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A family from Ireland were caught up in a cruise ship collision with a tourist boat in Venice has hit out at the company’s treatment of passengers left stranded in the aftermath of the accident.

As The Irish Times reports, Charlie and Anne Lumsden and their daughter Nichola were on board the MSC Opera when it into the dock and a smaller tourist boat as it approached the Giudecca canal in the city.

Mr Lumsden said they were on deck, going for breakfast before their departure after a week-long cruise when the accident occurred. “We didn’t feel the collision,” he said, but the alarm went off and staff rushed up stairs and along each deck.

The incident happened at 8.30am and Mr and Mrs Lumsden were due to fly back to Dublin at 12.15, but nobody was allowed off the vessel until 2.50pm until the port authorities had finished their investigations, he said.

In the end they had to organise and pay for their alternative flights on Monday, overnight accommodation in a hotel outside Venice and taxis at a cost of about €1,500.

For more on this story, click here.

Published in Cruise Liners

#RCYC -The Royal Cork Yacht Club was represented this weekend at the Venice leg of the international 2K team racing circuit, hosted by the Compagnia della Vela di Venezia.

The mixed Cork crew, who enjoyed a strong finish in Anzio this summer, placed behind Britain’s Serpentine Racing and the winning Dutch-Italian contingent from the Yacht Club Costal Olanda, but ahead of the home team at Compagnia della Vela di Venezia.

The event, taking place from the 4th to the 6th of November, had 11 teams from Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Britain, Ireland and Sweden competing in generally very light wind conditions. Unfortunately the final day of racing was cut short due to light winds and the results were awarded based on the round robin standings. The RCYC team were beaten by Britain’s Serpentine Racing and the winning Dutch-Italian contingent, known as Yacht Club Costa Olanda.

The team consisting of Fred Cudmore, Lisa Tait, Philip O'Leary, Sonia Minihane, George Kingston, Emma Geary, Sean Cotter and Sarah O'Leary finished in third place.

Published in Team Racing

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