M/V Isle of Inishmore (2)

    Isle of Inishmore at sea in her early years.
    Isle of Inishmore. Courtesy Irish Ferrues.

    Isle of Inishmore (2) is one of two sisters ships commissioned to Van der Giessen-De Noord shipyard at the end of 1990s. She is also the second one to wear this name in Irish Ferries' fleet.

    Since 2001 and her replacement by Ulysses on the Dublin - Holyhead route, she is allocated to the Rosslare - Pembroke Dock route.

     

    Table of Contents

    1. Service History
      1. Genesis of the ship
      2. The transfer on the Rosslare - Pembroke Dock route
    2. Accommodations
      1. Aboard Dining and Bars
      2. Aboard Shops
      3. Passengers Accommodations
      4. Entertainment
    3. See Also
    Version Française
    Technical Specifications of M/V Isle of Inishmore (2)
    M/V Isle of Inishmore (2) (1997 onwards)
    The Ship
    Launch October 1996
    Maiden Voyage March 1997
    Shipyard Van der Giessen-De Noord, Krimpen aan den IJssel, Netherlands
    Cost IR£60 millions
    Owner Irish Continental Group
    Operator Irish Ferries
    Routes Dublin (IRL) - Holyhead (GBR) (1997 - 2001)
    Rosslare (IRL) - Pembrook Dock (GBR) (2001 - ....)
    IMO 9142605
    MMSI 2090093000
    Call Sign C4HQ2
    Port of Registry Dublin, IRL (1997 - 2006)
    Limassol, CYP (2006 - ......)
    Technical Specifications
    Length 182.50m
    Breadth 27.80 m
    Draught 05.80 m
    Tonnage

    Gross Tonnage

    		34,031 GT

    Deadweight

    		5,860 DWT
    Engines specifications
    Engines 4 engines Sulzer 8 ZAL 40S - 8 cylinders
    Power 23,040 kW
    Maximum Speed 21.50 knots
    Passengers & Cargo
    Passengers 2,200 passengers
    Cabins 186 berths
    Garage Capacity 856 cars 122 lorries
    Garage Linear Length 2,060 m

    Service History

    Genesis of the ship

    Isle of Inishmore at sea in her early years.
    Isle of Inishmore. Ian BOYLE collection (Simplon Postcards).

    In the late 90s, Dutch shipyard Van der Giessen-De Noord was commissioned two superferries for Stena Line and Irish Continental Group.

    Once launched, Isle of Inishmore (2) was said to be the biggest ferry evert built in Europe and registered in Ireland according to Irish Ferries. Isle of Inishmore (2) replaced Isle of Innisfree on the Dublin - Holyhead route. Thanks to the marketing policy of Irish Ferries about its new ship, the traffic on this route grew quickly and soon Isle of Inishmore (2) appeared to be too small to cope with the traffic. Therefore, Irish Ferries decided in 1999 to replace Isle of Inishmore (2) by a new even bigger ship, Ulysses.

    The transfer on the Rosslare - Pembroke Dock route

    Isle of Inismore being towed.
    Isle of Inishmore. Ian BOYLE collection (Simplon Postcards).

    With the delivery of M/V Ulysses in May 2001, Isle of Inishmore was transferred on the Rosslare - Pembroke Dock route, where she replaced again M/V Isle of Innisfree, providing additional capacity on this route.

    While Isle of Inishmore was docked in Pembroke Dock, the 30th of July 2008, an oil heater located in her Engine Room took fire with 227 passengers and 89 crew members were waiting to depart for Rosslare. However, the fire was extinguished only with the aboard equipment and only the two next crossings were cancelled.

    On 27th September 2011, Isle of Inishmore featured in a British TV program called The One Show. Although the logo of Irish Ferries has been removed on the pictures, the ship was easily recognisable thanks to her shape.

    Isle of Inishmore at sea.
    M/V Isle of Inishmore. Courtesy Gary DAVIES (Maritime Photographic).

    Aboard Accommodations

    Aboard Dining and Bar

    • Druid's Delights - Cafeteria ; Deck 7
    • Kiloran Motorst's Club - Tea Lounge ; Deck 7
    • Boylan's Brasserie -  À la carte Restaurant ; Deck 8
    • Café Lafayette - Café ; Deck 7.

    Aboard Shopping

    • Duty-Free Shop.

    Passengers Accommodations

    • Outside cabins with 4 berths;
    • Inside cabins with 4 berths;
    • Outside cabins with 2 berths (2 simple beds or 1 simple bed + 1 overlaid bed);
    • Outside cabins with 1 berths (but for two persons);
    • Club class cabins on Deck 11;
    • Cabins with 2 berths dedicated to person with reduced mobility.

    Entertainment

    • Cyber Zone - Arcade Game room
    • Play Area - Inside playground for children.

    See Also

    References

    • "M/F Isle of Inishmore". In The Ferry Site, Koefoed-Hansen, M., 2015. [retrieved the 26th August 2015]. Available at www.ferry-site.dk ;
    • "Vessel details for: ISLE OF INISHMORE". In MarineTraffic, Maltenoz Ltd, 2015. [retrieved 26th August 2015]. Available at www.marinetraffic.com ;
    • "Irish Ferries Ship Postcards". In Simplon Postcards, Boyle, I., 2008. [retrieved 26th August 2015]. Available at www.simplonpc.co.uk ;
    • "MS Isle of Inishmore". In Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation and its writers, 2015. [retrieved 26th August 2015]. Available at en.wikipedia.org ;
    • "MV Isle of Inishmore". In The Ferry Wiki, Wikia and his British colleagues, 2015. [retrieved 26th August 2015]. Available at theferry.wikia.com.