A brand new £36m ship has become the most recent addition to the P&O Irish Sea fleet and will soon be arriving in Cairnryan to operate the Cairnryan-Larne route.
European Highlander, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, received a warm send-off on 1st June as she set sail from Japan on her homeward journey to Cairnryan. Under the command of Captain Jim McMullan, European Highlander will arrive in Cairnryan on 27th June 2002 and following berthing trials in Cairnryan and Larne, will make her first, much-anticipated, commercial sailing on 1st July.
Operating alongside her sister ship, European Causeway, the new ferry will provide a tremendous boost to both tourist and commercial traffic offering seven round trips per day with departures every three hours. Her arrival is keenly awaited by customers already familiar with European Causeway which has gained a second-to-none reputation for reliability since her introduction in August 2000.
Graham McCullough, General Manager, Loch Ryan routes, said, “Reliability is a key issue within this industry and while we cannot control the weather, we can provide ships which respond positively to all weather conditions. European Causeway has established herself as the most reliable ferry operating between Ireland and Scotland and we are confident that European Highlander will quickly gain a similar reputation.”
Like her sister ship, European Highlander will make the crossing in 105minutes and match her capacity of up to 410 passengers, 375 cars and/or 116 commercial vehicles and will offer twin-deck, drive through bow and stern loading. …more
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Facilities onboard the new ship will be similar to European Causeway and will include the popular Fables Restaurant and Poets Bar as well as a video lounge, quiet lounge, children’s video area, games area and shop. An exclusive area for commercial drivers will include separate restaurant, lounge and shower facilities.
Graham McCulllough adds: “Cairnryan-Larne is one of P&O’s key routes and the arrival of European Highlander is a further demonstration of our confidence in the route which has benefitted from investment of over £80m in the past 2 years. With the new ship operating alongside European Causeway, we will provide a seamless service to our customers and strengthen our position as the leading operator on the Irish Sea.”
P&O Irish Sea’s Cairnryan-Larne service provides the shortest and fastest crossing between Scotland and Ireland. From March to September, European Highlander and European Causeway, are joined by the record-breaking Superstar Express, offering a crossing time of just one hour.
To complement the Cairnryan-Larne route, P&O Irish Sea also operate passenger and freight services from Troon and Fleetwood in North England to Larne and a freight only service between Liverpool and Larne.