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A new bulk oriented general cargoship for Arklow Shipping took to the water for the first time yesterday as the fifth of six ships was launched by shipbuilder Ferus Smit, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 8,543dwt newbuild (NB.441) bulker was christened in The Netherlands as Arklow Arrow and launched onto the Ems Canal, however due to Covid-19 restrictions the inland shipyard was not open to public.

Ferus Smit is a German shipbuilder that has a second yard located in Westerbroek from where the Arklow A- series 'Arrow' became the first ship to use this name in the ASL fleet.

Arklow Arrow's design is a slightly modified version of the first series of 8,600dwt bulkers of the Arklow B-series also completed by Ferus Smit.

The new design also has an adapted ice class 1A along with a modified bow form and propulsion with a propeller nozzle added. As for the main engine, output has been decreased to 2000kW so to enbable better fuel efficiency.

Following sea trials that will take place in the North Sea, see Arklow Archer' canal transit (following launch in June) the Arrow will join the other A-series ships; Ace, Accord and Abbey which was delivered last year as the leadship.

Likewise of this series the new cargoship is registered at its shipowners Co. Wicklow homeport and will fly the Irish tricolor.

Total hold capacity is 350.000cft and this will see Arklow Arrow be mainly employed in the shipment of corn, wheat and other bulk commodities in European waters.

Published in Arklow Shipping

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.