Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: tendering

#tender – The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport wishes to advise Shipowners, Ship Operators, Shipmasters, Harbour Masters and Ships' agents of the requirements for passenger ships engaged in the tendering of passengers between the ship and shore.

All tender vessels must comply with the relevant provisions of the Merchant Shipping Acts. There are two main types of tendering as follows:

(a) Passenger Ships using ship's own tender vessels;
(b) Shore based domestic tender.

Considering each as follows:

(a) Ship's Own Tender Vessels – International Cruise Ships
It may be necessary for a ship to use its own tenders in cases where suitable berthing facilities are not available, or where the ship's draft or size prevents it from entering a port. This is permissible under the Merchant Shipping Act 2010 which sets out the requirements to be followed.

Proposals must be in compliance with the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 2010 and the IMO Guidelines for Passenger Ship Tenders as contained in IMO circular MSC.1/Circ.1417.

• There must be adequate manning on the bridge to ensure that the tendering operation is continuously monitored.
• Tendering operations are not to be carried out in restricted visibility.
• The ship and its tenders must maintain a continuous listening watch on VHF Channel 16 and the port working channel at all times during the operation.
• The ship must have the approval of the port(s) in which any operations are to take place.

(b) Using Shore Based Tender Vessels – Domestic Passenger Ships/Boats
All such tender vessels must comply with the Merchant Shipping Acts and hold a current valid passenger ship safety certificate or passenger boat licence.

Domestic Passenger ships/boats are to be moored to a single point mooring for the duration of the transfer. Such moorings are to be licensed by Coastal Zone Management (Foreshore Unit, Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government), and must not be located such as to cause obstruction to other vessels. Owners must ensure that such moorings are inspected on an annual basis.

Domestic Tendering operations will normally only be permitted for the summer period comprising of June, July and August and is subject to annual review.

Application Procedure
The owner or master of a ship who proposes to undertake a tendering operation at any place in the State, in respect of that ship, must apply to the Marine Survey Office for a permit to undertake such operation by submitting for approval a "Tendering Operations Safety Plan Proposal" in the format laid out in the Annex to this notice. An application for a permit to tender should be submitted 28 days before the date of the proposed tendering, to allow sufficient time for the proposal to be assessed.

The Marine Survey Office may withdraw a permit to carry out tendering operations where there is a failure to comply with the conditions of the permit.

This Marine Notice supersedes Marine Notice No. 12 of 2013.

Irish Maritime Administration,
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport,
Leeson Lane, Dublin 2, Ireland.

18/02/2014

Encl.: Annex

Annex to Marine Notice No. 19 of 2014

MARINE SURVEY OFFICE
TENDERING OPERATIONS – SAFETY PLAN PROPOSAL

Operators:

Address:

Proposed tendering location:

Period of tendering proposed:

Description of proposed operation:

Insurance company details:

Nominated company official responsible for tendering operation:

Tendering Craft Details:
Type/names of vessels:

Number of tenders:

Is the tender a SOLAS approved Lifeboat as per MSC.1/circ.1417:

Materials of construction:

Number of crew in tender:

Maximum number of passengers in tender:

Propulsions Means / KW:

Number of lifejackets/buoyancy aids available for passengers:

Luggage transported separate to passengers, yes or no:

Tender Safety Certificate attached (last service inspection for Rib/Zodiac type boats)

Passenger Ship Details:
Name of ship(s):

Offshore mooring facilities available (give GPS co-ordinates):

Expected distance from vessel to shore:

Maximum number of passengers:

Means of berthing tender alongside:

Access means to board passenger vessel (ladder, ramp etc):

Means of embarkation from ashore, e.g. Slipway, steps, pontoon etc

Wind conditions:
Maximum wind conditions for tendering operation as per risk assessment for operation

Wave / Swell Height:
Maximum operational swell height for operation

Alternatives due to suspension of tendering:
Alternative proposals for suspension of tendering operations, i.e. Stranded passengers

Disabled passengers:
Disabled / special needs passengers – tendering operation arrangements:

Lifejackets/PFDs
SOLAS lifeboat type tenders – Where lifejackets are not worn but stowed in tender, has a risk assessment been carried out or is an ISM procedure in place?

Emergency Assistance
What emergency assistance is available for a tender in difficulty?

