Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Record Summer

Ferry operator Stena Line has just recorded its busiest summer on their Ireland-France route with passenger and car numbers up over 90% on last year.

The introduction of Stena Vision on the Rosslare-Cherbourg service in June has helped to drive passenger volumes, but the Irish Sea’s largest ferry operator believes the figures also pay testimony to the increasing popularity of France as a destination of choice for the Irish market.

Paul Grant, Stena Line’s Trade Director (Irish Sea) said: “Even before the pandemic the popularity of the Rosslare-Cherbourg service was growing so we were always confident that adding an extra vessel to the route would prove popular with new as well as existing customers. The Stena Vision has helped Stena Line extend our customer service offering in terms of capacity and the range of facilities available onboard. With two ships operating on the route, this is now the most frequent service from Ireland to France offering six sailings each way per week.”

The addition of Stena Vision to the Ireland-France route provided Stena Line with a significant increase in capacity operating alongside Stena Horizon.

Stena Vision has space for 1,300 passengers, with 485 passenger cabins, more than any other ferry currently sailing from Ireland. It offers a wide selection of accommodation ranging from standard cabins to deluxe suites, as well as 42 pet friendly cabins.

The cruise ferry is also equipped with a choice of restaurants, Sky Bar with live entertainment, outdoor sun deck bar and Happy World kids play area. Guests can also avail of a Pure Nordic Spa which includes a sauna and jacuzzi.

Paul Grant added: “The introduction of Stena Vision has also been positive for the freight sector, which has seen demand grow for direct services to France since Brexit. Stena Vision has also increased driver accompanied capacity with more single occupancy cabin space for freight drivers.”

Stena Line is the largest ferry operator on the Irish Sea, with the biggest fleet, up to 238 weekly sailings offering the widest choice of routes including, combined passenger and freight services from Belfast to Cairnryan and Liverpool, Dublin to Holyhead, and Rosslare to Fishguard in addition to Rosslare to Cherbourg.

The company also runs a dedicated freight only route from Belfast to Heysham.

Published in Stena Line

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