#Ports&ShippingReview – Over the last fortnight, Jehan Ashmore has reported on the shipping scene, where a snapshot on the port of Wicklow reveals modest signs of traffic not seen since 2008.

Irish Continental Group (ICG) issued their interim management statement for the first four months of the year, the group's revenue rose 5.8% to €76.7 million, compared with €72.5 million in the same period last year.

Arklow Ruler (2006/2,999grt) which ran aground at the entrance of Drogheda Port at the mouth of the Boyne, was eventually re-floated and proceeded to Antwerp. A similar incident took place off the Co. Louth port by a sister in 2010.

d'Amico International Shipping S.A., an international marine transportation company which has a subsidiary based in Ireland since 2001, announced additional pair of medium-range "ECO" tanker class newbuilds from a Vietnamese yard.

There was further Irish related newbuild news from Ardmore Shipping Corporation's Cork based financial HQ, as they acquired a 49,997 dwt Eco-design product and chemical tanker from a South Korean yard at a price of $36m.

Manx shipping is not exclusively centred on Douglas and that of the famous 'steam-packet' ferry company, as in Ramsey, the island's only cargoship operator Mezeron Freight Services runs a 'liner' service linking to Belfast and also Glasson Dock, England.

The port was where the Ramsey Steamship Company was based until their sad demise in their centenary year in 2013, when their Ben Maye was chartered as the S.S. Hare for the Lockout 1913 commemorative voyage from Liverpool to Dublin Port.