IMO Guidelines (not applicable to certified domestic passenger ship/boats)
Please confirm that the tender vessel and operation comply with the requirements of IMO circular MSC.1/Circ.1417

Safety Announcements:
Safety announcement to passengers:
1. Prior to boarding tender from pier, yes or no:
2. Prior to disembarking tender, yes or no:
3. Prior to embarking tender from passenger vessel, yes or no:

Operational records:
Method of keeping tendering operation records:
To include details of: dates & times of tendering, no. of trips and passenger numbers carried by each tender, name of passenger vessel embarking/disembarking, prevailing weather & sea state conditions

Proposed tendering dates:
Dates Operational times
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
6.
6.
7.
7.

Additional actions proposed by operations:

When completed, this form should be returned to:
Marine Survey Office, Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leeson Lane, Dublin 2.

Published in Marine Warning

Irish Fishing industry 

The Irish Commercial Fishing Industry employs around 11,000 people in fishing, processing and ancillary services such as sales and marketing. The industry is worth about €1.22 billion annually to the Irish economy. Irish fisheries products are exported all over the world as far as Africa, Japan and China.

FAQs

Over 16,000 people are employed directly or indirectly around the coast, working on over 2,000 registered fishing vessels, in over 160 seafood processing businesses and in 278 aquaculture production units, according to the State's sea fisheries development body Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

All activities that are concerned with growing, catching, processing or transporting fish are part of the commercial fishing industry, the development of which is overseen by BIM. Recreational fishing, as in angling at sea or inland, is the responsibility of Inland Fisheries Ireland.

The Irish fishing industry is valued at 1.22 billion euro in gross domestic product (GDP), according to 2019 figures issued by BIM. Only 179 of Ireland's 2,000 vessels are over 18 metres in length. Where does Irish commercially caught fish come from? Irish fish and shellfish is caught or cultivated within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but Irish fishing grounds are part of the common EU "blue" pond. Commercial fishing is regulated under the terms of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983 and with ten-yearly reviews.

The total value of seafood landed into Irish ports was 424 million euro in 2019, according to BIM. High value landings identified in 2019 were haddock, hake, monkfish and megrim. Irish vessels also land into foreign ports, while non-Irish vessels land into Irish ports, principally Castletownbere, Co Cork, and Killybegs, Co Donegal.

There are a number of different methods for catching fish, with technological advances meaning skippers have detailed real time information at their disposal. Fisheries are classified as inshore, midwater, pelagic or deep water. Inshore targets species close to shore and in depths of up to 200 metres, and may include trawling and gillnetting and long-lining. Trawling is regarded as "active", while "passive" or less environmentally harmful fishing methods include use of gill nets, long lines, traps and pots. Pelagic fisheries focus on species which swim close to the surface and up to depths of 200 metres, including migratory mackerel, and tuna, and methods for catching include pair trawling, purse seining, trolling and longlining. Midwater fisheries target species at depths of around 200 metres, using trawling, longlining and jigging. Deepwater fisheries mainly use trawling for species which are found at depths of over 600 metres.

There are several segments for different catching methods in the registered Irish fleet – the largest segment being polyvalent or multi-purpose vessels using several types of gear which may be active and passive. The polyvalent segment ranges from small inshore vessels engaged in netting and potting to medium and larger vessels targeting whitefish, pelagic (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting) species and bivalve molluscs. The refrigerated seawater (RSW) pelagic segment is engaged mainly in fishing for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting only. The beam trawling segment focuses on flatfish such as sole and plaice. The aquaculture segment is exclusively for managing, developing and servicing fish farming areas and can collect spat from wild mussel stocks.

The top 20 species landed by value in 2019 were mackerel (78 million euro); Dublin Bay prawn (59 million euro); horse mackerel (17 million euro); monkfish (17 million euro); brown crab (16 million euro); hake (11 million euro); blue whiting (10 million euro); megrim (10 million euro); haddock (9 million euro); tuna (7 million euro); scallop (6 million euro); whelk (5 million euro); whiting (4 million euro); sprat (3 million euro); herring (3 million euro); lobster (2 million euro); turbot (2 million euro); cod (2 million euro); boarfish (2 million euro).

Ireland has approximately 220 million acres of marine territory, rich in marine biodiversity. A marine biodiversity scheme under Ireland's operational programme, which is co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the Government, aims to reduce the impact of fisheries and aquaculture on the marine environment, including avoidance and reduction of unwanted catch.

