Top Irish perfomer Mel Collins and his Royal Cork crew have ended up 11th overall at the SB3 Worlds in Torquay today.

The winners were Geoff Carveth, Andy Ramus, Ian Mills and Emma Clarke (GBR) Video with the winners below.. Carveth and crew have sailed an excellent series of qualifying and finals races and win the 2011 Championship with a 4 point lead.

One place behind Collins was Howth's Ben Duncan in 12th. Overall results below. To view all our coverage of this week's SB3 Worlds click here.

Going afloat this morning, Robert Greenhalgh and crew (GBR) lead the Gold Fleet by 5 points. At the first windward mark of Race 1, Rob Gullan (GBR) lead the course, tailed by John Pollard (GBR) and Geoff Carveth (GBR). Greenhalgh rounded deep in the pack. At the leeward mark, Greenhalgh had recovered some ground, but not enough.

It looked like Rob Gullan was on to take the first of the "2 bullets," he'd joked about in our interview the night before. On the second lap, Gullan lead Pollard and Carveth. Rodion Luka and 'Team Russia' were hot on the heels of the leaders. Choosing the right of the course for his final downwind leg, it paid off and Team Russia went on to win the first race of the day and the first race of their Championship. Carveth finished fourth. Greenhalgh finished seventeenth.

Carveth lead Greenhalgh by 2 points going into the final race of the Zhik SB3 World Championship 2011. The pressure was on Carveth to defend and Greenhalgh to attack.

By the first windward mark of Race 2, Race Ahead, helmed by 2010 South African Sailor of the Year, Asenathi Jim lead the fleet, Carveth rounded 2nd. Greenhalgh rounded 5th. At the leeward gate, Asenathi Jim had extended his lead. Carveth followed the South Africans around the left leeward mark; Greenhalgh went right. By the windward mark on the second lap, positions hadn't changed. Carveth had extended his lead and Greenhalgh's hopes of victory were fading fast.

Asenathi Jim won the final race of the Championships. Carveth crossed the finish line second, securing his victory of the Zhik SB3 World Championships 2011.

"Awesome," "Fantastic," and "Amazing" cheered the crew of Race Team Gill as they hit the dock in Torquay after racing. Carveth explained their day, "In Race 1 today Robert and I sailed our own races, we gained the upper hand and then covered Rob on the start of the second race and took control." The rest they say is history. "We'll be celebrating with a few beers this evening! We've had a great week and we're sailed really well as a crew."

Geoff Carveth is a second time World Champion in the Laser SB3 class, having won the 2008 Worlds in Dun Laoghaire. "It means a lot to win it twice, it shows the first time wasn't just a fluke!"

The Silver fleet of the Zhik Laser SB3 World Championships was won by French team 'Tad Minus', helmed by Vinvent Biarnes and crewed by Nicholas Heintz and Sam Bell.

In 2012, the Laser SB3 European Championships will be held in Medemblik, Netherlands from 1st – 7th September and the World Championships will be held at Hamilton Island, Australia from 13th – 20th December. The Laser SB3 Class has had a fantastic Championships hosted by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club, Torquay, UK. Thanks go to all of our generous sponsors, supporters and volunteers. Title sponsors, Zhik, have been fantastic to work with and our extreme thanks go to them for helping us put this event on the map.

