Two Arklow Shipping bulk carriers have called to Swansea Drydocks in South Wales, where, aptly, the tug VB Irishman attended, with the most recent cargo ship having arrived today, writes Jehan Ashmore.
Arklow Wood, which departed Belfast Harbour on Friday, arrived the next day to anchor off Port Talbot before this morning’s call through the Bristol Channel before reaching Swansea Bay. The VB Irishman, previously Hull-based and of SMS Towage until last year’s acquisition by Spanish giant Beluga Towage, was also joined by the Swansea pilot cutter PV Neptune.
At more than 16,600 deadweight tons (dwt), Arklow Wood was built in 2020 as the final of a quartet of the W’ class from Ferus Smit’s German shipyard located in Leer. The bulker with the following dimensions of 149.50m length, 19.25 m beam, and 8.59 m draft entered the larger of the two dry docks, the Prince of Wales Dry Dock 1.
A fleetmate, Arklow Ace, which by coincidence was only launched the previous month of Arklow Wood, was the ASL's previous caller at the South Wales shiprepair, maintenance, and recycling facility until its departure on Wednesday. The next day was entirely at sea in the Bay of Biscay before reaching La Pallice, near La Rochelle, midwestern France, on Friday.
The A-class mini-bulker is the third of six 8,500 dwt series built by Ferus Smit but at their Dutch shipyard in Westerbroek.
With the closure of Dublin Dry Docks almost a decade ago (see related follow-up), it is no surprise that a knock-on effect to some degree has led to increased business at the Welsh facility, given its close proximity. In addition, another Irish client, Purple Water Towing of Dublin, albeit using another Welsh facility at Milford Haven Dry Docks, saw yesterday’s arrival of the escort tug Giano, as Afloat also highlighted.
According to a recent post by Swansea Drydocks, it is also finishing work on the tug Svitzer Ferriby, based in Southampton, whose owners, Svitzer, among British ports, have a large fleet in Milford Haven to handle tankers at the UK’s biggest energy port.
The dry-dock company is expecting the aggregates suction dredger Penfret, operated by Breedon Group, is to take the place of the tug. The former Brittany-based dredger was also tracked this morning returning to Newport, having gone to the Nedwin Sands in the Severn Estuary.
