Rugby fans stranded by further ferry glitches
Patience was wearing thin onboard as many Welsh rugby fans began to realise that they were unlikely to make it to their Six Nations clash with Ireland at Croke Park.
The failure of an inner bow door to close properly was the latest in a series of mishaps to befall the 27-year-old vessel, which was resuming the Cork-Swansea ferry route after a four-year absence.
MV Julia departed Cork at 9pm on Thursday, but before she had left the harbour she encountered electronic problems in one of her four engines.
As a result she was forced to sail on reduced power, arriving in Swansea six hours overdue at 1pm yesterday.
An electronics expert from Surrey arrived at the port in the afternoon and was trying to fix the problem as cars and passengers started boarding for the return trip.
The ferry was supposed to sail at 7pm yesterday, but an hour later it was announced by Captain John Grace that due to safety reasons she wouldn’t sail on schedule.
Captain Grace said that electronic indicators on the inner bow door were not showing it was fully secure.
At that stage the vessel had missed the tide for the 10-hour crossing.
The captain said he hoped to set sail on the next tide at 1am, but admitted it could also be 7am — at which stage rugby fans had absolutely no hope of making it to the match, which kicks off at 2.30pm today.
To further add to their frustration it soon became apparent that they wouldn’t even be able to see the crunch game on the ship as her televisions weren’t working.
Onboard were a number of Llanelli Scarlets fans who had planned to meet friends in Kinsale for the match.
Among them was the leader of Llanelli Town Council, Carl Lucas, who said “it was likely that their weekend would be ruined”.
“The ferry was supposed to sail on March 1 and it was postponed twice since. We booked the ferry in good faith and expected it to take us to Ireland at the appropriate time,” he said.
Efforts were being made to get cars off the MV Julia so rugby fans could make it to Fishguard in time for a 2.45am sailing to Ireland.
Jeremy Clayton from Swansea had bought match tickets as a Valentine’s Day present for his wife, Jane.
“I wanted her to see the last Wales match in Croke Park. It’s unlikely she will. We’re devastated,” he said.
Elaine Oughton, from Cork, was cradling her 11-month-old child in her arms. Little Daniel had teething problems — just like the ferry.
She said staff were trying to do their best and she felt sorry for the ferry company, which was formed by the ordinary people of Cork.
“It’s a community co-operative and their hearts are in the right place. At the end of the day we all want them to succeed,” she said.
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