Series Place	Sail No	Bow No	Boat	Helm	Series Points
1	GBR3053	111	Race Team Gill	Geoff Carveth	46
2	GBR3489	19	Red	Robert Greenhalgh	50
3	GBR3042	54	Gill Racing Team	Craig Burlton	76
4	AUS3108	70	Club Marine	Glenn Bourke	83
5	GBR3058	15	Xcellent	John Pollard	90
6	GBR3047	95	Parkway Pirates	Rob Gullan	97
7	RSA3469	49	Musto Race Ahead	Asenathi Jim	100
8	GBR3082	68	Henri Lloyd/Forelle Estates	Joe Llewellyn	101
9	RUS3554	109	Team Russia	Rodion Luka	110
10	ITA3073	39	Stenghele	Roberto Caresani	114
11	IRL3324	22	Sibelus	Mel Collins	122
12	AUS3063	32	One Design Sailing	Nathan Outteridge	134
13	NZL3287	36	Sailing West - Sharkbait	Ben Duncan	140
14	GBR3475	57	Perky III	Jez Entwistle	159
15	GBR3065	65	Rola-Trac	Peter Saxton	180
16	ITA3543	101	Bravi Thytronic	Giovanni Meloni	193
17	GBR3462	58	Underground Toys	Andrew Oddie	196
18	GBR3032	92	Rumbleflurg	David Cummins	197
19	GBR3149	16	Poor Buoy	Mark Gillett	205
20	GBR3336	8	Uber 3	Adrian Peach	210
21	GBR3465	26	3 Sad Old Blokes	Jerry Hill	213
22	GBR3575	56	Sailboat Deliveries	Sarah Allan	218
23	GBR3305	55	Rigging Gurus	Mark Richards	226
24	GBR3134	84	Marilyn	Dom Ford	228
25	GER3561	86	Razzmatazz	Sebastian Dohrendorf	240
26	GBR3292	93	Chill Pill	Tich Summers	242
27	GBR3106	37		Tom Clay	243
28	GBR3546	98	Orthteam	Richard Catchpole	243
29	GBR3517	75	Doolalli	Colin Simonds	258
30	GBR3079	116	Excuse Me Gents	Ann Jackson	264
31	IRL3298	64	Toucan 3	Ross Vaughan	269
32	GBR3556	69	Herbie	Phil Tilley	283
33	GBR3027	63	Darling Associates	Chris Darling	284
34	NED3441	17	Rivium	Paul Gast	290
35	GBR3029	44	3-Some	Niall Peelo	293
36	GBR3084	1	Eau No!	Mark Sotkes	293
37	GBR3510	52	Hutton's	Richard Wharram	300
38	GBR3021	51	Here Comes Bod	Charlie Whelan	301
39	ITA3596	99	Briefing	Luca Bacci	316
40	ITA3606	114	Lunatico XS	Aurelio Bini	325
41	GBR3276	89	Trouble & Strife	Ian Armstrong	335
42	GBR3183	30	Respect	John Danby	340
43	GER3402	21	Norah	Daniel Spaenle	346.2
44	GBR3464	5	Eric	Martin Wedge	347
45	AUS3607	104	Wysiwyg VI	Stephen Fries	349
46	GBR3041	67	Robina	Dan Goodman	349
47	UKR3443	78	Transbunker	Polovy Valeriy	353
48	BEL3472	35	Los Zapateros	Alex Schoenmakers	355
49	GBR3468	60	Fully Badgered	Paul Lovejoy	365
50	IRL3338	59	Milvus Milvus	Robert Howe	400
51	IRL3312	91	Bomchickawahwah	John O'Driscoll	424
52	IRL3226	112	Quantitative Easing	Paul McMahon	429

Once again there was a superb evening of Royal Cork Yacht Club racing in Cork Harbour last night. There was a strong cool breeze at the start with some debate about a No. 1 or No.2 . No. 1 was the call and just as well because the wind dropped as the race went on, going from about 18 knots down to 10 knots coming from the south west.

It was a good night for "Thistle" Peter Webster in White Sail,  "Junebug" Sarah Hyde in Class 3, "Magnet"  Kieran & Liz O'Brien in Class 2 (their third bullet of the league) and "Tux" Mary O'Keefe getting her second first of the league.

The Race Officer set an excellent course (Course No.97). A nice beat from Corbeg to the Cage Buoy off the Grassy Walk Line. The tide was still flooding quite strong even though there was only an hour left in the tide.

There was a long Spinnaker run up the harbour to No.11 a gybe and on towards Aghada to East Ferry 1 Buoy. "I couldn't believe that it was my first time being at this side of the harbour this year" remarked one crew. Once around the mark the fleet were beating again back leaving No.9 to port and on to the Cage.

After that there was a short run to Corkbeg and a short beat back to the finish at the Cage.

 

Cruiseships continue to grow in size but the opposite could be said for Grand Princess when her Skywalker Nightclub weighing some 211 tons was removed, writes Jehan Ashmore.

A floating crane-barge with a 1,000 ton lifting capacity hoisted the structure sky-high away from the ship which was berthed at the Grand Bahama Shipyard drydock facility. The ships owners, Princess Cruises cited the main reason for the removal was in order to 'significantly improve the operational performance of the ship, including greater fuel efficiency.'

Grand Princess may have lost her signature Skywalker Nightckub but three-decks below a new nightclub, One5, inspired by its Deck 15 location was created. In addition to this work which took place during April and May the 2,600 passenger cruisehip also underwent a major refit. The ship which had its last major refurbishment in 2004 has amenities to include an outdoor movie screen, fitness centre, spa, casino and four swimming pools.
For 'interactive' deckplans click here and interior slideshow click this link.

The distinctive 'Skywalker' feature became one of the most iconic in cruiseship naval architecture when the Grand Princess was launched as leadship
of the 'Grand' class in 1998. Located at the extreme aft of the vessel, the nightclub could only be reached by clubbers using an angled walkway (photo). Externally the feature was referred by some as the 'shopping trolley' and others percieved the design infleunce from towering poops found on ancient war-faring galleons.

Irrespective of the design origins, another 10 'Grand' class vessels were built by the Italian Fincantieni (at Malfalcone) Shipbuilding Group. The 'handle' (photo) feature on the Grand Princess was made with a heavier material compared to Golden Princess (2001) and Star Princess completed a year later. So there are no plans to remove these nightclubs. Of the more recent additions to the class modifications have appeared, notably without the inclusion of the Skywalker Nightclub's but there are changes to funnel designs.

Outside the Princess Cruises brand, the Ventura and Azura (also of the Grand-class) operate for P&O Cruises, serving the UK market from Southampton. The Hamsphire port welcomed the pioneering leadship Grand Princess on 5 May after she made a 16-day trans-Atlantic repositioning voyage from Port Everglades.

The cruiseship which has a crew of 1,200 alone will make the UK port its seasonal homeport this year from where she sails on cruises in Europe. On one of these cruises itineraries the Grand Princess (290m long x 36 beam X 8.5m draft) included a visit to the Port of Cork today. You can monitor the ship from Cobh Cruise Terminal via the 'live' bridge web-cam, noting the vessel is due to depart at 18.00 this evening bound for Dublin Port.

Grand Princess became the first cruiseship to measure over 100,000 gross registered tonnes when the 108,806 (grt) vessel docked in Dublin on 31 August 2004.

Last year the port handled 88 cruisecalls and this number of vessels is to be closely repeated this season. Over 200 cruise calls with around half a million passengers and crew are scheduled to visit the island of Ireland. The cruise sector business is estimated to generate €60m to the economies
north and south.

Deadlines for entry in to a number of this season's key sailing regattas are looming. Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's significantly reduced early bird entry rate for the July 7th event will end on Monday and offshore racers intending to race in June 11th's 320-mile Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race must enter by next Friday 20th. The ICRA Cruiser Championships in Crosshaven takes place from the 17th to 19th June, a fixture that suits those boats intending to compete in the Dingle race. Race details can be downloaded below.

Mary O'Keefes' Tux, an X-332, was the winner of last night's IRC class one fleet in Cork Harbour, a night of perfect sailing conditions reports Hugh Mockler. In class two Kieran and Liz O'Brien's Magnet, an MG335, scored a second race win to lead overall after the second race of the season. Full Results below.

Short legs and plenty of mark roundings and a WNW breeze of 15 to 18 knots with flat water and sunshine made for a great night's sailing at Royal Cork Yacht Club.

There were over 20 boats racing in the McWilliam Sailmakers May league. Class 1 started at 19.00hrs, then Class 2 & 3 at 19.05 and then the White Sail at 19.10.

Race Officer was Edmund Cogan (National 18 sailor) with the help of his team. The combnined fleet started at Corkbeg and the firt leg was a beat to No.8, staying on the Eastern side of the course seemed to pay off.

The tide was ebbing with low water at 20.00hrs but for neap tides, there was still a good flow out of the harbour.

Adding an extra complication to race tactics was a cable laying tug in the middle of the course with yellow marker buoys around it, marking an exclusion zone. 'Do we go North or South?' was the decision skippers had to make.

Far easier was remembering the course; all the marks were to starboard.

After No.8 there was a short reach to No.10. After No.10 the fleet headed for No.7 before a gybe back to Corkbeg.

Spinnakers came down at Corkbeg and a close-hauled reach across the harbour to the Cage Buoy off the Grassy Walk line.

After that there was another reach back the way we came to Corkbeg, with big debates whether to carry a kite or not. .

The fleet rounded Corbeg and then reached close-hauled once again back to the finish line at the Grassy Walk.

