The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and the island of Ireland. The sea has been a significant trade and communications barrier between the two islands for centuries as there is no fixed crossing across it. In 2013, 7.6 megatons of trade was handled between British and Irish ports, and ferry crossings remain the most important link for heavy goods vehicles. Ferry services have continued to be significant, and 3.6 million passengers use these annually. [1]
The main operators across the Irish Sea are P&O Ferries, Irish Ferries, Stena Line and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. [2]
Image | East side | West side | Operator | Year opened | Year closed | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ardrossan | Larne | P&O Irish Sea (until 2001) | 2001 | Moved to Troon | ||
Troon | Larne | P&O Ferries (2001-2016) Seacat Scotland (1999-2004) | 1999 | 2016 [3] | ||
Cairnryan | Belfast | Stena Line | 2011 [4] | |||
Cairnryan | Larne | P&O Ferries | 1973 | |||
Stranraer | Belfast | Stena Line (1995-2011) Seacat Scotland (1992-2000) | 1992 | 2011 [4] | ||
Stranraer | Larne | Stena Line | 1861 [5] | 1995 | ||
Heysham | Belfast | Stena Line | ||||
Heysham | Warrenpoint | Seatruck Ferries | 1996 | |||
Heysham | Dublin | Seatruck Ferries | ||||
Liverpool | Dublin | P&O Ferries Seatruck Ferries | ||||
Birkenhead | Belfast | Stena Line | 2002 [6] | |||
Mostyn | Dublin | P&O Irish Sea | 2001 | 2004 | ||
Holyhead | Dublin | Irish Ferries Stena Line (1995-present) | 1848 [7] [ better source needed ] | |||
Holyhead | Dún Laoghaire | Stena Line | 1848 [8] | 2014 | ||
Fishguard | Rosslare | Stena Line | ||||
Pembroke Dock | Rosslare | Irish Ferries | ||||
Liverpool Pier Head | Dublin/Belfast/Douglas | Isle of Man Steam Packet |
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Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere.
Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin Port-Cherbourg in France.
MV Princess Victoria was one of the earliest roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) ferries. Completed in 1947, she operated from Stranraer to Larne. During a severe European windstorm on 31 January 1953, she sank in the North Channel with the loss of 135 lives. This was then the deadliest maritime disaster in United Kingdom waters since World War II. For many years it was believed that 133 people had lost their lives in the disaster, but research by local historian Liam Kelly JP, DL, identified two other victims - Gordon Wright and Thomas Saunders - whose names had not been identified as there had been no ship's passenger list at the time.
Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland.
The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Limited is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world, celebrating its 190th anniversary in 2020.
P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries between the United Kingdom to Ireland and 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.
High-speed Sea Service or Stena HSS was a class of high-speed craft developed by and originally operated by Stena Line on European international ferry routes. The HSS 1500 had an in-service speed of 40 knots (75 km/h).
There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel.
MS Lady of Mann (II) was a side-loading car ferry built in 1976 for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and operated on the Douglas–Liverpool crossing. She served the company for 29 years. In 2005, she was converted to a Roll-on/roll-off ferry and was operated by SAOS Ferries in Greece under the name MS Panagia Soumela until she was scrapped in August 2011.
The North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway was a railway company in south-west Wales, incorporated to extend the moribund Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway, with a view to developing a port on Fishguard Bay and ferry services to Rosslare in Ireland.
One World Karadeniz is a former high-speed ferry that operated Stena Line's Holyhead–Dún Laoghaire service between Great Britain and Ireland until 2015. 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.
Port Link is a ro-pax ferry that was operated by Stena Line between Stranraer and Belfast.
The Port of Holyhead is a commercial and ferry port in Anglesey, Wales, handling more than 2 million passengers each year. It covers an area of 240 hectares, and is operated by Stena Line Ports Ltd. The port is the principal link for crossings from north Wales and central and northern England to Ireland. The port is partly on Holy Island and partly on Salt Island. It is made up of the Inner Harbour, the Outer Harbour and the New Harbour, all sheltered by the Holyhead Breakwater which, at 2.7 kilometres, is the longest in the UK.
European Ferries Group plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was taken over by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and renamed P&O European Ferries in 1987.
MS Bari is a ferry built in 1980 as the St Anselm for Sealink. Starting life on the Dover-Calais, she operated her last routes with Ventouris Ferries in the Mediterranean. Now she is stored in the Port of Durrës, waiting for the demolition.
Cairnryan Harbour is a roll-on ferry terminal on Loch Ryan in south west Scotland north of Stranraer.
TSS Caledonian Princess was a turbine steamship, built by William Denny & Brothers in 1961. A roll-on/roll-off car ferry, she primarily served the Stranraer - Larne route. Under Sealink ownership, however, she operated in both the English Channel and the Irish Sea. From 1984, she spent her later life as the Tuxedo Princess, a floating nightclub on the River Tyne. She never saw service under her final name, Prince, and was scrapped in 2008.
Cambridge Ferry was a 3,294 GRT train ferry that was built in 1963 for the British Railways Board. She was sold to Malta in 1992 and renamed Ita Uno. She was renamed Sirio in 1993 and reflagged to Panama in 1998. The ship was scrapped in Turkey in 2003.
MV Morocco Sun was a passenger vessel built for British Railways in 1979.
TSS Princess Maud was a ferry that operated from 1934 usually in the Irish Sea apart from a period as a troop ship in the Second World War and before being sold outside the United Kingdom in 1965. She was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton on the Firth of Clyde for the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). When the LMS was nationalised in 1948 she passed to the British Transport Commission and onward to British Rail in 1962. She was sold to Lefkosia Compania Naviera, Panama in 1965. Renamed Venus she was for service in Greek waters. It is understood she saw use as an accommodation ship in Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen.