Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: adrift

#MarineScience - In Greenland, a huge iceberg has drifted close to a village on the western coast, prompting a partial evacuation in case it splits and the resulting wave swamps homes.

The iceberg reports BBB News is looming over houses on a promontory in the Innaarsuit village but is grounded and did not move overnight, local media say.

Local officials say they have never seen such a big iceberg before.

Last summer, four people died after waves swamped houses in northwestern Greenland after an earthquake.

Those of Inaarsuit's 169 residents living nearest the iceberg have been moved, Danish news agency Ritzau said.

"There are cracks and holes that make us fear it can calve anytime," village council member Susanne Eliassen told the local newspaper Sermitsiaq.

Click here for more on the story. 

Published in Marine Science

#Tanker - RTÉ News reports that a tanker carrying 15,000 tonnes of caustic soda is adrift west of Loop Head after suffering engine failure.

The ship, carrying 22 crew, is said to be stranded amid rough conditions with Force 8 winds and a six-metre swell but is in no immediate danger. The Irish Coast Guard is on standby to provide assistance.

Published in Ports & Shipping
Tagged under

#RNLI - While on exercise on Sunday morning (23 June 2013), Larne RNLI’s inshore lifeboat was requested to divert and investigate reports that a boat was drifting out to sea in Larne Lough.

The 11m wooden boat had nobody onboard and represented a hazard in the area.



As the volunteer lifeboat crew neared the vessel they noticed a man in a punt approaching them. The man was from a nearby boat and having become concerned at the drifting vessel, had decided to investigate and see if he could assist.

However it was discovered that his nine 9m yacht, which had another crew member onboard, had also got into difficulty and was starting to drag its mooring.  



Wind conditions were force four to five with a north gusting wind and lumpy seas. 

The inshore lifeboat assisted the man back onboard his vessel and a lifeboat crew member joined him. The dragging mooring was fixed and they were able to continue under their own power.



The original drifting boat was aground, and having made sure the other vessel and its two crew were safe, the lifeboat returned to assist. Establishing a tow, Larne RNLI inshore crew were able to gently pull the boat off the rocks. 

They were then met by the all-weather lifeboat and the tow was passed on to them before it was safely secured on a mooring in Larne Lough and both lifeboats returned to station.



Commenting on the call-outs, Larne RNLI lifeboat operations manager Alan Dorman said: “What started as a normal Sunday morning exercise turned into a double call-out for both lifeboats. 

"It shows how quickly things can change out at sea and the lifeboat is always available to assist and reassure. Thankfully on this occasion help was close at hand and no injury or damage was done.”

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

#Surfing - A South African surfer has survived a terrifying ordeal after being stranded alone in shark-infested waters in the Indian Ocean.

As Channel 4 News reports, 50-year-old Brett Archibald had been with friends on an overnight boat crossing from mainland Indonesia to the surfing grounds of the Mentawai Islands when he blacked out from seasickness and fell overboard in rough weather.

Unfortunately for Archibald, his friends were either asleep or suffering from seasickness themselves below deck, and several hours passed before he was noticed missing.

In the meantime, he was stranded alone in the water, surrounded by sharks and jellyfish and attacked by seagulls.

Archibald described his 28 hours adrift at sea as "insane" and said he nearly drowned eight times, but he continued to swim and tread water while, unbeknownst to him, rescue services were being mobilised for a large-scale search operation.

Channel 4 News has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Surfing
An Australian crewmember on the stricken Rambler 100, which capsized in high winds during yesterday's Rolex Fastnet Race, has told reported that he feels "lucky to be alive".
Mike Motti was one of five crew who were separated from the yacht when it overturned near Fastnet Rock off the Cork coast.
He and his fellow crewmembers spent two hours adrift on a liferaft before they were rescued in foggy conditions which made the search all the more difficult.
“I’m feeling lucky to be alive, happy to be here and it’s great to see the local people here to greet us,” Motti told The Irish Times.
Fellow crewman Michael van Beuren said the yacht capsized within 30 seconds when its keel fin snapped in heavy seas.
All 21 crew were rescued from the yacht last night in an operation led by the Baltimore RNLI lifeboat and the Irish Coast Guard.

An Australian crewmember on the stricken Rambler 100, which capsized in high winds during yesterday's Rolex Fastnet Race, has told reported that he feels "lucky to be alive".

Mike Motti was one of five crew who were separated from the yacht when it overturned near Fastnet Rock off the Cork coast. 

He and his fellow crewmembers spent two hours adrift on a liferaft before they were rescued in foggy conditions which made the search all the more difficult.

“I’m feeling lucky to be alive, happy to be here and it’s great to see the local people here to greet us,” Motti told The Irish Times.

Fellow crewman Michael van Beuren said the yacht capsized within 30 seconds when its keel fin snapped in heavy seas.

All 21 crew were rescued from the yacht last night in an operation led by the Baltimore RNLI lifeboat and the Irish Coast Guard.

Published in Fastnet

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!