A Manx shipping company has acquired a larger cargo ship to replace a veteran vessel that for over 40 years has loyally served Irish Sea ‘liner’ services linking the island to Northern Ireland and England, writes Jehan Ashmore.
Afloat became aware of the newcomer Snaefell River of 852 gross registered tons (grt) having yesterday tracked the Isle of Man-flagged general cargo ship to Ramsey, its new port of registry as well as homeport of owners WS Mezeron. The newly acquired 1,100 deadweight ton (dwt) vessel in late December departed Paljassaare on its namesake peninsula in Tallin Bay, Estonia.
Up to then, the former Cypriot-flagged Leila (previously Ceg Orbit; see below) and other names beforehand was launched as Waran, having been built in 1989 by Bijlsma & Zonen—Wartena, The Netherlands.
After an 11-day passage via the Strait of Dover, the newest addition when in Manx waters was accompanied by a harbour porpoise as the 1,100 deadweight tons (dwt) Snaefell River approached the narrow entrance of Ramsey (see video) on a clear sunny morning of 28 December.
Onlookers on both piers saw the 64-metre-long overall (LOA) Snaefell River with a beam of 10.5 m skillfully berth by rounding the corner that leads onto the East Quay, where located is WS Mezeron’s head office, whose representatives also greeted its newest ship. Noting a draught is 3.4 m whereas its predecessor is 2.2 m, respectively.
Leila had sported a red hull, but is now blue and a livery of the WS Mezeron name and logo on the hull and superstructure, which does not appear in the above photo taken at Ramsey's East Quay along with its crane.
Berthed ahead was the elder fleetmate, the diminutive 277 grt Silver River of 45 m, beam of 7.2 m, and dating to 1968. The 373 dwt trader carries among cargoes small (20-foot) TEU containers, building materials, for example, bagged cement, and vehicles, including farming machinery such as tractors and vans, as deck cargo lashed to the hatch covers.
Such traffic through Ramsey, as Afloat observed on a visit more than a decade ago, is still not entirely the preserve of the Isle of Man Steam Packet based further south out of the Manx capital of Douglas, from where there is somewhat of a connection, as a former fast-craft was named Snaefell.
As for the Snaefell River, the cargoship is easily larger than the Irish Sea stalwart. However, since the New Year, Silver River continues to maintain its liner operations directly to Belfast (video) and separately to Glasson Dock, Lancashire, while WS Mezeron gets familiarised with their renamed ship ‘Snaefell’—the’ Old Norse for Snow Mountain.
According to tracking, Snaefell River completed its latest passage from Glasson Dock with an arrival to Ramsey on Tuesday.
Whereas last night Afloat tracked Silver River, having arrived in Belfast and also departing, both involving a passage between Great Copeland Island off the Co. Down coast near Belfast Lough. When south of the Mull of Galloway, Scotland, the cargo ship was doing a sedate of 9.8 knots, though it later increased to 11 knots when heading towards the Point of Ayre, at the northernmost point of the Isle of Man, and not far from Cranstal, where Ceg Orbit, having loaded wheat in Liverpool and bound for Belfast, went aground off the island’s east coast, as Afloat reported in 2021.
It transpires the incident, according to ManxNews, arose when a crew member on the bridge had an “urgent need to go to the toilet.". This led to the beaching of the then Latvian-flagged cargo ship, but there was no fault to be found with the vessel, as the incident been entirely blamed on the crew. It was successfully refloated with a tug and towed to Douglas for a diving inspection of the hull. As referred to above, it was flagged and renamed Leila.
So Ceg Orbit’s Manx presence, is almost a full circle, as the cargo ship’s trade links with the Isle of Man are now strengthened through its acquisition by the Ramsey-based WS Mezeron, which has its origins when founded in 1983. When the time comes, Silver River will cease operations, and the Snaefell River will take on the workload, which WS Mezeron highlights will remove some of the issues they have faced for years with the size of the long-serving dry cargo ship with its classic ‘coaster’ era design built in 1968 by Schlomer Werft, Oldersum, Germany.
It entered service as the Seacon and, over the decades, changed names and ownerships before its Irish Sea career, where it provides a dedicated freight forwarding, full loads, part loads, and pallet services. As such, this is the only example of such a working ship on the Irish Sea, and as alluded to by Mezeron MD Steve Walton, who said that the new vessel will be replacing the “much beloved Silver River” with a vessel that is 20 m longer and over three metres wider.
Also reported on Manx News, the Silver River is advertised on a website for $330,000, where the 47.72 m single-decked cargo ship is described on the website advertising the sale as “one of a kind.”.
At the time of writing, Silver River, having overnighted in Ramsey, continued its Irish Sea duties this afternoon with the other leg of its liner service to Glasson Dock, while its sucessor remained in the Manx port.
When the veteran vessel is withdrawn, Snaefell River will continue the maritime aspect within the WS Group of companies, which is complemented with a road logistics transport haulage network.
