Charter Renewal

Irish   Continental   Group   plc  (ICG) notes  the  announcement today  by  P&O
European Ferries (Portsmouth)  Ltd, (P&O) that it  proposes to withdraw from the
Portsmouth  - Bilbao route  at the end  of September 2010. As  a consequence the
charter  of the cruise ferry MV Pride of  Bilbao, owned by ICG, will cease.  The
MV  Pride  of  Bilbao is  chartered  to  P&O  under a bareboat charter agreement
entered  into in  1993 initially  for  a  period  of  three years but which also
included sequential  charterer's options for extension  periods. The most recent
option  renewal was from 15 October  2007 to 15 October 2010 following which the
vessel will return to ICG's control.

ICG   has  received  expressions  of  interest  from  potential  purchasers  and
charterers  of the vessel over a number of years and will now engage in a review
of  best options for the vessel for  2011 and beyond. The vessel which was built
in  1986 for Viking Line for service between Stockholm and Helsinki is among the
twenty largest  cruise  ferries  of  its  type  in  the  world (Source : ShipPax
Information,  Sweden). The  37583 tonne vessel  has the  capacity to carry 2500
passengers  and 580 cars.  She has  2373 berths in  841 cabins and  can carry 62
freight  units. The ship has a wide range of public facilities including a night
club, casino, two bars, three restaurants, and cafe as well as shopping, cinema,
and  leisure centre facilities. The  vessel has Ice class  1 A, which allows the
vessel to trade in all Baltic waters.


January 15th 2010



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