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Displaying items by tag: German Built

The fourth and final 'W' series of newbuilds for Arklow Shipping was launched earlier this month, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Arklow Wood was successfully launched at the Ferus Smit's shipyard in Leer, Germany.

As Afloat reported a previous sister Arklow Willow was launched last year though the 'Wind' is the first to be used in the owners naming scheme for this series.

The Arklow Wood took to the waters on 3rd April and will fly the Irish flag. As for design the cargoship is an enlarged version of the 8500dwt ships that the shipyard delivered to Arklow Shipping in the past.  The cargoship in comparison with these predecessors has almost twice the carrying capacity of 16,500dwt.

As for propulsion the newbuild is equipped with a 3840kW main engine in order to achieve low fuel consumption.

The design features:
– Main dimensions (Loa X B X T) 149.50 X 19.25 X 8.59 mtr.
– 16500 DWT, 700.000 cft hold volume.
– Iceclass 1A with 3840kW main engine.
– 2 box shaped holds.
– Propeller equipped with a duct for enhanced thrust at lower speeds and reduction of maximum installed propulsion power.

A previous 'W' series of a different design and all since disposed had been the first newbuilds for ASL to be ordered from a shipyard outside Europe, having been built in South Korea. This series however only totalled a trio and all using the same ship names now applied to the new series comprising of leadship Arklow Wave, Wind and Willow.

Another recent newbuild, Arklow Ace launched last month and belonging to the 'A'  series was also built by the same German group but at their Ferus Smit yard at Westerbroek, The Netherlands. The newbuild has recently left the inland yard under the Irish flag. 

The fleet of ASL including its Dutch division totals almost 60 dry-cargo vessels among them deep-sea bulk-carriers. 

Published in Arklow Shipping

Galway Port & Harbour

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city and port is located on the northeast side of the bay. The bay is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and from 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to 30 kilometres (19 miles) in breadth.

The Aran Islands are to the west across the entrance and there are numerous small islands within the bay.

Galway Port FAQs

Galway was founded in the 13th century by the de Burgo family, and became an important seaport with sailing ships bearing wine imports and exports of fish, hides and wool.

Not as old as previously thought. Galway bay was once a series of lagoons, known as Loch Lurgan, plied by people in log canoes. Ancient tree stumps exposed by storms in 2010 have been dated back about 7,500 years.

It is about 660,000 tonnes as it is a tidal port.

Capt Brian Sheridan, who succeeded his late father, Capt Frank Sheridan

The dock gates open approximately two hours before high water and close at high water subject to ship movements on each tide.

The typical ship sizes are in the region of 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes

Turbines for about 14 wind projects have been imported in recent years, but the tonnage of these cargoes is light. A European industry report calculates that each turbine generates €10 million in locally generated revenue during construction and logistics/transport.

Yes, Iceland has selected Galway as European landing location for international telecommunications cables. Farice, a company wholly owned by the Icelandic Government, currently owns and operates two submarine cables linking Iceland to Northern Europe.

It is "very much a live project", Harbourmaster Capt Sheridan says, and the Port of Galway board is "awaiting the outcome of a Bord Pleanála determination", he says.

90% of the scrap steel is exported to Spain with the balance being shipped to Portugal. Since the pandemic, scrap steel is shipped to the Liverpool where it is either transhipped to larger ships bound for China.

It might look like silage, but in fact, its bales domestic and municipal waste, exported to Denmark where the waste is incinerated, and the heat is used in district heating of homes and schools. It is called RDF or Refuse Derived Fuel and has been exported out of Galway since 2013.

The new ferry is arriving at Galway Bay onboard the cargo ship SVENJA. The vessel is currently on passage to Belem, Brazil before making her way across the Atlantic to Galway.

Two Volvo round world races have selected Galway for the prestigious yacht race route. Some 10,000 people welcomed the boats in during its first stopover in 2009, when a festival was marked by stunning weather. It was also selected for the race finish in 2012. The Volvo has changed its name and is now known as the "Ocean Race". Capt Sheridan says that once port expansion and the re-urbanisation of the docklands is complete, the port will welcome the "ocean race, Clipper race, Tall Ships race, Small Ships Regatta and maybe the America's Cup right into the city centre...".

The pandemic was the reason why Seafest did not go ahead in Cork in 2020. Galway will welcome Seafest back after it calls to Waterford and Limerick, thus having been to all the Port cities.

© Afloat 2020