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Post by ferryfast admin on Mar 23, 2006 0:38:00 GMT -5
Stena to cut Holyhead-Dún Laoghaire service
22 March 2006 19:05
Stena Line is to cut its high-speed services between Holyhead and Dún Laoghaire from three round trips a day to two because of commercial pressure.
However, the company says it has no plans to introduce compulsory redundancies.
In a statement, Stena's route director for the Holyhead-Dublin route, Vic Goodwin, said the company was facing significant challenges.
Mr Goodwin said that while freight growth had been good, the company had experienced an 8% fall in tourist volumes over the last year.
He blamed competition from low-cost airlines and other ferry operators, as well as rising fuel costs, which he said had doubled over the last 18 months.
From 2 May, the company will only run two round trips on the HSS from Monday to Thursday, with three round trips on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Stena will continue to operate two round trips a day on its super ferry, the Stena Adventurer.
Stena's manager in Dublin Eamonn Hewitt said that any necessary job losses would be managed by voluntary redundancy, natural wastage and not filling vacancies.
He estimated that at most 14 voluntary redundancies might be sought.
He categorically denied that the cut in service was linked to the recent cost cutting programme at Irish Ferries, which replaced most of its permanent staff with lower paid agency staff from eastern Europe.
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