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Displaying items by tag: Sheep's Head

#Missing - It's been reported that the search for a Dutch national who went missing on the Sheep's Head Peninsula three weeks ago has come to an end.

According to TheJournal.ie, the Irish Coast Guard has concluded its search for Roland Deckers, 31, who disappeared with his friend Othman Rahmouni, when the pair went for a coastal walk on 8 February amid severe weather.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, a body discovered in an inlet of the peninsula two days after the men were reported missing was later identified as 33-year-old Rahmouni.

Search teams were hopeful that a break in the weather would help reveal the whereabouts of Decker, whose family own the holiday home where the friends were staying.

That came on Saturday last, allowing teams to climb down the blowhole to search the sea cave on the peninsula, but nothing was found.

TheJournal.ie has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update
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#Search - The Irish Times reports that the body recovered off Sheep's Head in West Cork earlier this week has been identified as 33-year-old Othman Rahmouni, as the search was expected to resume this morning for his friend Roland Deckers (31).

The two men, who were friends from Amsterdam, went missing almost a week ago on Saturday 8 February from the Deckers family's holiday home on the peninsula as Force 11 winds and heavy waves swept in from the Atlantic.

Emergency teams on Monday discovered a body in an inlet of the peninsula, but search efforts for the second man were hampered during the week by persistent storm conditions.

Today's break in the weather will allow for a further sweep of the northern coastline, helped by a low tide expected before noon.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update

#Search - The Irish Examiner reports that a postmortem was due yesterday on the as-yet unidentified body recovered off Sheep's Head in Co Cork in the search for two men missing since the weekend.

Meanwhile an extreme weather warning for Cork and Kerry is hampering the search effort for the second of the pair, one of whom has been named as 31-year-old Dutch national Roland Deckers, whose family owns a holiday home in the area.

The other has been named by RTÉ News as 33-year-old Othman Rahmouni, a resident near Amsterdam.

Weather conditions yesterday were judged not suitable for diving, ruling out a search below the rising waves on the West Cork peninsula, and the operation has been stood down till conditions improve.

"We'd hope to get a window in the next few days, but it's not looking great weather-wise," said Valentia coastguard spokesperson John Draper.

Published in News Update

#Search - BreakingNews.ie reports that a body has been found in the search for two men missing on Sheep's Head in West Cork.

The remains have not yet been identified, but are believed to be one of two visitors - a Dutch national whose family have a home near Kilcrohane, and his German national friend - who went missing on Saturday 8 February after informing family back home they were going for a walk to a nearby lighthouse.

Weather conditions on the day deteriorated quickly as Met Eireann issued one of an extended series of warnings for coastal areas.

The search continues for the second missing man, with operations co-ordinated by Naval Service vessel LE Emer, according to RTÉ News.

Published in News Update

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.

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