Ferry lines are looking to secure alternative crossings over the Irish Sea as hopes for Holyhead Port reopening before Christmas begin to fade.
The port has been closed since it was damaged during Storm Darragh earlier this month.
In a statement this afternoon, Irish Ferries said it was "actively engaging" with alternative ports in the UK to facilitate access for its vessels in order to try help "alleviate pressure on both freight and passenger markets".
It said that it has increased capacity on its Pembroke-Rosslare route, where it deployed its James Joyce vessel to accommodate greater passenger numbers.
Irish Ferries said: "In the key week ahead with freight backlogs to clear, and thousands of passengers about to embark on their drive home for Christmas to reunite with family and friends, Irish Ferries remains actively engaged with alternative British ports to facilitate access for our vessels and help alleviate the significant pressures on both the freight and passenger markets."
It said it was awaiting the "expected" confirmation of the Port reopening on Friday, however, as a contingency, it would "continue to pursue all viable options to ensure freight and passengers get to their destination in time for Christmas", adding it would provide a further update when there is more clarity.
Stena Line, meanwhile, said it was "continuing to work at pace" to secure alternative crossings.
It said that freight and passengers traffic had been "severely impacted" by Holyhead's closure, with all of its sailings on the Dublin-Holyhead route cancelled until Friday.
The company said it has chartered the Ben My Chree vessek to operate a new Dublin-Heysham route.
However, Minister of State at the Department of Transport James Lawless said he was planning for the possibility that Holyhead Port's ferry terminals would not reopen on Friday, warning some passengers or freight would not be accommodated on alternative crossings.
He said: "We have to be live to that it may not be possible that every single package and every single person will be able to make the journey, certainly with the timescale of the next week, there may be some disappointments, and there may be some cargo that has to be deprioritized.
"In terms of if something is less time sensitive, you know, not perishable.
"It's not a pharmaceutical product, for example. Perhaps there may be certain calls, but the industry makes those calls every day. You know, that's part of how they do business."
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'Highly unlikely' Holyhead will function before Christmas - Taoiseach
Earlier, the Taoiseach has said the seriousness of the situation in Holyhead is becoming more apparent as the days go by, and it is "highly unlikely now that we will see Holyhead Port functioning in any real way this Christmas."
Simon Harris said this was a serious concern to both people who had bought goods and gifts that they were hoping would arrive and also people who are trying to get home for the Christmas period.
He said Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and Minister of State James Lawless would meet their Welsh counterparts and Irish Ferries and Stena Line this afternoon.
He also welcomed the decision taken by the Welsh government to relax rules on driving times for hauliers to help reduce the backlog of freight at the port.
Mr Harris said every possibility was being looked at in terms of providing additional capacity.
"We've already made it very clear that we will put on extra shuttle buses and the likes, should we be able to get other ferry crossings to other ports. So there's a lot of work going on to make sure people can get home for Christmas and to make sure as many gifts as possible can get here in time for Christmas."
Separate incidents
In a statement this morning, Holyhead Port said that on Friday 6 and Saturday 7 December, "two separate berthing incidents occurred affecting the Terminal 3 berth used by Irish Ferries, resulting in part of the berth structure collapsing and rendering it unusable."
It said that give the scale of the damage, under water inspections needed to be carried out, which began on 10 December after Storm Darragh passed and this process is ongoing.
The Port added: "We understand that the closure of the port has had a significant impact on trade, passengers and port customers and we are aware of the disruption this has caused.
"The safety of all persons involved in the berthing arrangements; including our staff, contractors and of course our customers is our number one priority and we will only permit ferry services to recommence once we are sure it is safe to do so."
Irish Ferries also added in its statement: "Irish Ferries can re-confirm categorically as stated previously, that the current closure of Holyhead Port is not due to the berthing operations of our vessels, but due to port infrastructure damage that emerged during storm Darragh, and this is currently being assessed by the port operator."
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Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Lawless said that in relation to the estimated 150,000 passengers trying to get home for Christmas, he is "very conscious" of the difficulties this presents and said he has instructed the National Transport Authority to make sure there are additional public transport connections.
"There maybe some use of shuttle buses, emergency reception facilities, etc, but we need to make sure that that system is in place and we need to make sure that those journeys can be made".
The piece that has been damaged is a platform holding one of the dolphins which a ship uses as a buffer when it pulls alongside.
Mr Lawless said that agreeing a derogation for drivers means synchronisation across both jurisdictions.
Mr Lawless said that Welsh Transport Minister Ken Skates has agreed that "we really need to get accurate, high quality information from Holyhead port in terms of repairs, in terms of the status.
"Is this a more serious issue than was first thought. Is it going to take time to resolve? My instinct last week was that it is more serious and that's why I instructed my own team and everybody, all the stakeholders to really plan for the worst and look beyond Holyhead.
"And that's we've been doing over the last four to five days."
Additional reporting Eleanor Burnhill, Colman O'Sullivan
