As another vessel authorised to transport livestock enters the dry dock, European customers have no choice but to wait for their Irish calf exports to cross the water from Ireland to France.
The Stena Horizon, from Stena Line, has already been in the dry dock for around five weeks. Now it’s the turn of Irish Ferries’ WB Yeats. Routine services don’t always go according to plan. However, the vessel is in dry dock until Monday, May 9, 2022.
The routine service for Stena Horizon has taken more than double the anticipated time. What’s more, completion by the end of this week is unconfirmed. Hopefully, she can set sail by then.
The Blue Star ferry will cover the WB Yeats route from Dublin to Cherbourg, France, while it remains in dry dock. However, it is not approved to transport livestock. And as long as the Stena Horizon ferry is being serviced, no livestock can be moved from Rosslare to Cherbourg either.
Despite these setbacks, calf exports are good. In fact, numbers are running ahead of 2021 and 2020 totals. Almost 103,000 calves have been exported up to 17 April, 2022. That’s close to 16,000 more calves than those exported in the same timeframe last year. Almost 87,000 calves were exported in 2021.
As much as the Europeans want their livestock, so does the Irish calf market want the delivery to be concluded. This can only happen when there is an approved vessel to take these animals to mainland Europe.