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The Department of Transport has been advised that the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) intends to undertake a geophysical survey campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm’s cable corridor area off the coast of counties Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will start on Wednesday 22 November and will continue for a period of two weeks, subject to weather and operational constraints.

It will be undertaken by SEP Hydrographic and will involve the deployment of a hull-mounted (multibeam echo sounder and high-frequency sub-bottom profiler) and towed geophysical sensors (side-scan sonar, magnetometer and medium-frequency sub-bottom profiler) within the nearshore part of the cable corridor area.

Survey work will be confined to nearshore area of the proposed cable corridor area, a total area of approximately 2.5 sq km. The survey area extends to landfall near Bremore. All operations will be within the 12-nautical-mile limit.

The survey will be conducted by the survey Vessel Ros Áine (callsign EIZG5) on a 12-hour (daylight operation) basis. As the survey vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the towed survey sampling equipment for the duration of the survey activities, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth. The Ros Áine will display appropriate lights and signals.

Coordinates and a map of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 74 of 2023, attached below.

Published in Power From the Sea

The Department of Transport has been advised that the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) intends to undertake a geotechnical site investigation campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm area and cable corridor, off the coast of north Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will be undertaken by N-Sea and Geoquip Marine and will involve the deployment of seabed borehole drilling, cone penetration testing (CPT) and vibrocores from survey vessels at specific locations within the NISA OWF and cable corridor area detailed below.

The campaign will start on Wednesday 1 November and will run for a period of four weeks, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Surveys will be confined to distinct locations within the proposed wind farm array and cable corridor area, a total area of approximately 125 sq km. This wider area forms an irregular shape spanning approximately 16km north-south and 25km east-west at its widest points. The survey area extends to landfall near Bremore. All operations will be within the 12-nautical-mile limit.

The survey area is bounded by points listed and set out in the map included in Marine Notice No 69 of 2023, which is available to download below.

Surveys will be conducted by the Noordhoek Pathfinder (callsign PBYN) and Geoquip Seehorn (callsign 5BSW5) on a 24-hour basis. As the survey vessels will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the seabed sampling equipment for the duration of the survey activities, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth.

The survey vessels will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

Further details, including contact information, can be found in the Marine Notice attached below.

Published in Power From the Sea

The North Irish Sea Array (NISA) has rescheduled a previously planned geotechnical site investigation campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm area off the coast of north Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will involve the deployment of seabed borehole drilling and cone penetration test (CPT) equipment for continuous sampling and is expected to be completed between today, Friday 4 November and Thursday 8 December, subject to weather and operational constraints.

It will be confined to the proposed NISA offshore wind farm area, which forms an irregular shape spanning 32km north-south and 14km east-west at its widest point. At its closest location, near Rush in Co Dublin, the survey site is 7.4km from the coastline.

The survey will be conducted on a 24-hour basis by the Fugro Synergy survey vessel (callsign C6XR3).

As this vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the seabed sampling equipment for the duration of the survey activities, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth.

An onboard fisheries liaison officer will be available to discuss operations throughout the duration of the survey campaign.

The vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are also advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

Coordinates and a map of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 74 of 2022, attached below.

Published in Power From the Sea

Update: the survey has been rescheduled for 4 November-8 December 2022 and Marine Notice No 69 of 2022 withdrawn.

Following this past week’s deployment of metocean instrumentation, the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) intends to undertake a geotechnical site investigation campaign on the proposed offshore wind farm area off the coast of north Co Dublin, Meath and Louth.

This campaign will involve the deployment of seabed borehole drilling and cone penetration test (CPT) equipment for continuous sampling and is expected to be completed between next Monday 17 October and Sunday 20 November, subject to weather and operational constraints.

It will be confined to the proposed NISA area, which forms an irregular shape spanning 32km north-south and 14km east-west at its widest point. At its closest location, near Rush in Co Dublin, the survey site is 7.4km from the coastline.

The survey will be conducted on a 24-hour basis by the Fugro Synergy survey vessel (callsign C6XR3).

As this vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the seabed sampling equipment for the duration of the survey activities, other vessels are kindly requested to keep a wide berth.

An onboard fisheries liaison officer will be available to discuss operations throughout the duration of the survey campaign.

The vessel will display appropriate lights and signals. Mariners are also advised to keep continuous watch on VHF Channel 16 when navigating the area.

Coordinates and a map of the survey area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 69 of 2022, attached below.

Published in Power From the Sea

About Dublin Port 

Dublin Port is Ireland’s largest and busiest port with approximately 17,000 vessel movements per year. As well as being the country’s largest port, Dublin Port has the highest rate of growth and, in the seven years to 2019, total cargo volumes grew by 36.1%.

The vision of Dublin Port Company is to have the required capacity to service the needs of its customers and the wider economy safely, efficiently and sustainably. Dublin Port will integrate with the City by enhancing the natural and built environments. The Port is being developed in line with Masterplan 2040.

Dublin Port Company is currently investing about €277 million on its Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR), which is due to be complete by 2021. The redevelopment will improve the port's capacity for large ships by deepening and lengthening 3km of its 7km of berths. The ABR is part of a €1bn capital programme up to 2028, which will also include initial work on the Dublin Port’s MP2 Project - a major capital development project proposal for works within the existing port lands in the northeastern part of the port.

