 | |
| Founded | 2010 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 2 February 2012 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Irish Sea |
Key people | Phillip Jones, CEO Conor Buckley, Chairman |
| Services | Passenger transportation Freight transportation |
Fastnet Line operated a ferry service carrying cars, freight and passengers between Ringaskiddy, Cork, Ireland and Swansea, Wales on MS Julia. The service ran from March 2010 until November 2011.
From 1987 to 2006, the Swansea–Cork ferry was operated by Swansea Cork Ferries Limited, an Irish-based company. The service ceased operating after the 2006 season. After disposing of their most recent vessel (the MV Superferry) and failing to find a suitable replacement, Swansea Cork Ferries Limited announced that they would not be operating the service during the 2007 summer season. In fact, there was no service during the whole of 2008 or 2009. [1]
A two-year campaign, started in April 2008 by concerned local businesses and individuals in the south-west of Ireland and South Wales, resulted in the forming of a co-operative which raised funds to enable the purchase of a new vessel and set up Fastnet Line.
After a long process of negotiation, including approval by the Finnish courts, it was announced in mid-September 2009 that the ship to run the new service, MS Julia, had been purchased for Fastnet Line. [2] She was built in 1982 and had previously served routes in Scandinavia. [2] MS Julia left Finland for Cork on 17 September 2009, calling at the Port of Swansea for berthing trials along the way. She wintered in the Port of Cork before leaving in January 2010, for dry-docking, safety certification, and for some minor modifications in compliance with safety regulations at both Cork and Swansea.
Fastnet Line services started from Swansea on 10 March 2010, and from Cork on 11 March 2010, [3] with three services a week in each direction from September to June, and four between July and August. [4] On 24 March 2011 a dissertation on the impact of the period of closure on tourism was published. [5]
The company suddenly cancelled sailings on 1 November 2011, and entered into examinership, an Irish process supplying protection against bankruptcy akin to the US Chapter 11 procedure. In January 2012, the business plan was to become a seasonal ferry service from April 2012. The company was seeking sponsorship, with the vessel to be named by the sponsor and used as "Britain's largest billboard". Details of the situation were posted and updated on the company website.
The following month the company said it would cease operations, with the loss of 78 jobs, as it had failed to fund a €1.6 million rescue package. It hoped the service would be resurrected. [6] On 2 February 2012 (incorrectly headed 2 February 2011) the company said on its website: "Swansea ferry service loses fight for survival".
Swansea is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea.
Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere.
Ringaskiddy is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is located on the western side of Cork Harbour, south of Cobh, and is 15 kilometres (9 mi) from Cork city, to which it is connected by the N28 road. The village is a port with passenger ferry, with two bi-weekly sailings to Roscoff in France. A ferry service to Swansea in Wales closed in 2012.
Air Wales was a Welsh airline based at Cardiff International Airport in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan. It operated scheduled regional services within the United Kingdom, as well as to Ireland, Belgium and France. On 23 April 2006, Air Wales ceased all operations, citing "spiralling costs" and "aggressive competition" from larger low-cost airlines.
Moby Orli is a cruiseferry owned by Moby SPA. Until September 2010, she was known as Pride of Bilbao, operated by P&O Ferries on their Portsmouth–Bilbao route. The vessel was built in 1986 as Olympia at the Wärtsilä Perno Shipyard in Turku, Finland for Rederi AB Slite, Sweden for use in Viking Line traffic. She was sold by Irish Continental Group to St. Peter Line in December 2010 and renamed Princess Anastasia and operated on the Saint Petersburg – Helsinki – Stockholm – Tallinn route. In 2022 she was withdrawn because of the conflict in Ukraine, transferred to Moby Lines and sailed to Messina for refurbishment. She was set to return to service in the Mediterranean.
Tallink is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It owns Silja Line and a part of SeaRail. Tallink Hotels runs four hotels in Tallinn. It is also the co-owner of a taxi company Tallink Takso.
The West Wales lines are a group of railway lines from Swansea through Carmarthenshire to Pembrokeshire, West Wales. The main part runs from Swansea to Carmarthen and Whitland, where it becomes three branches to Fishguard, Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock.
P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe. The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It has been owned by Dubai-based DP World since 2019.
Moby Zazà is a ferry operated by Moby Lines between Nice and Bastia. Until 2015 she was MS Wind Perfection, an accommodation ship owned and operated by C-bed. She was built in 1982 as MS Olau Britannia by Weser Seebeckswerft in Bremerhaven for Olau Line, who used her on Sheerness—Vlissingen service. In 1990 she was sold to Fred. Olsen Lines and renamed MS Bayard for services between Norway and Denmark. In 1991 Fred. Olsen Lines was sold to Color Line and the Bayard passed under their ownership under the name MS Christian IV. In 2008, she was sold to Stella Lines and renamed MS Julia for service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. This was a failure and after just two months the Julia was laid up. In 2009, she was sold to Fastnet Line and entered service on their Swansea—Cork route in 2010, retaining her earlier name.
