ICG to invest €144m in building new cruise ferry

Ferry company Irish Continental Group is investing in a new €144 million ferry.

In a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange, ICG said it had entered into an agreement with German company Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesselschaft to build the 435-cabin ship.

The cruise ferry will have the capacity for 1,885 passengers and crew in its cabins and suites, 2,800 lane metres of freight and a dedicated car deck that can accommodate 300 passenger cars.

It is expected to be introduced on routes served by the MV Epsilon, which currently works on Dublin to Holyhead routes midweek, and Ireland to France on weekends. The new ship will have double the freight and almost 3.5 times the tourism capacity of the Epsilon. Davy’s Stephen Furlong said this was a significant long-term development.

The ship is scheduled for delivery in May 2018, with ICG using existing cash resources and loan facilities to finance it.