EU fisheries ministers hold an annual pre-Christmas council in Brussels to decide on total allowable catches and quotas for the following year. This is based on advice from scientific bodies such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. In Ireland's case, the State's Marine Institute publishes an annual "stock book" which provides the most up to date stock status and scientific advice on over 60 fish stocks exploited by the Irish fleet. Total allowable catches are supplemented by various technical measures to control effort, such as the size of net mesh for various species.

The west Cork harbour of Castletownbere is Ireland's biggest whitefish port. Killybegs, Co Donegal is the most important port for pelagic (herring, mackerel, blue whiting) landings. Fish are also landed into Dingle, Co Kerry, Rossaveal, Co Galway, Howth, Co Dublin and Dunmore East, Co Waterford, Union Hall, Co Cork, Greencastle, Co Donegal, and Clogherhead, Co Louth. The busiest Northern Irish ports are Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel, Co Down.

Yes, EU quotas are allocated to other fleets within the Irish EEZ, and Ireland has long been a transhipment point for fish caught by the Spanish whitefish fleet in particular. Dingle, Co Kerry has seen an increase in foreign landings, as has Castletownbere. The west Cork port recorded foreign landings of 36 million euro or 48 per cent in 2019, and has long been nicknamed the "peseta" port, due to the presence of Spanish-owned transhipment plant, Eiranova, on Dinish island.

Most fish and shellfish caught or cultivated in Irish waters is for the export market, and this was hit hard from the early stages of this year's Covid-19 pandemic. The EU, Asia and Britain are the main export markets, while the middle Eastern market is also developing and the African market has seen a fall in value and volume, according to figures for 2019 issued by BIM.

Fish was once a penitential food, eaten for religious reasons every Friday. BIM has worked hard over several decades to develop its appeal. Ireland is not like Spain – our land is too good to transform us into a nation of fish eaters, but the obvious health benefits are seeing a growth in demand. Seafood retail sales rose by one per cent in 2019 to 300 million euro. Salmon and cod remain the most popular species, while BIM reports an increase in sales of haddock, trout and the pangasius or freshwater catfish which is cultivated primarily in Vietnam and Cambodia and imported by supermarkets here.

The EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983, pooled marine resources – with Ireland having some of the richest grounds and one of the largest sea areas at the time, but only receiving four per cent of allocated catch by a quota system. A system known as the "Hague Preferences" did recognise the need to safeguard the particular needs of regions where local populations are especially dependent on fisheries and related activities. The State's Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, based in Clonakilty, Co Cork, works with the Naval Service on administering the EU CFP. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and Department of Transport regulate licensing and training requirements, while the Marine Survey Office is responsible for the implementation of all national and international legislation in relation to safety of shipping and the prevention of pollution.

Yes, a range of certificates of competency are required for skippers and crew. Training is the remit of BIM, which runs two national fisheries colleges at Greencastle, Co Donegal and Castletownbere, Co Cork. There have been calls for the colleges to be incorporated into the third-level structure of education, with qualifications recognised as such.

Safety is always an issue, in spite of technological improvements, as fishing is a hazardous occupation and climate change is having its impact on the severity of storms at sea. Fishing skippers and crews are required to hold a number of certificates of competency, including safety and navigation, and wearing of personal flotation devices is a legal requirement. Accidents come under the remit of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, and the Health and Safety Authority. The MCIB does not find fault or blame, but will make recommendations to the Minister for Transport to avoid a recurrence of incidents.

Fish are part of a marine ecosystem and an integral part of the marine food web. Changing climate is having a negative impact on the health of the oceans, and there have been more frequent reports of warmer water species being caught further and further north in Irish waters.

Brexit, Covid 19, EU policies and safety – Britain is a key market for Irish seafood, and 38 per cent of the Irish catch is taken from the waters around its coast. Ireland's top two species – mackerel and prawns - are 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, dependent on British waters. Also, there are serious fears within the Irish industry about the impact of EU vessels, should they be expelled from British waters, opting to focus even more efforts on Ireland's rich marine resource. Covid-19 has forced closure of international seafood markets, with high value fish sold to restaurants taking a large hit. A temporary tie-up support scheme for whitefish vessels introduced for the summer of 2020 was condemned by industry organisations as "designed to fail".

Sources: Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Marine Institute, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Department of Transport © Afloat 2020