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Displaying items by tag: TriAthlone

#TriAthlone - This Saturday 5 July sees the return of Ireland's original town-centre triathlon, the Waterways Ireland TriAthlone, for its ninth edition on the River Shannon.

Yesterday the local organising committee were joined by Triathlon Ireland vice-president Tony Daley and Charles Lawn, inspector of navigation with Waterways Ireland, to launch this year's event, which will see the return of the Vodafone Triathlon Ireland Sprint Series, alongside the Paratriathlon National Championship, which has found its home in Athlone since the hosting of a record-breaking European Championships in 2010.

As for the main event, 2013 Athlone European Junior Cup Champion and former World Junior Championships Bronze medalist Con Doherty leads the field and is favourite to be crowned champion this year, but certainly not without a challenge.

The day promises an exciting spectacle, with the genuine stars of the future battling it out in the River Shannon and on the streets of the Midlands town for national honours.

With almost every county in Ireland represented and up to 15,000 spectators expected to line the streets, Athlone is gearing up for yet another great triathlon.

And this year spectators can track triathletes as they make their way around the course via a free app for smartphones. Details of how to get the app are available at www.triathlone.com.

The Waterways Ireland TriAthlone begins with a swim in the River Shannon, from which the competitors will then take to their bikes for a cycle through South Co Roscommon before the exciting towncentre run which will see the event finish in the heart of Athlone.

Speaking about the event, chairman Liam Heavin said: "2014 promises to be another very exciting year in Athlone, and it's a privilege for us to host the top national athletes as part of the Vodafone National Series. This has been a team effort and couldn't be achieved without the support of Waterways Ireland and Westmeath County Council.

"We would like to encourage as many people as possible to come along and support the event this weekend!"

Published in Inland Waterways
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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