Dublin headquartered Irish Ferries started its 2021 drydocking on Tuesday, February 16.
Having been released by WB Yeats ferry, Ulysses ferry left Holyhead (Isle of Anglesey, Wales) at 04:45 am on Monday, February 15, for Birkenhead/Liverpool. The ship arrived at the shipbuilding company Cammell-Laird before midday and went into drydock.
WB Yeats has been replaced on the Dublin Ireland-Cherbourg France route by Epsilon ferry. Mega Express 4 ferry is currently timetabled to cover secondary sailings on the Dublin-Holyhead route as well as the weekend roundtrip to France through March 31. This allows Epsilon to provide the cover and have her own drydock. Currently, there is no scheduled crossings Ireland-France between April 1 - May 25.
Ulysses is expected to leave drydock on March 5. This allows Epsilon to drydock through March 16.
Mega Express 4 is expected to replace the Epsilon on the Dublin-Holyhead/Cherbourg routes.
After the return from the drydock, Epsilon will release the Isle of Inishmore ferry from the Rosslare Europort Ireland-Pembroke Dock Wales route. Inishmore is expected to be absent from her route between March 20-April 10.
The Isle of Inishmore will no longer be fitted with exhaust gas scrubbers during the drydocking period as had been expected.
It's also believed that WB Yeats will also dry dock in 2021. The ship has not been drydocked since 2019.
The shipowner Corsica Ferries confirmed that the Mega Express 4 boat charter is only for 2 months.