The government has announced support for ferry services to protect the flow of goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Up to £17m has been made available to Stena Line, P&O and Seatruck to maintain “critical routes” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Northern Ireland Executive will cover 40% of the costs.
Ferry operators have been under immense pressure, with some having to reduce operations.
The Department for Infrastructure had been in discussions with the Department for Transport for a number of weeks about a package of funding.
Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said the money will “ensure the supply routes which Northern Ireland relies on for food, medicines and other essential supplies continue without any interruption during this period".
The support is for a period of two months and the routes are:
• Warrenpoint to Heysham
• Belfast to Liverpool
• Cairnryan and Heysham
• Larne to Cairnryan
On Thursday, P&O announced it would lay up one ship on its Larne to Cairnryan route and run a one ship service.
It has furloughed 1,400 people and said it needs £250m in funding to ensure it can come through the crisis.
It had asked the UK government for £150m of support for its operations and would not comment on Friday’s funding announcement.
Northern Ireland’s future connectivity has been an area of concern for business groups and the executive.
The Northern Ireland Office has said a further package is being developed to ensure air links between Belfast City Airport and City of Derry Airport to and from London are maintained.
UK Chamber of Shipping Chief Executive Bob Sanguinetti said ferry operators have been under immense pressure.
"We have been working closely with the Department for Transport and we welcome government support on these key ferry routes to ensure essential goods, food and medical supplies keep flowing into the country.
"We will study the detail of any package closely, to ensure it provides sufficient capacity and resilience over the coming days and weeks."
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said essential supplies are flowing well, but operators are facing challenges.
"Today's action will help ensure we have the freight capacity we need across the UK. This funding will help ferry operators protect our supply chain and maintain the flow of critical goods across the Irish Sea and throughout the union."
Source: BBC