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Displaying items by tag: Fastnet Race Rambler 100

#PORTS & SHIPPING REVIEW - Over the last fortnight, Jehan Ashmore has reported from the shipping scene, where a brand new multi-purpose heavy-lift vessel Abis Dublin made her maiden 'Irish' call to her namesake port carrying wind-turbine components.

In this year of The Gathering, Dublin Port is to welcome a record number of cruiseships, with more than 100 calls this season to include several new operators.

The fleet of Irish Ferries vessels are taking turns to undergo dry-docking maintenance at the Cammell Laird facility in Birkenhead, where French routes cruiseferry Oscar Wilde is due next month.

The tug that 'righted' the Fastnet Race entrant Rambler 100 in west Cork in 2011, had recently towed a completely different type of vessel, Skerchi, a construction barge to Dublin Port, where the vessel is currently in dry-dock.

Galway Harbour is to welcome The World, the 41,188 tonnes exclusive ultra-luxury residential passenger ship when she opens the 2013 cruise season in July with a two-night anchorage call.

Having operated 12 days of Christmas service, Stena Line's HSS Stena Explorer is taking a break off-service, however, the fastcraft returns for a second year operating a seasonal-summer only schedule.

Shannon Foynes Port Company's draft masterplan "Vision 2041"  is to develop port infrastructure and services of the estuary over the next three decades.

Once again the former Dutch dredger Lough Foyle has been contracted by Drogheda Port Company to carry out work at to the mouth of the Boyne.

An extra 3,000 'coach' passengers will have an opportunity to visit Ireland as part of an Irish Ferries initiative worth up to EUR60,000 to promote the nation to UK and overseas tourists.

London 2012, a 82,562 dwt bulk-carrier which after docking at Auginish on the Shannon Estuary, recently weighed anchor offshore of the world famous Ballybunion Golf Course. At the next Olympics of Rio de Janeiro 2016, golf will return to the Games.

Published in Ports & Shipping

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!