Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Dublin Bay Boating News and Information

Displaying items by tag: Landing Platform Dockship

18th January 2018

Dutch Navy Landing Platform Dock Amphibious Ship And Frigate to Visit Dublin Port

#NavalVisits – One of the biggest Royal Netherlands Navy ships and a frigate is to visit Dublin Port, so to enable crew members time-off in addition to carrying out diplomatic and trade functions, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The Rotterdam-class HNLMS Johan de Witt, a Landing Platform Dock (LPD) amphibious warfare ship is of 16,500 displacement tonnes. The LPD ship is the second largest unit of the fleet and is named after a key figure in Dutch politics during the mid-17th century. This was a time when Dutch sea trade was notably flourishing and expanding on a world-wide stage that made the United Provinces a leading European power during the Dutch Golden Age.

As for the second naval visitor to the Irish capital, this will be a De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate HNLMS Evertson. The pair are to arrive tomorrow and remain in port over the weekend.

Afloat contacted the Dutch Embassy as to the purpose of the visit which said it would provide rest and recreation time for crew members. In addition to hosting on board receptions for members of the Diplomatic Corps as well as local Dutch businesses. The embassy added that unfortunately due to insufficient time, neither naval vessels will be open to the public.

The 166m HNLMS Johan de Witt can transport army troops along with associated vehicles and dispatch landing craft from the stern located landing well-dock. Above decks, helicopters can also be deployed from a hanger and use of two landing spots. In addition the LPD is equipped with a hospital featuring an operation theatre and intensive care facilities.

A sister of HNLMS Johan de Witt, the leadship of the namesake class HNLMS Rotterdam, have together previously paid a visit to Dublin. The leadship built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipyards was commissioned in 1998, whereas HNLMS Johann de Wit was constructed overseas in 2007 on the banks of the Danube in Galati, Romania. Another notable difference is that the leadship weighs in at a smaller 12,750 displacement tonnes.

Accompanying the LPD will be a De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate HNLMS Evertson of 6,050 displacement tonnes which was also completed by the same Dutch yard group. The 144m frigate has among armaments Goalkeeper guns and Sea Sparrow missiles. A helicopter can also be carried with flight crew joining a crew compliment of 174.

It is almost a year ago since a pair of these frigate class sisters paid a call to the capital following a major UK led naval exercise ‘Joint Warrior’ that involved other European navies.

As for the Dutch Navy, all of their ships have the prefix HNLMS (His Netherlands Majesty’s Ship) which are under the command of Commodore Ludger Brummelaar. On 1st January this year, he was appointed as the new Chief of the Military Household of His Majesty the King.

The Commodore is the first to be promoted to the rank of rear admiral and has succeeded Major General Hans van der Louw.

Published in Naval Visits
Tagged under
Read more...
10th April 2014

Dutch Landing Platform Dockship and AOR Tanker to Visit Dublin Port

Dutch Landing Platform Dockship and AOR Tanker to Visit Dublin Port

#LandingDockShip- HNLMS Johan de Witt (L801) an imposing yet impressive amphibious transport ship and HNLMS Amsterdam (A386) an auxiliary oil replenishment tanker of the Royal Netherlands Navy are to call to Dublin Port tomorrow, writes Jehan Ashmore.

HNLMS Johan de Witt is one of two such vessels also known as Landing Platform Docks (LPD) in the Dutch Navy and she is an enhanced verion of leadship class nameship HNLMS Rotterdam (L800) which has visited the capital before. The LPD half-sisters play an integral role in supporting ships in amphibious operations.

Earlier this month both the Dublin bound vessels formed part of a flotilla involved in exercises in the Irish Sea as they proceeded northbound.

HNLMS Johan de Witt is ten metres longer at 166m of 'Rotterdam' and can handle between 6-8 landing craft and is 16,500 tonnes. She will berth at Ocean Pier berth due to her 6m draft and likewise the 17,040dwt auxiliary oil replenishent (AOR) at sea vessel, HNLMS Amsterdam which has a larger draft of 8m. She is equipped with weapons systems and has a helideck and hanger for such aircraft.

The weapons systems of HNLMS Johan de Witt are .50 mm machine guns, 2 x Goalkeeper 30 mm and helicopters of 6 Lynx, NH-90, Chinook or Sea King helicopters. She can embark 600 units compared to her sister with that of 555 units.

The LPD can cater for either Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel (LCVP) or Landing Craft Utility (LCU). In addition she can transport almost any type of vehicle. As well to carrying 32 Leopard 2 tanks and approximately 90 YPR armoured tracked vehicles and Patriot air-defence systems.

