Division | |
Industry | Transportation & Tourism |
Predecessor | B&I Line; Irish Continental Line |
Founded | 1992 |
Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
Number of locations
|
Dublin Port, Ireland, Holyhead Port, Wales, Rosslare Europort, Ireland, Pembroke Dock, Wales, Cherbourg, France & Roscoff, France |
Area served
|
France, Ireland & United Kingdom |
Key people
|
Eamonn Rothwell, CEO |
Services | Passenger transportation, Freight transportation; |
Parent | Irish Continental Group |
Divisions | Irish Ferries; Eucon |
Subsidiaries | Irish Ferries Freight; Dublin Ferryport Terminals; Belfast Container Terminal |
Website | www |
Irish Ferries is a division of the Irish Continental Group (ICG) which trades on the and the .
The company operates passenger and freight routes between Ireland, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe, particularly: Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Roscoff and Cherbourg in France. ICG also owns the Eucon container line which operates vessels on routes operating between Ireland and the continent.
The company's flagship, MV Ulysses, is currently the largest ROPAX ferry operating on the Irish Sea and when launched (2001) was the world's largest car ferry in terms of car-carrying capacity. Other ships in the fleet include MS Isle of Inishmore, MS Oscar Wilde and the fast ferry HSC Jonathan Swift (a.k.a. Dublin Swift as she is currently promoted). The company also charters out a vessel, MV Kaitaki to Interisland Line, and charters in a ro-pax vessel, MS Epsilon. The company used to charter Pride of Bilbao, but sold her to St. Peter Line in 2013, who renamed her Princess Anastasia.
Irish Continental Line was formed in 1973 as a joint venture between Irish Shipping Limited, Fearnley & Eger and Swedish company Lion Ferry. It originally operated on the Rosslare–Le Havre route with the 547 berth, 210 car ferry Saint Patrick. When Irish Shipping Ltd. went into liquidation in 1984, Irish Continental Line was sold off in a management buyout and emerged as Irish Continental Group.