Eerie, empty car park tells its own tale

Just a stone's throw from where the Irish Ferries' vessel, the Isle of Inishmore, lies stranded in her berth at Pembroke Dock…

Just a stone's throw from where the Irish Ferries' vessel, the Isle of Inishmore, lies stranded in her berth at Pembroke Dock sit several million euro worth of SUVs and Land Rovers awaiting shipment to Ireland.

Around the corner, a high-performance sports boat awaits transportation to its new owner across the Irish Sea.

However, there appear to be fewer freight containers in the port area now than there were late last week, perhaps an indication that many hauliers have recognised that the current Irish Ferries' dispute could last some time and have begun moving to the Stena Line service in Fishguard, about an hour up the coast. The rain and sleet-swept car park at the ferryport lies deserted.

Around lunchtime yesterday the electronic sign that had been promising an Irish Ferries sailing at 14.30 hours finally acknowledged the reality that there would be no sailing after all. However, a replacement electronic notice did express a hope that there would be a service today.

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The ferry terminal building, which had been closed for several days, reopened for a period yesterday morning. However, by lunchtime management said that as there were no passengers they were sending the staff home and the facility was locked once again.

At her berth, the Isle of Inishmore sits with lights ablaze and engines occasionally running. On her windswept decks indistinct groups can frequently be seen moving back and forth.

Since last Thursday, four engineering officers have barricaded themselves in the control room below the waterline and out of sight. Informed sources said that the remaining eight officers and 60-plus members of the crew have spent the last few days seeking to work in as normal a manner as possible. It is understood that the regular Irish crew have continued to operate on a normal 12-hour shift, performing safety drills and checking plant and equipment.

Sources said that the security personnel brought on board by Irish Ferries last Thursday are largely confined to a lounge area at the top of the ship's structure, although two-man teams are on the beat at any one time on a number of decks.

Sources maintain that the atmosphere on board remains tense. They said that there had been an incident in recent days when maintenance staff complained that they were being followed by security personnel as they went about their work.

Agency staff from eastern Europe, mainly from Latvia, were brought on board the vessel last Thursday for a "familiarisation" programme.

They will eventually replace the existing Irish staff who have accepted voluntary redundancy. Management on the vessel are continuing with this "familiarisation" programme.

However, it is understood that whenever management bring the replacement crew into an area where Irish personnel are working, the existing staff move to another location.

Irish Ferries is the only scheduled passenger and freight service to use the port of Pembroke.