Arklow Shipping’s brand new Royal Bodewes-built 'Ecotrader' is on its maiden voyage following its successful handover to the Irish ship-owner last Friday, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The Arklow Rose, which in April was launched in the Dutch shipyard, represents the sixth of seven 6,800 deadweight (dwt) tons Ecotrader class cargo ships, otherwise known as the ‘R’ class.
The new build forms part of Arklow Shipping's fleet expansion, with the Co. Wicklow shipowner ordering the Ecotraders from the Dutch shipyard Royal Bodewes starting with the leadship Arklow Racer. Since 1812, the shipyard has launched over 1,600 vessels and has a 100-plus workforce spread across three production facilities.
As of this morning, Afloat tracked the Irish-flagged dry-cargo ship in the English Channel, having on Monday night departed Hamburg in Germany. The 310,000-cubic-foot capacity cargo ship is offshore of Hastings, East Sussex, at a speed of 10.9 knots.
The port of destination is Greenore, Ireland’s only privately owned port at the mouth of Carlingford Lough.
Greenore Port in Co. Louth is located on the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor and is owned by the Cork-based Doyle Shipping Group (DSG), whose extensive operations include tugs serving in Cork Harbour.
At this stage, there are two days at sea remaining on the inaugural voyage, as the Arklow Rose has yet to enter the Celtic Sea before reaching the Irish Sea and arriving at Greenore.
The arrival time of the 105-length overall (LOA) newbuild in the north-east port is Saturday afternoon.
