A Carlow shipping agent has chartered a ship from Brittany Ferries to facilitate hauliers hit by the Irish Ferries dispute.
Victor Treacy International is a shipping agent for owner drivers and hauliers.
The vessel, which can accommodate around 70 articulated trucks, will carry freight from Cherbourg on Friday evening.
A spokesperson for the Irish Road Hauliers Association welcomed the move, saying the vessel will be of assistance to hauliers with no other way of transporting freight out of the country over the weekend.
Meanwhile, SIPTU's Marine Division members at Dublin Port have voted unanimously to support their Irish Ferries colleagues by refusing to handle the company's ships until the dispute is resolved.
Fears on ferries redundancy package
The Seamans' Union of Ireland has voiced fears that staff may see their redundancy payments reduced because of the current industrial unrest at Irish Ferries.
The dispute centres on Irish Ferries' plans to replace existing staff with lower waged agency workers.
The SUI is not on strike but it is in dispute with the company regarding the terms and conditions of members who wish to remain.
General Secretary Bobby Carrick said the original redundancy offer of eight weeks pay per year of service was conditional on the departing staff making themselves available to train in their replacements.
The offer stipulated that the package would be reduced if that cooperation were not forthcoming or if there were industrial action.
Irish Ferries Director of Human Resources, Alf McGrath, said the company had not amended the conditions of the redundancy offer yet.
