Brittany Ferries shifting a number of Cork sailings to Rosslare

Photo: Brittany Ferries

The operator will move not only its Irish port of choice for its year-round ferry service to Spain, but also its Spanish counterpart from Santander to Bilbao.

The decision is a response to feedback from hauliers, voicing strong preference for the new ports. Due to recent road upgrades, driving time from Northern Ireland to Rosslare has been significantly cut, putting it ahead of Cork.

The change will take effect on February 28^th, 2020. Passengers, who already booked their travels on the former route, will be offered either the option to switch or a full refund. Some compensation for resulting travel costs will be possible, should the passengers choose the former option.

After the change, Rosslare will have three passenger ferry operators with year-round services sailing from the port. Brittany Ferries' presence in Cork has been reduced to just one season weekly sailing to Roscoff.

Christophe Matthieu, CEO, Brittany Ferries, offered some assurances, "I want to make it clear that we remain committed to Cork, with our flagship Pont-Aven cruise-ferry service to Roscoff. We're also committed to an Ireland-Spain route, now via Rosslare, and we'll look after existing passengers whose future travel will be affected by this change."

Commenting on the operator's decision, a statement by the Port of Cork, reads, "The Port of Cork have been informed by Brittany Ferries that the weekly Ro-Pax ferry service from Cork to Santander which includes a midweek Roscoff sailing is to cease operating. This surprising decision by Brittany Ferries is very disappointing, however we will continue to pursue other options for linking Cork and Northern Spain. We remain supportive of Brittany Ferries who have operated out of Cork for over 40 years and we will continue to facilitate Brittany Ferries on their weekly service from Cork to Roscoff re-commencing in March 2020."

Trials on the Cork-Santander route began in 2018 and when the incoming freight figures didn't meet the expectations, the operator decided to switch the ports in order to attract more traffic. The aim of the route is primarily to serve the freight market, though passengers are accommodated for with an "Economie" offer which consists of more basic facilities than they would be accustomed to on Brittany Ferries "cruse ferry" services. "Economie" services to Roscoff will also move to Rosslare.

As a result, Brittany Ferries will offer a weekly return trip to Roscoff from both Cork and Rosslare during the routes period of operation which starts in March. The addition of the Brittany Ferries sailings restores Rosslare’s link to Roscoff which ended when Irish Ferries switched its French services to Dublin last year.

Stena Line remains the largest operator at Rosslare, with sailings to Fishguard in Wales and Cherbourg in France. Irish Ferries also operate sailings from the Wexford port to Pembroke Dock in Wales. In addition, Neptune Lines offer a trade-car and freight service linking the port with Southampton, Le Havre, and Santander.

While Cork might have lost the sailings mentioned above, it still remains one of the only two ports in the Republic of Ireland that can fully cater for lift-on lift-off, roll-on roll-off, liquid bulk, dry bulk, break bulk and cruise traffic.