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Displaying items by tag: Ferry Safety Awards

#FerryNews - Eight ferries operating for Stena Line on the Irish Sea have received the prestigious Jones F. Devlin Award from the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA), acknowledging the skills and dedication of the men and women responsible for safe vessel operations.

According to the CSA, the Jones F. Devlin Awards publicly recognise ‘outstanding achievement’, exemplifying ‘devotion to duty and to the principles of maritime safety, which is worthy of the highest commendation.”

This year, eight Stena Line ferries on the Irish Sea, along with a ninth ship operating on the Gdynia to Karlskrona route have been recognised for operating between two and five consecutive years without a lost-time accident.

The awarded ferries are:

· Stena Adventurer on the Dublin to Holyhead route

· Stena Horizon on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route

· Stena Superfast VIII on the Belfast to Cairnryan route

· Stena Mersey, Stena Lagan and freightferry Stena Precision on the Belfast to Liverpool route. Afloat adds the Irish Sea route is also to be joined by Stena Forerunner which too was given the award. The '4Runner class freightferry is currently on the English Channel as it makes a repositioning voyage to Belfast from Rotterdam.

· Stena Baltica on the Gdynia to Karlskrona route

Bjarne Koitrand, Technical Operations Director at Stena Line said: “Safety for our passengers and employees always comes first at Stena Line, and forms a very important part of the Stena Line Group’s strategy for a sustainable future. This achievement reaffirms the positive trend we have seen in the Lost-Time-Injury-Frequency during the last years.”

Stena Line Trade Director (Irish Sea South) Ian Davies also commented on his pride at a ‘remarkable’ achievement.

“For a ship to operate for three consecutive years without a single lost time accident is a fantastic achievement – for eight of our Irish Sea fleet to pick up this award is truly remarkable,” said Mr Davies. “We really couldn’t be more proud of all our colleagues on the Irish Sea.”

Published in Ferry

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!