Main results below

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2
1	IRL3209	Endgame	A35	Frank Doyle	1.031	5	1	4
2	IRL6021	Ellida	X332	Ria Lyden	0.986	5	3	2
3	IRL8991	Exhale	X362 Sport	Diarmuid & Hilda Good	1.024	7	2	5
4	IRL892	Tux	X332	Mary O'Keeffe	0.981	8	7	1
5	IRL2003	Gloves Off	Corby 38	Kieran Twomey	1.115	10	7	3
6	IRL7290	Felix	X332	Michael Wallace	0.981	11	4	7
7	IRL2805	Indulgence	Dufour 36	Aidan Heffernan	1.023	13	7	6
8	IRL1367	Endeavour	First 36.7	Conor & Denise Phelan	1.009	16	7	9
8	IRL2007	Jump Juice	Ker 37	C & D Phelan	1.105	16	7	9
8	IRL3939	Antix	Ker 39	Anthony O'Leary	1.129	16	7	9
8	IRL4430	Samba	Sunfast 40.3	John Downing	1.030	16	7	9
8	IRL9609	Jelly Baby	J109	Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley	1.029	16	7	9
8	IRL9834	True Penance	Projection 35 Mod	Colman Garvey & Martin Darrer		16	7	9
8	IRL13500	D-Tox	X35	Donal O'Leary		16	7	9
8	IRL17200	Antix Beag	1720 Mod	Robert O'Leary	1.005	16	7	9

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2
1	GBR9896	Magnet	MG335	Kieran & Liz O'Brien	0.945	2	1	1
2	IRL9732	Wicked	Sunfast 32	Mark Mendell	0.940	5	2	3
3	IRL16859	Bad Company	Sunfast 32	Desmond, Ivers & Deasy	0.939	8	6	2
4	IRL1022	Aramis	Contessa 33	Pat Vaughan	0.929	8	4	4
5	IRL78	No Gnomes	Nicholson 33 mod	Leonard Donnery	0.910	11	3	8
6	IRL1972	No Excuse	X 302 MK2	Ted Crosbie	0.931	11	6	5
7	IRL1193	Catalpa	First 31.7	Derry Nash	0.955	12	5	7
8	IRL6676	Y-Knot	First 32S5	Pat Barrett & Cathal Conlon	0.933	14	8	6
9	GBR7525	Thunderbird	Corby 25	Denis Coleman	0.940	19	8	11
9	IRL2005	Gosling	First 31.7	Gerard O'Sullivan	0.955	19	8	11
9	IRL2525	Yanks $ Ffrancs	Corby 25	Vincent O'Shea	0.938	19	8	11
9	IRL3492	Big Deal	Dehler 34	Derek Dillon	0.925	19	8	11
9	IRL3651	Aisling	Dufour 36	Bryan Heffernan	0.933	19	8	11
9	IRL3861	Cavatina	Granada 38	Ian Hickey	0.928	19	8	11
9	IRL9187	Aurora	Corby 25	Ronan Lydon	0.935	19	8	11
9	IRL9992	Split Point	Dufour 34 Performance	Seamus Gilroy	0.966	19	8	11

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2
1	IRL3691W	Silk Breeze	Dehler 36	Ernie Dillon	0.927	2	1	1
2	IRL3612W	Sweet Dreams	Sun Odyssey 36i	Batt O'Leary	0.982	6	2	4
3	IRL2510W	Lady T	Jeanneau 32i	Michael Lynch	0.940	6	3	3
4	GBR1786YW	Thistle	Hustler 25.5	Peter Webster	0.805	7	5	2
5	IRL3610W	Elegance	Sun Odyssey 36i	Paul O'Shea	0.963	11	4	7
6	IRL1022W	Aramis	Contessa 33	Pat Vaughan	0.920	14	7	7
6	IRL1950W	X-Tension	X-372MH	Conor O'Donovan	0.952	14	7	7
6	IRL2005W	Gosling	Beneteau 31.7	Ger O'Sulllivan	0.945	14	7	7
6	IRL2406W	Expression	Jeaneau 30	Billy Duane	0.868	14	7	7
6	IRL3492W	Big Deal	Dehler 34	Derek Dillon	0.915	14	7	7
6	IRL3651W	Aisling	Dufour 365	Brian Heffernan	0.930	14	7	7
6	IRL3861W	Cavatina	Granada 38	Ian Hickey	0.913	14	7	7
6	IRL9992W	Split Point	Dufour 34	Seamus Gilroy	0.955	14	7	7

The Finnish Navy minelayer FNS Hämeenmaa is to dock in the Port of Cork at the city's central North Custom House Quay tomorrow morning, writes Jehan Ashmore.