She is designed to be self-sufficient for at least a month and this involves supplies on board for a complete marine battalion and the ship's company. They are equipped with operating tables, intensive-care beds, treatment rooms and an emergency hospital for 100 patients.

Published in Naval Visits
Tagged under
Read more...

Dublin Bay

Dublin Bay on the east coast of Ireland stretches over seven kilometres, from Howth Head on its northern tip to Dalkey Island in the south. It's a place most Dubliners simply take for granted, and one of the capital's least visited places. But there's more going on out there than you'd imagine.

The biggest boating centre is at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the Bay's south shore that is home to over 1,500 pleasure craft, four waterfront yacht clubs and Ireland's largest marina.

The bay is rather shallow with many sandbanks and rocky outcrops, and was notorious in the past for shipwrecks, especially when the wind was from the east. Until modern times, many ships and their passengers were lost along the treacherous coastline from Howth to Dun Laoghaire, less than a kilometre from shore.

The Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea and is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south. North Bull Island is situated in the northwest part of the bay, where one of two major inshore sandbanks lie, and features a 5 km long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, fronting an internationally recognised wildfowl reserve. Many of the rivers of Dublin reach the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay: the River Liffey, with the River Dodder flow received less than 1 km inland, River Tolka, and various smaller rivers and streams.

Dublin Bay FAQs

There are approximately ten beaches and bathing spots around Dublin Bay: Dollymount Strand; Forty Foot Bathing Place; Half Moon bathing spot; Merrion Strand; Bull Wall; Sandycove Beach; Sandymount Strand; Seapoint; Shelley Banks; Sutton, Burrow Beach

There are slipways on the north side of Dublin Bay at Clontarf, Sutton and on the southside at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and in Dalkey at Coliemore and Bulloch Harbours.

Dublin Bay is administered by a number of Government Departments, three local authorities and several statutory agencies. Dublin Port Company is in charge of navigation on the Bay.

Dublin Bay is approximately 70 sq kilometres or 7,000 hectares. The Bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and seven km in length east-west to its peak at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the southside of the Bay has an East and West Pier, each one kilometre long; this is one of the largest human-made harbours in the world. There also piers or walls at the entrance to the River Liffey at Dublin city known as the Great North and South Walls. Other harbours on the Bay include Bulloch Harbour and Coliemore Harbours both at Dalkey.

There are two marinas on Dublin Bay. Ireland's largest marina with over 800 berths is on the southern shore at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The other is at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club on the River Liffey close to Dublin City.

Car and passenger Ferries operate from Dublin Port to the UK, Isle of Man and France. A passenger ferry operates from Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Howth as well as providing tourist voyages around the bay.

Dublin Bay has two Islands. Bull Island at Clontarf and Dalkey Island on the southern shore of the Bay.

The River Liffey flows through Dublin city and into the Bay. Its tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac.

Dollymount, Burrow and Seapoint beaches

Approximately 1,500 boats from small dinghies to motorboats to ocean-going yachts. The vast majority, over 1,000, are moored at Dun Laoghaire Harbour which is Ireland's boating capital.

In 1981, UNESCO recognised the importance of Dublin Bay by designating North Bull Island as a Biosphere because of its rare and internationally important habitats and species of wildlife. To support sustainable development, UNESCO’s concept of a Biosphere has evolved to include not just areas of ecological value but also the areas around them and the communities that live and work within these areas. There have since been additional international and national designations, covering much of Dublin Bay, to ensure the protection of its water quality and biodiversity. To fulfil these broader management aims for the ecosystem, the Biosphere was expanded in 2015. The Biosphere now covers Dublin Bay, reflecting its significant environmental, economic, cultural and tourism importance, and extends to over 300km² to include the bay, the shore and nearby residential areas.

On the Southside at Dun Laoghaire, there is the National Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as Dublin Bay Sailing Club. In the city centre, there is Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. On the Northside of Dublin, there is Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club and Sutton Dinghy Club. While not on Dublin Bay, Howth Yacht Club is the major north Dublin Sailing centre.

© Afloat 2020

Dublin Bay Buoy

4WeHelp Movers Cincinnati

Kish Lighthouse

4WeHelp Movers Cincinnati
Afloat Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine

Copyright © 2024 Baily Publications Ltd Terms and Conditions

Our site uses cookies. If you're not happy about that please hit your back button.

Web Design & Development by Red Evolution