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Displaying items by tag: Newbuild news

#NEWBUILD VOYAGE- As previously reported on Afloat.ie Abis Dublin, a brand new multi-purpose heavy-cargoship made her maiden 'Irish' port of call to her namesake port yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The D-class 6,000 tonne newbuild had docked in Dublin Port having spent the previous night at anchor in Dublin Bay. On board the Dutch built vessel, operated by Abis Shipping, wind-turbine components could be seen at the aft end of the ship, noting her superstructure is located well forward close to the bow.

Abis Dublin was delivered earlier this month from shipbuilder's in Harlingen, where her owners are based and where the vessel is registered. Her first actual commercial sailing took place earlier this month, between Vlissingen to Emden, with an inaugural cargo of windmill components, which were later unloaded on arrival in Rouen. From the River Seine she then departed bound for Dublin, where the vessel is berthed alongside Ocean Pier.

Her sister Abis Dover, the leadship of the new class series made a call with B-class Abis Belfast last month, again to discharge windmill components. The latter vessel made a further call to the capital port just before Christmas, such activity reflecting the expanding Irish renewables energy sector.

Published in Ports & Shipping

#FREIGHT FERRY NEWS- Seatruck Power (2011/19,722grt) made her debut on the Dublin-Liverpool route last week, bringing an additional boost to freight capacity and follows her sister which only entered service in December, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The newbuild joins the leadship Seatruck Progress (see related report) on the central corridor service and another pair are due for completion by mid-year and are to be deployed on Seatruck's other Irish Sea routes.

The quartet, were all ordered from the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) yard in Germany. At 142m long, each of the 150-unit capacity newbuilds carry an additional 35 units compared to the 'P' class vessels, in which two of these vessels have been replaced from the Liverpool route.

Each sister has space for 2,166 lane freight metres spread across four decks, where on this particular deck hazardous and refrigerated cargo can be handled. They are also designed to carry rolling project cargo and heavy-lift items.

Published in Ferry

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