FNS Hämeenmaa entered service in 1992 and measures 1,450 tonnes, she is the namesake class of two minelayers, the second FNS Uusimaa was also built by Finnyards in the same year.

At nearly 78m long the steel hulled vessels which have an alloy superstructure are designed to operate throughout the year in the demanding Baltic Sea conditions and the in the archipelago's.

They have an ice operating classification of ICE-1A and for military purposes they became one of first Finnish Navy vessels to incorporate stealth technology features. The pair are primarily tasked for minelaying duties but they also provide roles acting as an escort, transport and depot ships.

Armament comprises of 1 × Bofors 57 mm dual-purpose gun, 1 × eight-cell ItO 04 surface-to-air missile launcher, 2 × anti-submarine rocket launchers, 2 × depth charge rails and 100-150 sea mines (four mine laying rails).

Based in Pansio, the 20 knot vessels each have a crew complement of 60 personal. In total the Finnish Navy has around 2,100 officers, officer specialists and warrant officers, military personnel and civilian's workers.

On an annual basis close to 3,900 conscripts, of which approximately 30 are women volunteers do their military service in the navy. In addition about 3,400 reservists are trained yearly in naval refresher courses.

Drogheda Port Company successfully managed to navigate the global economic downturn with an improved and solid performance for 2010, delegates where informed during its annual report released yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore. 

Speaking about the performance of Drogheda Port Company, Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport said; "I congratulate the company on its solid trading performance in 2010 following a difficult year in 2009. Both imports and exports through the port returned to growth in 2010. The company has managed its costs well and remains profitable. I support the company's plans to develop the existing port and indeed to continue to progress its proposal for a new deepwater port at Bremore.

The Minister added "this country's return to economic prosperity will be export-led and Irish ports will play an important role in facilitating that trade. The overall structure of the State's ports will be reviewed later this year as part of the current Ports Policy Review and will take account of the recent recommendations of the McCarthy Group. Irrespective of the outcome, well managed and profitable ports such as Drogheda will continue to play an important role in serving the market and facilitating industry and jobs.

As part of the ongoing the Ports Policy Review a Consultation Document was issued in October 2010, which highlighted the important role of ports to facilitate the return to economic growth when it occurs. In addition new capacity will be required in the medium to long term and this needs to be planned for now.

The consultation also acknowledges the continuing trend towards larger ships requiring deep-water ports, the reduced availability of ships to serve smaller ports and the emergence of the concept of port-centric logistics as a key driver for future port development.

As for this year "a number of new port records were established in 2010" said Mr. Paul Fleming, Drogheda Port chief executive. "In March, the longest ever vessel to be accommodated in the port, the Rusich 1 at over 128m in length berthed at Tom Roes Point Terminal". The 4,970 tonnes vessel arrived from Vyborg, Russia with a cargo of fertiliser.

Mr Fleming also referred to the largest gas tanker ever to visit its facility at the Flogas LPG terminal when the 1,720 dwt tonnes Thresher docked last October. The Dutch flagged Thresher had arrived loaded with a cargo from the Whitegate Refinery, Cork Harbour and is operated by Chemgas which operate one of the most modern gas carrier fleets in the world.

In addition to last year's performance, first quarter figures for 2011 were revealed with trading volumes reporting an increase of 18% based from the same quarter for last year. The rise was primarily driven by export volumes of existing and new commodities.

Following the impressive meeting for the first time of two cruiseships together at Cobh on Sunday, the Port of Cork has released footage on their website which can viewed by clicking here, writes Jehan Ashmore.

On Friday the Port of Cork welcomes another large cruiseship in the form of the Emerald Princess which carries 3,592 passengers, nearly 500 more than the Celebrity Eclipse. The 113,000 tonnes vessel is nearly 950-feet long, is 118 wide and draws 28 feet under the waterline. With 19 decks the vessel towers above the oceans and will also do so when alongside Cobh's 350m deepwater berth.

