#DESIGNER CRUISE SHIP – The cruiseship Marina (2011/65,999grt) which was only launched into service last year is on a port of call to Dublin today, having departed on a cruise from Dover, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Marina berthed alongside Ocean Pier this morning and the 1,250 passenger (double occupancy) vessel was built by Fincantieri Sestri Ponente in Italy for Oceania Cruises. The compnay also operate a sistership Riviera which was completed this year.

The 15-decked Marina which has 11 decks assigned for guests and served by a crew of 800. The guest to crew staff ratio is being 1.57 to 1. Oceania Cruises claim that the pair of mid-sized newbuilds are the most beautiful, elegant and sophisticated ships to debut in the past 50 years.

Designer features include the Lalique Grand Staircase and owner's suites furnished under the Ralph Lauren Home name, which showcase high quality standards in residential design and furnishings. Of the many facilities The Bon Appétit Culinary Center, is unique as it is the only hands-on cooking school at sea. There is also an artists-in-residence to teach fine arts in the Artists Loft.

To gain a greater insight to what's on board take a virtual tour of the vessel which has the following principle dimensions; length: 785 feet, beam: 106 feet and she draws on a maximum draught of 24 feet.

As is the norm the nationality of the staff hotel crew are international while the officers are European. She is registered in the Pacific island nation of the Marshall Islands.

#OLYMPICTORCH – Dublin Port are today making final preparations with some of the port's fleet of work boats in advance of the important role they will play in tomorrow's Olympic Torch Procession through Dublin. Dublin Port Company's state-of-the-art tug boats 'Shackleton' and 'Beaufort' will flank the Samuel Beckett Bridge and provide a traditional port salute of water cannon as the Olympic Torch crosses the River Liffey.

As the Olympic Torch bearers approach the bridge from Mayor Street the Port's Harbourmaster will instruct the captains of the Tug Boats to launch their water cannon shooting water 45 metres high into Dublin's skyline with a range of 120 metres. When fully deployed 7,000 litres of water are fired through the cannon every minute.

'Shackleton' and 'Beaufort' are named after the fearless explorer Ernest Shackleton who was born in Athy Co. Kildare and Sir Francis Beaufort who hailed from Navan and created the Beaufort scale, which measures wind force. The tugs are part of a fleet of working water vessels used by Dublin Port to help facilitate over 13,000 vessel movements through Dublin Port every year.

One of Dublin Port's four pilot boats will also form part of the fleet of vessels welcoming the torch. The Cork-built 'Camac' is named after the River Camac, one of the four tributaries to the River Liffey.

Dublin Port's Harbourmaster will also issue an instruction to all ships docked in the port to sound their horns as the Torch crosses the Samuel Beckett Bridge.

#TRAINEE VESSEL VISIT– A small motor-training vessel the T.S. Jack Petchey based in the UK, is heading for Dublin Port today having called to Arklow, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 24m long vessel built in 2010 is based in London. She has 16 berths which will allow her owners The Marine Society & Sea Cadets to train 16,000 young people over the next quarter century.

She is named after one of the UK's most successful businessmen, Jack Petchey who donated £1million to enable the society to build the vessel. At her commissioning ceremony she was berthed alongside Tower Bridge and St. Katharine's Docks on the Thames.

#GERMAN NAVY – Three German Navy vessels that forms a task force group docked in Dublin Port this morning for a weekend courtesy call, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Auxiliary tanker FGS Frankfurt Am Main (A1412) berthed in the heart of the port at Alexandra Quay West, close to the East-Link Toll-Lift Bridge. The 174m vessel which displaces over 20,000 tonnes will remain somewhat obscured from view during her port of call due to the surrounding dockland infrastructure.

The Berlin class replenishment vessel and her leadship sister FGS Berlin are the largest units in the German Navy. They not only carry fuel but also handle stores, military equipment, ammunition, medical services and can accommodate helicopters.

Footage above shows the task force departing Portsmouth from a vantage point taken from The Hard that leads into the Hampshire harbour.

Across Alexandra Basin lies the Sachsen class air-defence frigate FGS Hessen (F221) of 5,690 tonnes. The third member of the trio is the 130m Bremen class multi-purpose frigate FGS Emden (F210) of 3,680 tonnes which is moored at an adjacent berth alongside at Ocean Pier.

Unlike the auxiliary the frigates will be more visible from the south quays near the Poolbeg Yacht Boat Club marina at Ringsend.

#DUBLIN PORT –  At its Annual General Meeting today, Dublin Port Company which operates Ireland's largest port, handling over half of Ireland's trade, announced it will pay a €10.2 million dividend to the State in June 2012 based on its Financial Results for the year ended 31 December 2011. In late February the company also announced it will invest €110m from its own reserves over next five years in the Capital's port when a long term master plan was unveiled.

