Holyhead port, one of Britain’s busiest ferry ports, is set to partially reopen on January 16th following damage by Storm Darragh. At present, only one of the two main ferry berths, owned by Stena Line, will reopen. The company has not yet outlined how this partial reopening will affect ferry services, but said that a revised timetable will be confirmed on January 2nd. Prior to the temporary closure, two ferries would unload and load side by side, something which will not be possible with the partial reopening.
Stena Line has not yet provided a date for the reopening of the second berth, which suffered the most damage. The company stated that the prediction of reopening the Terminal 5 ferry berth by January 16th remains achievable with reasonable weather conditions. Holyhead is the shortest crossing between the UK and Ireland, and around two million passengers use the port each year. Before the closure, Stena Line and Irish Ferries operated up to four sailings to Dublin, often leaving within half an hour of each other.
Although Irish Ferries has said it will continue to operate a flexible approach to sailings and will put a larger ship on the Rosslare to Pembroke route and a new car service on the Fishguard to Dublin route during the festive period, the closure of Holyhead has disrupted businesses and travelers alike in its severity. Before the closures, 1,200 lorries and trailers made the crossing every day.
The port has been closed since December 7th when damage was caused by strong wind and waves during Storm Darragh. Repair work continues, and the owners of the port say that progress is good. The Welsh Government has stated that they are pleased with the progress and that services can start again once the port is safely reopened for those wishing to travel and for businesses transporting goods
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