MS Isle of Innisfree is a passenger and car ferry to be operated by Irish Ferries between Dover and Calais. Originally built at Boelwerf as the Prins Filip originally sailing between Dover and Ostend, later between Ostend and Ramsgate, she has since 1997 operated for a wide variety of companies.
Swansea Docks is the collective name for several docks in Swansea, Wales, which are immediately south-east of Swansea city centre. In the mid-19th century, the port was exporting 60% of the world's copper from factories situated in the Tawe Valley. The working docks area today is owned and operated by Associated British Ports as the Port of Swansea, and the northern part around the Prince of Wales Dock is undergoing re-development into a new urban area branded as the SA1 Swansea Waterfront.
Finnlines Plc is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Baltic and the North Sea. Finnlines’ passenger-freight vessels offer services from Finland to Germany and via Åland to Sweden as well as from Sweden to Germany. The Company has subsidiaries in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. In addition to sea transportation, the Company provides port services in Finland in Helsinki and Turku.
MS Aallotar was a car-passenger ferry built in 1972 by Dubegion-Normandie S.A., Nantes, France for the Finland Steamship Company, who used her in traffic of the Silja Line marketing company. She was the first car/passenger ferry to operate between Helsinki and Stockholm, and the first ship to offer year-round service. She was later known under the names MS Rogalin, MS Edda and MS Celtic Pride. She was scrapped in 2004 in Aliağa, Turkey.
MS Stena Superfast VII is a fast Ro-Pax ferry owned by Stena Line and operated on their service between Belfast and Cairnryan. Built in 2001 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel, Germany for Attica Group's subsidiary Superfast Ferries, The ship was sold to its current owners in 2017.
The MS C.T.M.A. Vacancier is a car/passenger ferry operated by Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (CTMA) on their Montreal–Cap-aux-Meules service. She was built in 1973 by the J.J. Sietas Schiffswerft in Hamburg, West Germany as Aurella for SF Line for use on Viking Line traffic. Between 1982 and 1998 she sailed as Saint Patrick II, between 1998 and 2000 as Egnatia II, in 2000 as Ville de Séte and between 2001 and 2002 as City of Cork, before being sold to her current owners. In January 2024 she was renamed Ancier to be prepared for scrapping.
MS Stena Europe is a ferry owned by Stena Line which operated on its Fishguard—Rosslare route until withdrawn from that service in July 2023.
The Swansea Cork ferry was a 10-hour ferry crossing that linked Swansea in the United Kingdom with the Port of Cork in Ireland. The ferry route was last operated by Fastnet Line from 2010 to 2012, although no commercial passenger sailings took place after 2011. Between 1987 and 2006 the service was operated by Swansea Cork Car Ferries Ltd. Prior to the revival of the Cork–Swansea route by Swansea Cork Car Ferries Ltd. the former Irish semi-state owned ferry company, British & Irish Steam Packet Company which became known simply as the B+I Line which had operated the route from 1969 until 1979. In 1979 the B+I Line decided to switch the Cork–Swansea service over to a Cork–Pembroke Dock service instead. Prior to B+I Line's Cork Swansea ferry, they had a previous ferry service that sailed from Cork to Fishguard in the United Kingdom. Over the years numerous ships had different departure points from Cork. Originally, the ferry came right up into Cork city centre and would have docked across from Penrose House at Penrose Quay and in the 1970s ferries departed Cork from a new Ferry Terminal based down stream at Tivoli Docks alongside a large container terminal. From around the early 1980s onwards ferries would later depart from yet another new passenger car Ferry Terminal based at Ringaskiddy Deepwater Berth in the lower part of Cork Harbour.
Swansea Cork Ferries was a company that operated a RoRo service between Swansea and Cork (Ringaskiddy) from 1987 till 2006. The company no longer offers a ferry service but provides consultancy services. Its former owners Strintzis Lines are now part of the Attica Group, and Briarstar Ltd was dissolved in 2012. The company remains in the ownership of Thomas Hunter Mc Gowan.
One World Karadeniz is a former high-speed ferry that operated on Stena Line's Holyhead–Dún Laoghaire service between Great Britain and Ireland until 2014. It is a member of the HSS 1500 class of high-speed ferries introduced and developed by Stena Line from 1996 onwards. The HSS 1500-class vessels became the largest catamarans in service in the world.
The Port of Cork is the main port serving the south of Ireland, County Cork and Cork City. It is one of the three "Ports of National Significance " as designated by National Ports Policy.
| History |  | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Politics |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Communities |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Culture | |||||||||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||||||
| Sports | |||||||||||||||||
| Buildings | |||||||||||||||||
| Transport |
| ||||||||||||||||
