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Ferry Service

For over 150 years a regular ferry service has crossed the Irish Sea between Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead in Wales. Originally the London and North Western Railway constructed packet ships to ply between Holyhead and what was then Kingstown. One of the blackest days in the history of the ferry service occurred on 10 October 1918 when the RMS Leinster, on route from Kingstown to Holyhead, was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat sixteen miles out from the Harbour with the loss of over 500 lives.

The car ferry vessels, introduced in the early 1960's, catered primarily for the car tourist and operated from St Michael's Pier. The mail boats continued to operate from the Carlisle Pier which had the terminal at that point. The St Columba, which was Sealink's flagship on the Irish Sea, was introduced on the route in 1977 and could accommodate 2400 passengers and 335 cars with a travel time of three and a half hours. In 1995 a new terminal was established on St Michael's Pier and the HSS Stena Explorer was introduced on the route. This ship travels at 40 knots completing the journey in 99 minutes and has a capacity of 1500 passengers and 350 cars.

 

Comparisons: 1999-2002
Year Cars/Mbus Other Coaches M/Cycles Pax Freight Entries Nett tonnes
1999 238170 4043 5709 5102 1346942 40419 1238  
2000 228932 3354 5409 4876 1187558 39080 1179 225077
2001 206770 2750 5172 5154 1064181 35820 1109 183678
2002 206817 3345 4967 5379 1015465 30335 987 145892
Comparisons: 2001-2002
  Cars/Mbus Other Coaches M/Cycles Pax Freight Entries Nett tonnes
2001 206770 2750 5172 5154 1064181 35820 1109 183678
2002 206817 3345 4967 5379 1015465 30335 987 145892
 
  0.02% 21.64% -3.96% 4.37% -4.58% -15.31% -11.00% -20.57%