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Displaying items by tag: 2017

#BelfastLough - Recording record trade levels, Belfast Harbour reached 23.7 million tonnes passing through the port in 2017.

The port writes The Irish News, handles more than 70 per cent of the north's seaborne trade, has seen a 3 per cent increase in its trade volume on 2016 in spite of the low level of growth in the local economy.

Significant and strategic investments by the port and its customers as well as the relative weakness in sterling on exports are described as key reasons behind the positive figures.

Freight traffic on StenaLine’s Ro-Ro (Roll-on / Roll-off) services continues to grow, reaching a record 514,000 vehicles, with external demand for Northern Ireland’s agri-food produce a key driver for the increase. Linked to this, demand for animal feeds and grains rose by 11 per cent to 2.2 million tonnes.

To read more on other sectors of the port click here. 

Published in Belfast Lough
10th January 2017

Afloat Rowing Calendar 2017

#Rowing: Here is the 2017 Calendar for Irish Rowers. The year ahead is a bumper one. In February, the Fisa Extraordinary Congress in Tokyo will be the focus of intense interest, as a decision will be made on the boats which can compete at the Olympic Games. Lightweight athletes in Ireland and other countries will watch this closely. The international season will be a very long one as the World Championships will be held very late (September/October) in Florida in the United States. The domestic regatta season starts with Neptune Regatta on April 1st and the high point is the Irish Championships, which run from July 14th to July 16th. Queen’s University have decided to abandon plans to hold their regatta, which was scheduled for May 6th.

 Our good wishes to all involved in rowing this year, whether behind the scenes or on the water.

Rowing Fixtures 2017

January

21st: Irish Indoor Rowing Championships, Limerick.

26th-28th: World Coaches Conference, Vancouver, Canada.

February

4th: European Indoor Rowing Championships, Paris.

9th-12th: Fisa Extraordinary Congress, Tokyo.

11th: Cork Head, Marina.

18th: Lagan Scullers’ Head, Belfast; New Ross Head, River Barrow.

18th-19th: Ireland high performance Assesment, Regional.

25th: St Michael’s Head, O’Brien’s Bridge, Clare. 

March

4th: Erne Head, Enniskillen, Fermanagh. 11th: Women’s Eights’ Head of the River, London. 18th Galway Head; Lagan Head, Belfast.

25th: Dublin Head; Offaly Head, Tullamore.

25th: Head of the River, London.

25th-26th: Ireland high performance Assessment, National Rowing Centre (NRC), Cork.

26th: Rowing Ireland agm.

April

1st: Neptune Regatta, Islandbridge. 2nd: Commercial Regatta, Islandbridge. 2nd: The Boat Races, London.

7th: Irish University Championships, NRC.

8th-9th: Skibbereen Regatta, NRC.

15th: Trinity Regatta, Islandbridge, Dublin.

22nd: Limerick Regatta, O’Brien’s Bridge, Clare.

23rd: Irish Schools’ Regatta, O’Brien’s Bridge.

29th: Portadown Regatta.

29th (to May 1st): BUCS Regatta, Nottingham, England.

May

1st (from April 29th): BUCS Regatta, Nottingham, England. 5th-7th: World Cup Regatta, Belgrade, Serbia.

7th: Castleconnell Sprint Regatta.

13th: Lough Rynn Regatta, Leitrim.

13th-14th: Fisa Para Rowing Regatta, Gavirate, Italy.

20th: Lee Regatta, Marina, Cork.

20th-21st: European Junior Championships, Krefeld, Germany.

26th-28th: European Championships, Racice, Czech Republic.

26th-28th: British National Schools’ Regatta, Dorney Lake.

27th: Dublin Metropolitan Regatta, Blessington; Belfast Sprint Regatta.

June

3rd-4th: Carlow Regatta. 3rd-4th: (London) Metropolitan Regatta.

10th-11th: Ireland high performance Assessment, NRC.

15th-18th: World Cup Regatta, Poznan, Poland. 16th-18th: Henley Women’s Regatta. 17th: Athlone Regatta, Coosan Point. 17th: Marlow Regatta, Dorney Lake. 18th: Galway Regatta.

24th-25th: Cork Regatta, NRC.

28th (to July 2nd): Henley Royal Regatta.

July

1st-2nd (from June 28th): Henley Royal Regatta. 1st: Ulster Branch Regatta, Craigavon Lakes, 2nd: Fermoy Sprint Regatta.

7th-9th: World Cup Regatta, Lucerne, Switzerland.

14th-16th: Irish Rowing Championships, NRC.

19th-23rd: Under-23 World Championships, Plovdiv.

22nd: Home International Regatta, London Docklands, England.

29th -30th: Coupe de la Jeunesse, Hazewinkel, Belgium.

August

2nd-6th: World Junior Championships, Trakai, Lithuania. 6th: Carrick-on-Shannon Sprint Regatta.

18th-20th: Irish Coastal Rowing Championships, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.

26th: Belfast Summer Sprint Regatta.

September

2nd-3rd: European Under-23 Championships, Kruszwica, Poland.

6th-1oth: World Masters, Bled, Slovenia. 16th: St Michael’s Masters Regatta, Limerick.

24th (to October 1st): World Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida­.

October

1st (from September 24th): World Championships, Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida.

7th Tullamore Time Trial. 7th-8th: Ireland high performance Assessment, NRC.

13th-15th: World Coastal Rowing Championships, Thonon, France.

21st-22nd: Head of the Charles River, Boston.

28th: Castleconnell Head, Castleconnell.  

November

4th: Neptune Head, Blessington.

11th: Bann Head, Coleraine. 12th: Fours Head, London.

18th: Skibbereen Head, NRC.

25th: Provinces Indoor Rowing Championships, Limerick.

December

2nd: Head of the Shannon, Carrick-on-Shannon; Muckross Head, NRC.

16th-17th: Ireland high performance Assessments, NRC.

Published in Rowing
Tagged under

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

© Afloat 2020