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Displaying items by tag: Stena HSS

#StenaHSS – Stena Line's HSS fast-craft Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead operated sailings ended today, following four months of the seasonal-only service.

According to Stena Line the HSS Stena Explorer is to resume service for a short period over the Christmas and New Year period.

The first sailing (from Holyhead) is Saturday 20 December and as usual there will be a single sailing in each direction between Ireland and Wales.Crossing time of the HSS Stena Explorer is 2 hours 20 minutes. For more information click HERE.

HSS Stena Explorer was built for Stena Line in 1996 as the first of a trio of revolutionary 1500 class fast-craft vehicle carrying catamarans.

She is now the sole surviving member operating for her owners. Her sisters had served on other routes on the Irish Sea and the North Sea.

 

Published in Ferry

#HSSprings -Stena Line's HSS fast-craft as previously reported, will return to the seasonal service of the Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead route on 9 April and continue operating for the next four months.

The operator are running fares starting from €129 single for car and driver, on the service that will operate one round-trip per day with a 10.30am sailing from Holyhead and a 13.30pm sailing from Dun Laoghaire giving passengers the chance to take the 2 hour 20 minutes high-speed sea service across the Irish Sea to the UK.

Stena Line's Head of Travel, Orla Noonan said: "The brighter part of the year is set to get even brighter when Stena Line's iconic HSS springs into action on Wednesday 9 April. We hope the seasonal service of the vessel, well known for its style and speed, will get people thinking about booking a spring break or summer holiday to Britain in the coming months.

 

 

Published in Ferry

#StenaHSS – Stena Line's HSS fastcraft operated Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead route ceased sailings last Tuesday on the seasonal-only service, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The central Irish Sea corridor route had been running since Easter and operated by the Stena Explorer, the last of a trio of HSS fastcraft remaining in service for the company.

Stena Explorer will be returning to the 2 hour 20 minute route on 20 December 2013 for a limited number of sailings over the Christmas and New Year period.

Stena Line run two conventional ferries between Dublin Port - Holyhead on the all year round 3 hour 15 minutes route.

 

Published in Ferry
3rd September 2011

Bon Voyage to Stena Voyager

The Stena Voyager high-speed ferry will make its final crossing between Belfast and Stranraer in mid-November.
BBC News cites the high cost of running the service, as well as its limited freight capacity, as reasons for the mothballing of the Stena HSS (High Speed Service).
The world's biggest high-speed ferry was a revelation when it was launched in 1996. The catamaran could reach speeds of up to 40 knots powered by enormous gas turbine engines.
But the rising cost of oil prompted a reduction in the ferry's cruising speed to save costs, making room for competition from conventional ferry routes with larger freight capacities.
The Voyager's fate was sealed when Stena Line announced plans to move its Stranraer port to a new location that will shave 20 minutes off the crossing for the two new but standard ferries that will replace it.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Stena HSS between Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead will also be suspended from later this month, though it is planned to resume service in 2012 for the summer season.

The Stena Voyager high-speed ferry will make its final crossing between Belfast and Stranraer in mid-November.

BBC News cites the high cost of running the service, as well as its limited freight capacity, as reasons for the mothballing of the Stena HSS (High Speed Service).

The world's biggest high-speed ferry was a revelation when it was launched in 1996. The catamaran could reach speeds of up to 40 knots powered by enormous gas turbine engines.

But the rising cost of oil prompted a reduction in the ferry's cruising speed to save costs, making room for competition from conventional ferry routes with larger freight capacities.

The Voyager's fate was sealed when Stena Line announced plans to move its Stranraer port to a new location that will shave 20 minutes off the crossing for the two new but standard ferries that will replace it. 

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Stena HSS between Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead will also be suspended from later this month, though it is planned to resume service in 2012 for the summer season.

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