Cherbourg. Guests attended the official launch of the W. B. Yeats in Dublin on 26th February. Unfortunately, no such event was held at Holyhead. The first passenger sailing from Dublin to Cherbourg took place on 14th March, slightly delayed by the incoming Holyhead-Dublin service, also operated by the W. B. Yeats, but disrupted by Storm Gareth. The maiden departure from Cherbourg the next day saw the ferry terminal bathed in green light in honour of the new ship and the proximity to St. Patrick’s Day. It is estimated that the ship will sail around 210,000kms per annum.

To allow continued use of heavy fuel oil and meet the toughest sulphur controls in any area, the vessel is equipped with exhaust gas scrubbers. Future-proofing is also expressed in the installation of a ballast water management system. The project cost was revised to €151 million to include the exhaust scrubbers. The main engines drive two 5m diameter CAT controllable pitch MPP 1700 propellers that operate at 127rpm via Siemens AG GVL 1700 reduction gearboxes. Four CAT 8M20C auxiliary diesel units provide onboard services whilst a S12R-M(P)TA emergency generator manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is also fitted. Manoeuvrability in port is assisted by three FU93 Brunvoll AS transverse tunnel bow thrusters whilst stability at sea is assisted by a pair of SKF Type 2 retractable fins, each with a surface area of 9m2 and weighing 40 tonnes.

The ship is all about carrying freight and this is demonstrated by three decks capable of handling such cargo. Deck 2 forward is a 21 trailer capacity hold deck for freight/trade cars, accessible from Deck 3 (Main Vehicle Deck) via a ramp beneath a hinged hatch cover. The full-length Deck 3 has double stern ramps and a hinged ramp behind the clamshell bow doors. Both Decks 3 and 5 have a central casing and can accommodate 144 trailers between them. The bow access on Deck 5 is via an opening covered by a weather door at sea whilst the stern access is across an open area of deck. At this point it is worth mentioning that the W. B. Yeats has been certified to convey live exports between Ireland and France, potentially more than doubling the volume of such traffic. Decks 3 and 5 are connected internally by a bi-directional hydraulic ramp midships that is stowed flush on Deck Deck 6 above the starboard side of Deck 5 for cars. The cars only garage on Deck 7 is accessed via curved fixed ramps at either end of Deck 5, port side. This deck can accommodate 296 cars and has a reduced clear height, as would be expected for a car only area. The total freight capacity is 2,800 lanemetres plus a total CEU (car equivalent unit) capacity of 1,216.

Award Winner

The W. B. Yeats has accommodation (berths) for 1,800 passengers and 135 crewmembers in 435 passenger cabins and 60 crew cabins. The passenger spaces are spread over 4 decks (8-11) and the majority of the cabins are on Deck 8 and two thirds of Deck 9. Overlooking the bow are three premium suites on Deck 8, namely the Lissadel, Thoor Ballylee and Coole Park. There is also a small balcony in the port and starboard sides overlooking the bow, accessed from the Coole Park and Lissadel suites. The remainder of the cabin accommodation consists of inside and outside varieties. Crew areas and the Navigation Bridge are situated in the forward section of Deck 9 and along the port side in the form of a 44 seat Crew Mess, a 15 seat Day Room, a 20 seat Officer’s Mess and a 16 seat Officer’s Day Room. The daytime/evening facilities are to be found throughout Deck 10 and within the forward half of Deck 11. Overlooking the bow on Deck 10 is the 183 seat Innisfree Club Class Lounge, named after an uninhabited island in Lough Gill.

