Afloat caught up with short-sea trader Ceg Galaxy, having departed Wicklow, is today off Anglesey, Wales, bound for the UK, following yesterday’s loading of round timber exported from the Irish port, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The Latvian-flagged general cargo ship is bound for Birkenhead, Merseyside, and is operated by the Great Glen Shipping of Corpach, west Scotland, and is a common visitor to the Irish east coast port managed by Wicklow County Council. The Riga-registered vessel had berthed at the North Quay (one of four totalling 430m) and opposite is the South Quay used by the local fishing fleet.
According to ship agency Conwayport, the round timber (logs) was sourced from the east region of the country, while imports of packaged timber products from Scandinavia arrive on Scot Line vessels of the Romford in Essex-based operator and those of another company.
Ceg Galaxy was built by Kroeger Werft Husum, Germany, in 1986, and is of 1,300 deadweight tonnes (dwt). Its principal dimensions are length overall of 63 m, a beam of 11.11.3 m, and a draft of 3.69 m. Glen Shipping also operates Ceg Cosmos (1983/1,370 dwt) and Ceg Universe (1988/1,260 dwt), which service the main ports, smaller harbours, and piers throughout the west coast of Scotland, the Irish Sea, and further afield.
The tidal port of Wicklow is at the mouth of the Vartry / River Leitrim, which specialises in forestry products used for the construction sector, and also caters for bulk-cargo, project-cargo, recyclable materials, to include scrap metal.
Engaged in this trade, Afloat tracked another recent caller on the Irish Sea from Norwegian operator Wilson ASA of Bergen, whose Wilson Dover loaded scrap metal, which likewise of Ceg Galaxy, headed to Birkenhead. Fleetmates of the company have become more frequent in recent years and normally load scap to ports on the near continent and to the Iberian peninsula.
Wicklow is the nearest port south of Dublin, and for the past 15 years, there has been road access to bypass the small streets of Wicklow Town, which had caused congestion and impeded port-related traffic.
The port access road (1.6 km) runs between the Rathnew Road to The Murrough via a bridge that crosses the Broadlough Estuary and over the Dublin-Rosslare railway line.