One of the numerous amenities onboard is the CyberGolf link and jogging track which are located high up near the stern. Directly situated below is the Skywalkers Nightclub and for movie-goers, films are shown at an oudoor theatre. The top of the range cabins are the 900 balcony staterooms which offer first class hotel style 24-hour room service.

Cobh played host to yet another historic maritime spectacle when two giant cruiseships met off the town's deepwater quay at the same time this afternoon, writes Jehan Ashmore.

In an unprecedented scheduling of cruiseships to the Port of Cork (Cobh), the inbound Independence of the Seas (154,407 tonnes) the largest cruiseship to call to any Irish port, passed the 122,000 tonnes Celebrity Eclipse which was preparing to depart from the town's cruise terminal.

Some 15 minutes later Celebrity Eclipse pulled away from the berth. During that timeframe the Independence of the Seas had completely turned around in the opposite direction to face Cobh after maneuvering in the swinging basin between Cobh and the Naval Base on Haulbowline Island.

The 4,175-passenger Independence of the Seas is the third of the 'Freedom' class vessels. She has a length of 339m and is a mere 11m shorter in distance to that of the 350m berth at Cobh. The 38m wide cruiseship has a draft of 8.7m and the depth of water at the town's quayside is 9.1m.

The 15-deck vessel was built by Aker Finnyards in Turku, Finland in 2008 for Royal Caribbean International (RCI). Amenities on the Freedom class consist of the an innovative surf park, canitilevered whirlpools, ice-skating rink, full-size boxing ring and a H2O Zone waterpark.

As for the 3,179-passenger Celebrity Eclipse, she is the second of five 'Solstice' class sisters and measures 317m (length) 48m (beam) and draws 8.6m. On the top deck there is the fresh green grass located at Lawn Club. She was built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and entered service last year for her owners Celebrity Cruises.

Independence of the Seas departed yesterday afternoon on an overnight passage from Southampton where the vessel is based in the summer and for the winter she is based out of Florida. The Celebrity Eclipse departed the UK south coast port from Cobh where the larger cruiseship is also to make overnight port of call.

In total 10,000 passengers and crew will of visited the Cork Harbour region alone over the May Bank holiday. To meet the surge in demand for the shore-based excusions a fleet of buses awaited and additional trains were also laid-on by Irish Rail. The railway station is located next-door to the Cobh Heritage Centre which retraces the town's strong trans-Atlantic liner era.

For the first time two cruiseship giants are scheduled to depart and arrive off Cobh at the same time this May Bank Holiday weekend, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The largest cruiseship to call to an Irish port the Independence of the Sea which weighs 154,407 gross tonnes (some 6,000 tonnes larger than the liner Queen Mary 2) will pass the Cobh-berthed Celebrity Eclipse of 122,000 tonnes around 14.00hrs on Sunday.

Weather permitting the Independence of the Seas will then be maneuvering in the swinging basin between Haulbowline and Cobh, just upriver of the Celebrity Eclipse which will then begin to pull away from the deepwater berth at the Cobh Cruise Terminal.

The 350m long berth has a quayside depth of 9m and is capable of handling some of the largest cruiseships on this island.

Prior to Sunday's sailing spectacle the Celebrity Eclipse is due to dock tomorrow afternoon for the overnight call. Likewise the 4,375 passenger Independence of the Seas will stay at Cobh for an overnight call and then depart's on Monday evening.

“Two such large cruise liners, have never before been in Cork Harbour at the same time, let alone pass each other creating a magnificent sight. An excellent viewing point for anyone planning on visiting Cobh on Sunday 1st May would be the High Road or Whitepoint in Cobh” said Port of Cork Commercial Manager, Captain Micheal McCarthy.

Together the cruiseships will have a combined gross tonnage of nearly 300,000 tonnes and they will bring 10,000 passengers and crew into the Cork region this weekend alone. Celebrity Eclipse is operated by Celebrity Cruises and the Independence of the Seas is run by Royal Caribbean International.

The 3,129 passenger Celebrity Eclipse made her 'maiden' cruise and port of call to Cobh last year following her high profile repatriation voyage from Spain with stranded UK tourists arising from the fallout of the Icelandic volcanic ash-cloud.

On that inaugural ocasion the Celebrity Eclipse which cost €500m became the 500th cruise caller to the Port of Cork where the vessel made an overnight call at Cobh. To see a time-lapse video marking the 500th cruiseship's arrival click here.