W. B. Yeats also produced a poem entitled The Lake Isle of Innisfree plus Irish Ferries’ first 22,365gt/1995 built newbuild Ro-Pax was christened the Isle of Innisfree (now operating in New Zealand as the Kaitaki). This lounge offers an assortment of lounge/at-table seating and reclining seats. The area is used by premium cabin occupants on the Cherbourg services. The décor is in shades of beige, brown, grey and gold. Adjoining the lounge on the port side is the 108-seat The Lady Gregory a La Carte Restaurant, usually only open on the French route and named after a friend and patron of W. B. Yeats. He wrote The Wild Swans at Coole whilst staying with her. The décor here is in shades of beige, claret and black. On the starboard side here is the 71 seat Wild Swans Freight Drivers Lounge and Restaurant, continuing the W. B. Yeats theme. The restaurant is on the lower level and the 110 seat lounge is up the staircase on Deck 11 but is only accessed via the Deck 10 entrance. The relatively neutral décor style is continued here. Midships is the 663 seat lounge area that includes Boylan’s Brasserie on the port side and the Reception on the starboard side. A central glass staircase leads up to the retail outlet on Deck 11. These areas are finished in shades of grey, blue, green, beige and black. The aft section of this deck offers the Salley Gardens Kids Room (named after Yeats’s poem Down by the Salley Gardens and the only area to offer bright colours), 170 seat Café Lafayette (port side), The 56 seat The Abbey Cinema and 44 seat The Peacock Cinema (TV style lounges, starboard side plus a small 97 seat lounge and a kiosk serving drinks and popcorn at the entrance) and the 96 seat Hazel Wood Quiet Lounge with reclining seating. Further cabins are located on the stern. The décor throughout again follows the theme of greys/blues/browns/beiges in various combinations with patterned abstract carpeting. The colours and styles chosen are intended to ensure longevity whereas bright colours can fade and stain. There is also a W. B. Yeats trail through the passenger spaces with 10 examples of poem verses and information on display relating to the man himself. One level up on Deck 11 forward is the 344 seat Maud Gonne Bar & Lounge where the décor is repeated and the seating is low back at-table and bench seating. There is also an imitation fireplace. This area is named after Maud Gonne MacBride (1866-1953), an English born Irish revolutionary, actress and suffragette. W. B. Yeats proposed to her at least 4 times but went on to marry Georgie Hyde-Less. Crazy Jane’s Games Room is also sited here. The sizeable onboard shop (350m2) is on this deck with the large Drumcliffe Promenade Deck occupying the aft portion of Deck 11, either side and aft of the funnel casing. Drumcliffe is a village in County Sligo and is the final resting place of W. B. Yeats himself.

The W. B. Yeats is a modern RoPax with a dynamic profile, enhanced by a short forecastle considering her size and a low-mounted bridge with two passenger decks above it. A timeless décor was designed by Steen Friis Design A/S and OSK Shiptech A/S (cabins) in association with Minima. The styles show a definite Scandinavian influence with easy on the eye pastel colours, a minimalist approach to fixtures and fittings and stylish seating. The aim was to achieve understated elegance via the use of natural tones whilst the overall design of the ship aimed to make her a game changer. At the time of writing there was no artwork on the walls, no feature lighting, sculptures or even plants. Perhaps such items will be added over the initial months of service to uplift the impact on passengers. Many who have travelled on the ship refer to the lack of live music, background music or even a venue for a show on a long crossing. Another potential issue highlighted was the apparent lack of a separate area to accommodate school parties that use the French route at meal times. The now withdrawn Oscar Wilde was configured to have an area almost hidden in the Left Bank brasserie for such groups, thus keeping them away from the regular Diners. The “new girl” will surely settle in and gain a following as her predecessors have but initial feedback quotes have, rather worryingly, included the words “bland” and “unfinished” in addition to the more positive opinions. The aim of this feature was to include even more detail following a voyage aboard the ship by the Writer as this is the best way of experiencing such a newbuild and describing what she has to offer. However, complications and delays in achieving this meant a trip could not be completed ahead of the desired deadlines. Despite divided opinions among passengers, the new flagship won her first awards on 13th March when Irish Ferries triumphed at a major international shipping awards ceremony, taking home both the Ferry Concept Award and the Interior Architecture Award. The accolades were presented during the annual Shippax Industry Awards ceremony, which was held aboard Silja Line’s 58,376gt/1990 built Silja Serenade in Stockholm and recognises newly-delivered ferries and cruise vessels that demonstrate creativity and design innovation. The ship’s state-of-the-art design and configuration was highlighted by the jury among other factors. Another award was bestowed upon the ship on 22nd April in the form of the ‘Ferry of the Year 2019’ award at the annual Ferry Shipping Summit. Making it a hat-trick, this award was in recognition of a cruise-ferry that had established a new design standard with maximum flexibility in mind to serve both the Irish Sea and the Ireland-France route. Irish Ferries are rightly proud of their new ship and, hopefully, all the trials and tribulations prior to her delivery can now be left well over the horizon.