Isle of Inishmore (II)

Following on from the enormous successful of the Isle of Inishfree, Irish Ferries wasted little time in placing an order with Van der Giessen for an even larger ship for the central corridor. The Isle of Inishmore entered service from Dublin on 4th March 1997, making an immediate impact on trading figures on the Holyhead route.

An impressive ship, she was 11,000 tonnes larger than her predecessor. With fine accommodation for 2200 passengers her vehicle decks offered 2100 lane metres - capacity for 856 cars or 122 trucks, or a mixture of both. When ordered, some observers remarked that the new ship would be too large for the Irish Sea and that Irish Ferries would struggle to fill her.

It soon became abundantly obvious that even with this huge ability to swallow up vast amounts of freight, the Isle of Inishmore was capacity constrained as Ireland's Celtic Tiger economy soared. With typical foresight Irish Ferries moved to meet gowing demand and another new ship was ordered.

The arrival of the Ulysses in 2001 released the Isle of Inishmore from the Holyhead service and since then she has been a resounding success on the Rosslare - Pembroke Dock service. Her association with Holyhead continues as the annual overhaul relief ship for the Ulysses.