The delivery of the cruise ferry W. B. Yeats from German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau–Gesellschaft has been postponed, Irish Ferries, the owner of the vessel, confirmed.
The EUR 150 million (USD 183.5 million), 54,985 gross tonnes cruise ferry was scheduled to arrive in Dublin in July and start operating on Ireland – France and Dublin – Holyhead routes.
Details on the cause of the delay and new delivery date have not been disclosed.
As the ship’s handover has been pushed, Irish Ferries said that it had to cancel a number of its sailings from Dublin to Cherbourg from 12-29 July.
Some of the 2,300 affected customers who booked space on the new vessel have been provided with alternative spaces available on MV Oscar Wilde.
“Each customer has been offered a full ‘no quibble’ refund or a transfer to the most appropriate alternative departure, along with a nominal gesture of goodwill. Most customers so far are opting to transfer to alternate sailings with Irish Ferries,” the company added.
W. B. Yeats was launched into the water in January this year and was scheduled to undergo final construction work before heading to sea trials.
Based on the latest update from the German shipbuilder, the deckhouse was lifted into place on April 13.
The ferry can accommodate 1,885 passengers and crew and has almost 3 km of car deck space.