Ferry firm Stena Line is putting on extra services between the Mersey and Dublin as it’s revealed Holyhead Port will remain closed until at least mid-January. Tony McDonough reports

Stena Line is having to make alternative arrangements for its Irish Sea services as its revealed Holyhead Port will now remain closed until at least mid-January.

Holyhead was damaged by Storm Darragh more than a week ago and sailings from the North Wales port remain suspended. This has forced Stena to cancel all sailings on the normally busy Dublin to Holyhead route before, during and now after Christmas.

Stena is offering sailings for passengers and freight from Dublin to ports in Birkenhead and Fishguard. Stena Estrid is being used on the Birkenhead route. And a new freight route from Dublin to Heysham has been added to assist continuity of trade flows.

The company has also added additional sailings on the Belfast – Cairnryan route this weekend. Currently there is limited availability on the Belfast to Liverpool and Rosslare to Fishguard routes.

Stena Line has also chartered the Ben My Chree vessel to operate on a new Dublin to Heysham freight route. This temporary service will provide an extra round trip between Ireland and Great Britain with approximately 850 lane meters of space for freight.

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Johan Edelman, Stena Line’s Irish Sea trade director said: “The unprecedented closure of Holyhead Port in the run up to Christmas has caused major upheaval in freight flows between Ireland and Britain.

“Our priority in the coming days will be to mitigate as much as we can by trying to secure as much additional capacity as possible throughout our Irish Sea network.

“High levels of pre-Christmas bookings have made this a very challenging operation, but we are working around the clock to examine every conceivable opportunity.

“This unprecedented port closure has created a stressful situation for everyone involved, including both passengers and staff, so I would appeal for as much flexibility and patience as possible in the days ahead as we seek to reduce the pre-Christmas backlog.”

Customers are currently being contacted and affected passengers are advised to amend their booking online free of charge or through the Contact Centre on 0344 770 7070 (UK) or + 353 1 907 5555 (ROI).