#PORTS & SHIPPING REVIEW – Dublin 'Docklands' floating river-restaurant ship M.V. Cill Airne celebrated her 50th anniversary having been built nearby at the Liffey Dockyard. A special lunch and lecture organised by the Cobh branch of the World Ship Society was held on board the veteran vessel which represents one of the last surviving ships built in Ireland and which remains around our coast having had a rich and varied career.
Along the Shannon Estuary the mid-west port of Foynes welcomed the first cruise call for this year with the arrival of the 28,000 tonnes ultra-luxury Silver Whisper. Passengers from the 382 capacity cruiseship toured the region including the local Foynes Flying Boat Museum.
Returning to the East coast where in Drogheda Port, onlookers welcomed the first ever scheduled cruise call to the Boyne when the Clipper Adventurer berthed at the Co. Louth port to complete a circumnavigation cruise of the island where US and Canadian passengers disembarked.
Down the coast the RV Keary was undergoing refit at Arklow Marine Services yard. The research vessels owners Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) have chartered the Cosantoir Bradan from the Central Fisheries Board for survey work to assist the RV Keary.
In the capital the veteran grab-hopper dredger Hebble Sand (1963/757grt) departed Dublin Dry-Dock facility in readiness for a new career working with Northern Ireland based Abco Marine. The former Dundalk Port Company owned vessel which resembles the last of the Guinness ships, currently remains in the port awaiting her first delivery voyage for contract project work.
Across the Irish Sea the first of two new offshore patrol vessels (OPV) for the Naval Service had its keel-laid at a ceremony at Babcock Marine's shipyard in Bideford, north Devon. The €99m pair are an enlarged version of the 'Roisin' class L.E. Roisin (P51) and L.E. Niamh (P52) which were launched from the same UK yard over a decade ago then owned by Appledore Shipbuilders.
