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Displaying items by tag: 10 new 'C' class cargoships

#NewCseries - The first in a new class of 10 cargoships for Arklow Shipping under construction near Groningen, Netherlands is to be launched next month and follows a series of a different design built by the same yard, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Launching of leadship newbuild no. 424 Arklow Cadet (also a new name for ASL), a ‘C’ class cargoship with a capacity of over 5,000dwt is to take place at Ferus Smit’s Dutch yard at Westerbroek.

The facility in north-east of the country is where newbuild no. 435 M.V. Ireland was christened (for non-Irish owners) in March as seen in footage previously featured on Afloat.ie. Note on the left of the screen is a green coloured hull mid-section of Arklow Cadet between the builder’s hall and that of M.V. Ireland before launching.

The newbuild represents the first under construction at the Dutch yard for ASL since Arklow Breeze became the final of six ‘B’ class 8,860dwt series. This newbuild no. 414 was launched in March 2015 and entered service the following month. Of the current fleet of 45 cargoships ranging from 4,200-35,000dwt, only 10 vessels date to 2004 or earlier.

Likewise of the Arklow Cadet the ‘B’ class have hulls form chosen to adapt the ‘bulbless’ principle thus creating a slender bow without bulb.

Arklow Cadet has one single hold volume of 220.000 cft. The C class have a 1A iceclass notation and they are propelled by a 1740 kW MaK engine with a single ducted propeller. Delivery of Arklow Cadet is scheduled for July of this year.

Another Dutch yard, Royal Bodewes in Hoogezand which is only several kms away from Ferus Smit continues to roll-out the ‘V’ class series of 10 Eco-Trader 5,100dwt newbuilds. The latest fourth newbuild's stern section was recently removed out of the builder's hall to the outfitting quay.

The V class are managed by Arklow Shipping Nederland B.V. based in Rotterdam and among the bulk dry cargoes they transport they include grain, animal feed and steel rails.

The last completed sister newbuild no. 723, Arklow Valiant launched at the end of March. This week the newbuild was towed down the canal to reach Delfzijl from where sisters have undergone sea-trails.

Published in Arklow Shipping

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).