Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: CLdN Ro Ro

A ro-ro freight-ferry which departed Cork Harbour lost power and ended up grounded near the Wolf Rock lighthouse off Cornwall, has been towed to safer waters off Falmouth.

The 31,140-tonne Mazarine operated by CLdN had sailed from Ringaskiddy and was bound for Zeebrugge, Belgium, however on Monday the ro-ro vessel when in the Celtic Sea became stranded near the Wolf Rock lighthouse nine miles off the coast of Cornwall.

According to the coastguard they were alerted to the situation of the 2009 built ro-ro at about 9.10am. Two lifeboats from the RNLI stations based at Sennen Cove and Penlee went to the scene of the grounding Maltese flagged vessel which has a 250 freight-trailer capacity.

During a passage of the Isle of Scilly ferry-cargoship Scillonian III from Penzance to the archipelago, the passenger ferry was alerted of the incident in case anyone needed to be evacuated.

In addition a coastguard helicopter was also deployed.

According to CornwallLive yesterday, 11 July, the 195m long vessel was re-floated and drifting for several hours under a lifeboat escort, with the ship towed by a tug to waters off Falmouth.

As BBC News also reported the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said it would remain there while a decision was made on what to do next.

The Luxembourg based ship operator, CLdN Ro Ro S.A. said that all the 22 crew and three passengers on board the vessel were safe and unharmed.

More on the incident here.

Published in Ferry

#DublinPort - A big day awaits Dublin Port and major customer, CLdN ro ro SA as their newbuild MV Celine, the world's largest short-sea ro-ro ship arrived in the port today in advance of tomorrow's christening ceremony, writes Jehan Ashmore. 

The giant MV Celine of 74,000 gross tonnage will be christened and adopted by her Godmother,Geraldine O'Reilly wife of Dublin Ports CEO Eamonn O'Reilly at a ceremony to be held at Ocean Pier within Alexandra Basin. This is where a purpose-built flexible ro-ro ramp linkspan was installed in recent months to accommodate the requirements of the 234m long Celine.

Since Celine's introduction in October, the ship has added considerable capacity for Irish exporters with greater flexibility by trading with markets in continental Europe, in particular, given the backdrop of post-Brexit. More recently a sister, Delphine, joined the service connecting Dublin with Rotterdam, Netherlands and Zeebrugge from where the ship arrived from Belgium this morning.

The new berth infrastructure in Dublin Port permits the unloading and discharging of Celine's impressive 8,000 freight lane metre capacity. In addition to 600 freight units, easily surpassing the largest Irish Sea ro-ro ferry currently operating through the port to the UK. 

The sisters can handle a wide range of cargoes, unaccompanied trailers, tank containers, project cargo, new cars and a capacity for 12 driver accompanied units. The ro-ro ships will also include a North Sea link from Belgium to the UK. Luxembourg based CLdN ro-ro SA also operate an extensive route network linking mainland Europe with Scandinavia and Iberia.

The South Korean built Celine is a clear indicator of increasingly larger tonnage that is expected to use the port. Construction of phase one of the Dublin Port Masterplan is already underway with the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) project that will enable larger ships to dock in port following dredging and realligned quays. 

  

Published in Dublin Port

#DublinPort - The brand new Delphine made a maiden call to Dublin Port, the giant ship is a sister of leadship Celine, claimed to be the world’s largest short-sea ro-ro freightship, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The Celine of 74,000 gross tonnage is now equally partnered with Delphine's debut. The newbuild arrived from Zeebrugge, Belgium but firstly anchored in Dublin Bay to wait for Celine's departure from the port. This took place last Thursday evening.

The sisters operated by CLdN Ro Ro SA /Cobelfret Ferries serve the Rotterdam-Zeebrugge-Dublin route which is also connected to a UK port. 

Delphine has an impressive 8,000 freight lane metres and can handle 600 freight units. The South Korean built Delphine boosts capacity to Celine and together provide Irish exporters with greater flexibility by trading with markets in continental Europe, particularly against the backdrop of post-Brexit.

Luxembourg based CLdN also offers connections from the European mainland, Scandinavia and Iberia.

Delphine's inaugural call to the Irish port's Alexandra Basin is from where the 234m ro-ro docked at the custom-built ro-ro ramp linkspan.

On the occasion of Celine's first call in October last year, the ship instead docked in Alexandra Basin (East). The change to the new ro-ro linkspan took place the next month allowing smaller fleetmates also serving to continue to use the adjacent basin facility.  

The Maltese flagged Delphine has a beam of 35m and the cargo decks are all accessed through an aft vehicle loading/unloading ramp. Cargoes using the ship's ro-ro ramp includes unaccompanied trailers, tank containers, project cargo, new cars.

In addition accommodation is available for 12 driver accompanied units. 

Published in Dublin Port

Ferry & Car Ferry News The ferry industry on the Irish Sea, is just like any other sector of the shipping industry, in that it is made up of a myriad of ship operators, owners, managers, charterers all contributing to providing a network of routes carried out by a variety of ships designed for different albeit similar purposes.

All this ferry activity involves conventional ferry tonnage, 'ro-pax', where the vessel's primary design is to carry more freight capacity rather than passengers. This is in some cases though, is in complete variance to the fast ferry craft where they carry many more passengers and charging a premium.

In reporting the ferry scene, we examine the constantly changing trends of this sector, as rival ferry operators are competing in an intensive environment, battling out for market share following the fallout of the economic crisis. All this has consequences some immediately felt, while at times, the effects can be drawn out over time, leading to the expense of others, through reduced competition or takeover or even face complete removal from the marketplace, as witnessed in recent years.

Arising from these challenging times, there are of course winners and losers, as exemplified in the trend to run high-speed ferry craft only during the peak-season summer months and on shorter distance routes. In addition, where fastcraft had once dominated the ferry scene, during the heady days from the mid-90's onwards, they have been replaced by recent newcomers in the form of the 'fast ferry' and with increased levels of luxury, yet seeming to form as a cost-effective alternative.

Irish Sea Ferry Routes

Irrespective of the type of vessel deployed on Irish Sea routes (between 2-9 hours), it is the ferry companies that keep the wheels of industry moving as freight vehicles literally (roll-on and roll-off) ships coupled with motoring tourists and the humble 'foot' passenger transported 363 days a year.

As such the exclusive freight-only operators provide important trading routes between Ireland and the UK, where the freight haulage customer is 'king' to generating year-round revenue to the ferry operator. However, custom built tonnage entering service in recent years has exceeded the level of capacity of the Irish Sea in certain quarters of the freight market.

A prime example of the necessity for trade in which we consumers often expect daily, though arguably question how it reached our shores, is the delivery of just in time perishable products to fill our supermarket shelves.

A visual manifestation of this is the arrival every morning and evening into our main ports, where a combination of ferries, ro-pax vessels and fast-craft all descend at the same time. In essence this a marine version to our road-based rush hour traffic going in and out along the commuter belts.

Across the Celtic Sea, the ferry scene coverage is also about those overnight direct ferry routes from Ireland connecting the north-western French ports in Brittany and Normandy.

Due to the seasonality of these routes to Europe, the ferry scene may be in the majority running between February to November, however by no means does this lessen operator competition.

Noting there have been plans over the years to run a direct Irish –Iberian ferry service, which would open up existing and develop new freight markets. Should a direct service open, it would bring new opportunities also for holidaymakers, where Spain is the most visited country in the EU visited by Irish holidaymakers ... heading for the sun!