Irish Continetial Group's Irish Ferries has said it will increase its capacity and frequency on the Dublin to Holyhead route through the introduction of a third ship in December.
The ferry company now operates eight sailings a day on the key Irish Sea route with its flagship Ulysses and the high speed craft Jonathan Swift.
Irish Ferries has now chartered the Epsilon ship to supplement its existing Ireland to UK services.
The ship will provide two additional departures a day in each direction, which will result in an increase in the company's schedule to a maximum of twelve sailings between Dublin and Holyhead each day.
"We believe that Ireland has turned the corner and we are prepared to invest in the provision of improved services for our valued freight and tourism customers who have shown fantastic loyalty throughout the last five difficult years,'' commented Irish Ferries' Marketing Director Tony Kelly.
Meanwhile, ICG said that in the seasonally most significant quarter of the year, the three months to the end of September, the group recorded turnover of €84.7m - up 3.2% on the same time last year. Operating profit in the quarter rose to €22.3m compared to €20m in the same period in 2012.
The company said that summer trading has been encouraging across most business areas, with volume growth in passenger, car and freight markets offset by weaker sterling, which affects yields on its UK traffic.
Fuel costs in the quarter were down €2m or 13.6% on the same period in 2012.
