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Displaying items by tag: biggest

A pair of 230m ferries will be the largest to ever to sail between Dover and Calais (see: Brexit related story), with room for 1,500 passengers and deck spaces three-quarters the size of London's Trafalgar Square, writes KentOnline

The contract also gives the company, P&O Ferries the chance to build another two by 2024.

The new ships, operating by 2023, are designed to help the environment by cutting fuel use and producing no carbon emissions.

They even have two bridges so they don't need to be turned around in the harbour.

This move follows the company signing the multi-million pound contract with Chinese-based Guangzhou Shipyard International Ltd.

For more on this development from P&O Ferries which Afloat adds is a subsidiary of Dubai based company DP World click here. 

Published in Ferry

#ANGLING - Angling Times reports that an Irish angler has caught the biggest carp ever recorded in the country.

Andrew Doyle landed the 40lb 2oz monster known as Big Hole at Maynooth Fishery in Co Kildare recently.

The intrepid fisherman caught the mirror carp during a 72-hour session using a "boilie hookbait fished in conjunction with a PVA bag of freebies over a bed of hemp and corn".

Published in Angling

#SURFING - One of Ireland's top surfers claims he has found the world's biggest waves off the coast of Ireland.

As Irish Central reports, Portrush waverider Al Mennie says that he and surfing partner Andrew Cotton have found two waves reaching as much as 120 feet in secret locations off the coasts of Antrim and Donegal.

The duo are currently waiting for the right conditions to surf the biggest swells.

"The good days are few and far between – 90 percent of the swells are unrideable and we'd reckon that only two days each year are rideable," Mennie told the Irish Independent.

Their location is being kept under wraps for now due to safety concerns, as the waves crash down in a hazardous rocky area - making them definitely not suitable for novices.

Irish Central has more on the story HERE.

Published in Surfing
#SURFING - An Irish-American has ridden what's being called the biggest wave ever surfed in the world.
Garrett McNamara from Hawaii caught the 90-foot monster wave off the coast of Nazaré in Portugal earlier this month, The Irish Times reports.
"Everything was perfect, the weather, the waves," said Northern Irish surfer Al Mennie, who was tow-in surfing with McNamara and English rider Andrew Cotton when the giant swell arose at Praia do Norte.
The offshore area is noted for its deepwater canyon that channels massive swells from the Atlantic.
“As I rode this wave, it seemed pretty massive, but I couldn’t tell quite how big it was,” McNamara told surf forecast site Surfline.
“When I got to the bottom and turned and got around the wave and went to kick out, it landed on me and it felt like a ton of bricks.
"Probably one of the most powerful waves ever to land on me at the shoulder," he added. "It was pretty amazing.”
McNamara - whose family has Irish roots, according to Irish Central - is working with the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute as part of the ZON North Canyon Project, which aims to learn how waves reach such significant heights at Praia do Norte.
See video of the record-shattering wave ride below:

#SURFING - An Irish-American has ridden what's being called the biggest wave ever surfed in the world.

Garrett McNamara from Hawaii caught the 90-foot monster wave off the coast of Nazaré in Portugal earlier this month, The Irish Times reports.

"Everything was perfect, the weather, the waves," said Northern Irish surfer Al Mennie, who was tow-in surfing with McNamara and English rider Andrew Cotton when the giant swell arose at Praia do Norte.

The offshore area is noted for its deepwater canyon that channels massive swells from the Atlantic.
“As I rode this wave, it seemed pretty massive, but I couldn’t tell quite how big it was,” McNamara told surf forecast site Surfline

“When I got to the bottom and turned and got around the wave and went to kick out, it landed on me and it felt like a ton of bricks. 

"Probably one of the most powerful waves ever to land on me at the shoulder," he added. "It was pretty amazing.”

McNamara - whose family has Irish roots, according to Irish Central - is working with the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute as part of the ZON North Canyon Project, which aims to learn how waves reach such significant heights at Praia do Norte.

See video of the record-shattering wave ride below:

Published in Surfing

Marine Institute Research Vessel Tom Crean

Ireland’s new marine research vessel will be named the RV Tom Crean after the renowned County Kerry seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world, at that time.

Ireland's new multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean, was delivered in July 2022 and will be used by the Marine Institute and other State agencies and universities to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, seabed mapping surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The RV Tom Crean will also enable the Marine Institute to continue to lead and support high-quality scientific surveys that contribute to Ireland's position as a leader in marine science. The research vessel is a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel (designed to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research), capable of operating in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Tom Crean is able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time and is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions.

RV Tom Crean Specification Overview

  • Length Overall: 52.8 m
  • Beam 14m
  • Draft 5.2M 

Power

  • Main Propulsion Motor 2000 kw
  • Bow Thruster 780 kw
  • Tunnel thruster 400 kw

Other

  • Endurance  21 Days
  • Range of 8,000 nautical miles
  • DP1 Dynamic Positioning
  • Capacity for 3 x 20ft Containers

Irish Marine Research activities

The new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel will carry out a wide range of marine research activities, including vital fisheries, climate change-related research, seabed mapping and oceanography.

The new 52.8-metre modern research vessel, which will replace the 31-metre RV Celtic Voyager, has been commissioned with funding provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved by the Government of Ireland.

According to Aodhán FitzGerald, Research Vessel Manager of the MI, the RV Tom Crean will feature an articulated boom crane aft (6t@ 10m, 3T@ 15m), located on the aft-gantry. This will be largely used for loading science equipment and net and equipment handling offshore.

Mounted at the stern is a 10T A-frame aft which can articulate through 170 degrees which are for deploying and recovering large science equipment such as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), towed sleds and for fishing operations.

In addition the fitting of an 8 Ton starboard side T Frame for deploying grabs and corers to 4000m which is the same depth applicable to when the vessel is heaving but is compensated by a CTD system consisting of a winch and frame during such operations.

The vessel will have the regulation MOB boat on a dedicated davit and the facility to carry a 6.5m Rigid Inflatable tender on the port side.

Also at the aft deck is where the 'Holland 1' Work class ROV and the University of Limericks 'Etain' sub-Atlantic ROV will be positioned. In addition up to 3 x 20’ (TEU) containers can be carried.

The newbuild has been engineered to endure increasing harsher conditions and the punishing weather systems encountered in the North-East Atlantic where deployments of RV Tom Crean on surveys spent up to 21 days duration.

In addition, RV Tom Crean will be able to operate in an ultra silent-mode, which is crucial to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research purposes.

The classification of the newbuild as been appointed to Lloyds and below is a list of the main capabilities and duties to be tasked by RV Tom Crean:

  • Oceanographic surveys, incl. CTD water sampling
  • Fishery research operations
  • Acoustic research operations
  • Environmental research and sampling operation incl. coring
  • ROV and AUV/ASV Surveys
  • Buoy/Mooring operations