The dividend announced today represents a distribution of 36.5% of profits after tax. This will bring the total dividend payments to its shareholder to €46.8 million over the last six years.

At today's AGM the Annual Report for 2011 was presented to the company's shareholders in advance of publication later this year after it has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Speaking about the financial performance of Dublin Port Company for 2011, Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar said: "I congratulate the company on its strong financial performance in 2011. Government policy is that commercial State companies should pay a dividend of at least 30% of after-tax profits. Dublin Port has done even better, and the company truly is a State asset in every sense of the term. The company's 30 year Masterplan outlines a wide range of proposals for developing the port over this period, and its continued good financial performance will help it to make these important investments. As the country's largest port, Dublin Port is a vital piece of economic infrastructure. It requires ongoing investment to ensure it offers a first class service to importers and exporters."

Addressing Dublin Port Company's AGM, Ms. Lucy McCaffrey, the company's chairperson, said; "I was pleased to report to our shareholders, the representatives of the Minister for Transport and Minster for Finance, that Dublin Port Company will pay a dividend of €10.2 million in respect of its 2011 financial year. This year's dividend will bring to almost €47 million the total distributions to our shareholder in six years. In addition to paying a dividend to our shareholder we remain committed to investing in the port's infrastructure to ensure that Dublin Port can continue to facilitate exports and imports in the most efficient and competitive way. With that in mind we have recently launched a 30 year Masterplan which was developed following a major consultative process with all our stakeholders to create an important framework for the future development of Dublin Port. This plan will maximise Dublin Port's trade and tourism potential so that it can serve the trading needs of the city and country for generations to come."

#CRUISE–LINERS – The arrival of the €350 million Grand Princess cruise ship marked the opening of the 2012 Cruise season on Dublin Bay early this morning (Wed) when the 290 metre long vessel arrived overnight from Scotland on her only trip to Dublin this Summer.

The ship docked in Dublin Port is alongside for one night only and carries almost 4,000 high spend passengers and over 1,000 crew members.

During the winter the ship underwent an overhaul including the removal of part of her superstructure to save weight as Afloat previously reported here.

This year 90 cruise liners, 100,000 passengers contributing €35- €50m to the Dublin economy in 2012 will arrive into Dublin Bay. See the full list of Cruise calls to Dublin here.

The ship is the latest in cruise luxury with over 710 staterooms, an on-board shopping mall, cinema, a range of restaurant facilities, casino, swimming pools and a nine hole golf putting course.

The cruise sector has become a hugely important part of the city's tourism product since Dublin Port Company first targeted this trade in the mid 1990s.

A Dublin Port Pilot vessel escorts the Grand Princess into Dublin Bay

The Port Company estimates that cruise liners have contributed over €350 million to the city in the last decade.

The Port Company first targeted this trade in the mid 1990s. It is estimated that cruise liners have contributed over €350 million to the city in the last decade alone so Dublin Port Company is pleased to have played its role in attracting this business for the city.

Dublin Port Company recently announced it will invest €110m over the next five years implementing projects under its Masterplan 2012-2040 for future development at Dublin Port. Among the major projects identified in the Masterplan is the construction of a new cruise facility adjacent to the east of the East Link Bridge to accommodate the growing number of passengers and cruise ships coming to Dublin each season, bringing high spending passengers and crew within easy reach of the Luas, city centre shops, eateries and attractions.

The Grand Princess passes Poolbeg light on her way up the river Liffey and into Dublin city

To progress the project, Dublin Port Company has formed Cruise Dublin, a joint initiative with Dublin City Council and Dublin Chamber of Commerce aimed at further developing the cruise tourism trade in Dublin. A study of the needs of the cruise industry and best practice elsewhere on how a suitable cruise terminal can be provided in Dublin is currently underway. The estimated cost of the development is €30 million. This study will be concluded later this month with a view to having a cruise terminal in place by 2015.

The 290 metre long cruise liner arrives at her berth dwarfing the Irish Ferries ship Ulysses

Mr. Eamonn O'Reilly, Chief Executive, Dublin Port Company said, "Dublin Port is already the largest gateway for cruise visitors to Ireland and with 1.7 million ferry passengers moving through the port, is behind only Dublin Airport and Cork Airport as a national tourism hub. We have a fantastic offering here with a growing reputation internationally as the go-to city for high end cruise calls. Our location at the heart of Dublin beside the city's shops, restaurants and bars, as well as proximity to the airport make Dublin Port a very attractive destination for major cruise liner operators. We're delighted to have secured 90 cruises for 2012 and with our new joint initiative, Cruise Dublin, committed to increasing this valuable trade for Dublin in the best way possible."

