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Displaying items by tag: Inquiry Cruiseship's lost power

#Inquiry - An investigation has been initiated by Bermuda, writes Irish Times, into how a “mega-class” cruise ship with almost 4,500 people on board spent nine hours drifting without power in the Irish Sea

As reported on Afloat earlier this month, the 290-metre Caribbean Princess was forced to abandon a scheduled visit to Dublin Port after the serious incident occurred 25 miles southeast of the capital off the Wicklow coast on August 3rd.

The 17-deck ship eventually regained power that evening and made its way to Belfast port, where it berthed in the early hours of August 4th.

Bermuda, the British overseas territory which is the port of registry for the ship, said it had continuously monitored the vessel’s situation “from the time of its propulsion failure until the full propulsion power was restored and its voyage to Belfast completed”.

The Bermuda Administration said it had been in “constant communication” with the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the incident. Holyhead Coast Guard despatched a tug and helicopter to the ship, which had 3,306 passengers and 1,158 crew on board when it lost power on its route up the Irish Sea. The ship had been en route from Cobh to Dublin as part of a 12-day cruise from Southampton.

For more on the incident, the newspaper has more here. Afloat adds the cruiseship is today docked in Dublin Port, having called to Cobh, Cork Harbour.

 

 

Published in Cruise Liners

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!