#shipping – A tug is expected to help move a cargo ship with 21 people onboard that has ran aground on a sandbank off the Dublin coast this morning.

A Coast Guard helicopter is expected to put a 'Coast Guard inspector' on board the MV Cielo di San Francisco this afternoon. The ship was en route from Ringaskiddy, Cork Harbour to Dublin and hit a sandbank between the Kish Bank and Bray at about 9.30am. 

As Afloat reported yesterday, the Cielo di San Francisco is a 37,000 dwt 'Handysize' dry-bulker docked in Cork's Ringaskiddy Deepwater Terminal from New Orleans.

The Kish bank where the accident happened is about 12km off the coast. There are no reports of any injuries.

An attempt will be made to float the ship at high tide this evening around midnight.

Speaking at the ceremony Mr. Murphy commented: "d'Amico Group are one of a leading number of firms that are driving investment in this sector in Ireland which is contributing to new employment and growth opportunities".

Entry of the new dry-bulkers marks another important chapter in the d'Amico Group's development since it established its Irish office in 2002, as the vessels are managed from its Dublin office under the Irish Tonnage Tax (ITT) regime.

Four more newbuilds are under construction in Korea, scheduled for delivery in 2012, and two under construction in Japan which are due in 2013. The latter ships represent a further investment in excess of US $310 million to the Italian company that began and grew as a family business in 1936.

To read more about this logon to the IMDO website and also www.damicoship.com