Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Belgian trawler

In Cork Harbour, the master and crew of a Belgian-registered trawler are self-isolating on board the fishing vessel in Cobh (last night, 24 Aug) pending the outcome of Covid-19 testing.

As RTE News reports, the crew of the 'Vaya Con Diaz' were advised by the Marine Survey Office (MSO) that they could not unload their catch and to stay onboard after the trawler arrived into port (yesterday).

The MSO had been alerted by the Irish Naval Service after one of its vessels had encountered the trawler during routine fishery protection duties yesterday.

When the Navy announced their intention to board the vessel to carry out a routine inspection of the catch, and asked about the wellbeing of the crew, the master told them that there was a person on board with a cough and chest pains.

The Navy then deemed that the risk was too high to conduct a routine inspection.

More here on the story.

Published in Fishing

As Afloat referred to LÉ James Joyce recent Irish Sea presence in Dublin Bay, the Irish Naval Service vessel has since detained a Belgian registered fishing boat approximately 65 nautical miles south-east of Mizen Head.

The boat, Journal.ie reports, was detained (on Sunday) afternoon due to alleged breaches of fishing regulations. The LÉ James Joyce escorted the vessel to Castletownbere, Co Cork, where it was handed over to the gardaí.

This is the first vessel detained by the Naval Service in 2021.

The Defence Forces conducts at sea fishery inspections in line with the service level agreement with the Sea Fishery Protection Authority, as part of its delivery of government services to the state.

The LÉ James Joyce has been in operation since 2015. The Naval Service previously deployed it to the Mediterranean to help save migrants and refugees seeking to make their way to Europe.

Published in Navy

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!