Dublin Port has also recently secured planning approval for the development of the next phase of its inland port near Dublin Airport. The latest stage of the inland port will include a site with the capacity to store more than 2,000 shipping containers and infrastructures such as an ESB substation, an office building and gantry crane.

Dublin Port Company recently submitted a planning application for a €320 million project that aims to provide significant additional capacity at the facility within the port in order to cope with increases in trade up to 2040. The scheme will see a new roll-on/roll-off jetty built to handle ferries of up to 240 metres in length, as well as the redevelopment of an oil berth into a deep-water container berth.

Dublin Port FAQ

Dublin was little more than a monastic settlement until the Norse invasion in the 8th and 9th centuries when they selected the Liffey Estuary as their point of entry to the country as it provided relatively easy access to the central plains of Ireland. Trading with England and Europe followed which required port facilities, so the development of Dublin Port is inextricably linked to the development of Dublin City, so it is fair to say the origins of the Port go back over one thousand years. As a result, the modern organisation Dublin Port has a long and remarkable history, dating back over 300 years from 1707.

The original Port of Dublin was situated upriver, a few miles from its current location near the modern Civic Offices at Wood Quay and close to Christchurch Cathedral. The Port remained close to that area until the new Custom House opened in the 1790s. In medieval times Dublin shipped cattle hides to Britain and the continent, and the returning ships carried wine, pottery and other goods.

510 acres. The modern Dublin Port is located either side of the River Liffey, out to its mouth. On the north side of the river, the central part (205 hectares or 510 acres) of the Port lies at the end of East Wall and North Wall, from Alexandra Quay.

Dublin Port Company is a State-owned commercial company responsible for operating and developing Dublin Port.

Dublin Port Company is a self-financing, and profitable private limited company wholly-owned by the State, whose business is to manage Dublin Port, Ireland's premier Port. Established as a corporate entity in 1997, Dublin Port Company is responsible for the management, control, operation and development of the Port.

Captain William Bligh (of Mutiny of the Bounty fame) was a visitor to Dublin in 1800, and his visit to the capital had a lasting effect on the Port. Bligh's study of the currents in Dublin Bay provided the basis for the construction of the North Wall. This undertaking led to the growth of Bull Island to its present size.

Yes. Dublin Port is the largest freight and passenger port in Ireland. It handles almost 50% of all trade in the Republic of Ireland.

All cargo handling activities being carried out by private sector companies operating in intensely competitive markets within the Port. Dublin Port Company provides world-class facilities, services, accommodation and lands in the harbour for ships, goods and passengers.

Eamonn O'Reilly is the Dublin Port Chief Executive.

Capt. Michael McKenna is the Dublin Port Harbour Master

In 2019, 1,949,229 people came through the Port.

In 2019, there were 158 cruise liner visits.

In 2019, 9.4 million gross tonnes of exports were handled by Dublin Port.

In 2019, there were 7,898 ship arrivals.

In 2019, there was a gross tonnage of 38.1 million.

In 2019, there were 559,506 tourist vehicles.

There were 98,897 lorries in 2019

Boats can navigate the River Liffey into Dublin by using the navigational guidelines. Find the guidelines on this page here.

VHF channel 12. Commercial vessels using Dublin Port or Dun Laoghaire Port typically have a qualified pilot or certified master with proven local knowledge on board. They "listen out" on VHF channel 12 when in Dublin Port's jurisdiction.

A Dublin Bay webcam showing the south of the Bay at Dun Laoghaire and a distant view of Dublin Port Shipping is here
Dublin Port is creating a distributed museum on its lands in Dublin City.
 A Liffey Tolka Project cycle and pedestrian way is the key to link the elements of this distributed museum together.  The distributed museum starts at the Diving Bell and, over the course of 6.3km, will give Dubliners a real sense of the City, the Port and the Bay.  For visitors, it will be a unique eye-opening stroll and vista through and alongside one of Europe’s busiest ports:  Diving Bell along Sir John Rogerson’s Quay over the Samuel Beckett Bridge, past the Scherzer Bridge and down the North Wall Quay campshire to Berth 18 - 1.2 km.   Liffey Tolka Project - Tree-lined pedestrian and cycle route between the River Liffey and the Tolka Estuary - 1.4 km with a 300-metre spur along Alexandra Road to The Pumphouse (to be completed by Q1 2021) and another 200 metres to The Flour Mill.   Tolka Estuary Greenway - Construction of Phase 1 (1.9 km) starts in December 2020 and will be completed by Spring 2022.  Phase 2 (1.3 km) will be delivered within the following five years.  The Pumphouse is a heritage zone being created as part of the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project.  The first phase of 1.6 acres will be completed in early 2021 and will include historical port equipment and buildings and a large open space for exhibitions and performances.  It will be expanded in a subsequent phase to incorporate the Victorian Graving Dock No. 1 which will be excavated and revealed. 
 The largest component of the distributed museum will be The Flour Mill.  This involves the redevelopment of the former Odlums Flour Mill on Alexandra Road based on a masterplan completed by Grafton Architects to provide a mix of port operational uses, a National Maritime Archive, two 300 seat performance venues, working and studio spaces for artists and exhibition spaces.   The Flour Mill will be developed in stages over the remaining twenty years of Masterplan 2040 alongside major port infrastructure projects.

Source: Dublin Port Company ©Afloat 2020.