Despite hopes that there would be a ferry running between Fishguard and Rosslare from today, neither the Stena Europe or the Stena Nordica are back on the run and Stena Line has confirmed that there will be no service until the middle of next month.

The Nordica has been away from Fishguard Port since January 7.

Lat week a spokesperson for Stena said that maintenance at the port meant that The Stena Nordica was physically unable to berth there.

Because of this she had been diverted to cover the Dublin Holyhead route.

It was anticipated that the Stena Europe, which covered the Fishguard to Rosslare run for 21 years, until July 13 last year, would come back on the route.

Stena said that with the ongoing work at Fishguard Port the Europe was the only ship in Stena’s Irish Sea fleet that could berth at Fishguard.

However, mechanical issues meant that they had not been able to put her on the route.

It was hoped that all would be resolved by today, Monday, January 29, with the spokesperson saying: “We are working to fix the mechanical issues with our relief ship, Stena Europe, which is the currently the only ship in our Irish Sea fleet that can berth in the port without this infrastructure in place.

“At this point, it is anticipated that the service will recommence on January 29.”

However, Stena Line has now confirmed that the service between Fishguard and Rosslare will not be reinstated until mid February.

“Due to ongoing mechanical issues with the scheduled relief ship, Stena Line’s service on the Rosslare-Fishguard route has been suspended,” said a Stena Line spokesperson.

“At this point, it is anticipated that the service will recommence on February 19.

“Stena Line would like to apologise unreservedly to customers for any inconvenience caused by this unfortunate situation.

“Impacted customers have been contacted and are advised to amend their booking to an alternative route via the website www.stenaline.co.uk or to contact its customer care team on +44 3447 707070 (09:00hrs - 22:00hrs) to discuss their travel options.”