Meanwhile a new dock in the south of the bay has been installed at the Coal quay in Dun Laoghaire harbour ready for next week's first cruise ship arrival into Dun Laoghaire.

Read more about Cruise liners and cruise liner visits to Ireland

#CRUISE LINERS – Following Friday's first cruise call to Dublin Port this year of the 300-plus passenger Arion as previously reported, the considerably larger Grand Princess is to call on Wednesday. Notably on this occasion the 2,600 passenger cruiseship is to appear without her signature 'Skywalker' Nightclub, which used to be perched 18 decks-high at the aft of the vessel, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The aptly named nightclub was built on two legs to form a bridge (see PHOTO) and was accessed by a glass gangway. Not only was the structure at such an elevated position but it also overhang beyond the sheer of the stern superstructure below, where clubbers had bird's eye views over the oceans and to numerous ports of calls.

In an operation to remove the Skywalker last year, the structure weighing 211 tons took over 10 hours to complete (as previously reported including VIDEO of the work). The reason for removing the nightclub according to her owners Princess Cruises was to 'significantly improve the operational performance of the ship, including greater fuel efficiency.' For a post dry-docking view click PHOTO.

During the procedure at the Grand Bahama Shipyard in the US, the opportunity included the installation of a new nightclub three decks below and was named One5.

Ironically before the vessel lost weight!....she was the first cruiseship to visit Dublin Port to surpass the 100,000 tonnes milestone, when the leadship of the 'Grand' class docked in 2004.

#CRUISE LINERS – Dublin Port's first cruise caller for this season will be Arion which today sets sail from Falmouth on an eleven night / twelve day cruise to Scotland and Norwegian fjords. The 5,888 gross tonnes cruiseship built in 1965 is to berth in the capital at Ocean Pier, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The veteran vessel which has sleek traditional lines can carry over 300 passengers and she is operated by Classic International Cruises. Her visit will be one of around 90 cruise calls scheduled to Dublin Port during this year's season which stretches to early October. The majority of these calls will be in the summer and where several ships will be making repeat port of calls.

With so many callers to Dublin Port, this brings a greater variety of vessels as evident between the Arion and Princess Cruises considerably larger Grand Princess which is due next week. The giant vessel weighs over 109,000 gross tonnes and has a capacity for over 4,000 passenger and crew.

The Portuguese flagged Arion is also set to open the season to Galway, as previously reported she is to make an anchorage call off the mid-west harbour next month.

Meanwhile following all the recent focus centred in Cobh, Cruise & Maritime Voyages Marco Polo is expected to arrive this afternoon by berthing at the town's dedicated cruiseship quayside.

#NAVAL ANCHORAGE – A Royal Navy mine-hunter HMS Bangor (MI09) which took part in Libyan operations last year, anchored overnight in Dublin Bay during the north-easterly gale force winds, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Unlike the majority of vessels which anchor in the south of the bay, she unusually took anchorage north of the main shipping lane for Dublin Port by positioning off Sutton South on Howth Peninsula.

HMS Bangor is a Sandown class mine-hunter and she is due to continue her northbound passage through the Irish Sea to spend Easter at her affiliated namesake town on the shores of Belfast Lough.

Her last call to Bangor was to celebrate Armed Forces Day 2010 and also in that year she called to Dublin, click HERE for that report.

On this occasion she will tell of her role supporting NATO operations off the coast of Libya. During Operation Unified Protector, the mine-hunter's task involved 120 days of non-stop action by scouring miles of sea bed off Libya as the battle between rebels and Colonel Gaddafi raged.

Built in 1999 by Vosper Thorneycroft, Southampton, the glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) ship and her 34 crew undertook the painstaking work. This paid off when the 55m vessel found a 2,400-pound (1000kg) mine and a torpedo lying on the seabed off the port of Tobruk in eastern Libya.

Both were safely destroyed using the ship's Sea Fox system – an underwater drone armed with explosive charges.

HMS Bangor is among seven of her class based at on the Clyde, Scotland. They each displace 600 tonnes and have a range of 2,500 nautical miles. For further details about the class, click HERE.

#KAYAKING - A father-and-son duo from north Co Dublin will shortly embark on an epic kayak paddle from Dublin to Donegal, the Fingal Independent reports.

Dermot Higgins and his son Fionn, from Rush, will attempt to kayak from Dublin Port to the Atlantic Ocean at Ballyshannon - a distance of some 330km - by way of the Royal Canal, the River Shannon and Lough Erne.

The Higgins' - who believe they are the first to attempt such a feat - will be completely self-sufficuent for the duration of the challenge, which is hoped to raised funds for the Rush Open Organisation for Transition Status (ROOTS), a charity that intends to help communities reduce their carbon footprint and face up to environmental challenges by encouraging sustainability.

The Fingal Independent has more on the story HERE.