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Displaying items by tag: Holyhead Deep

#HolyheadDeep -  Two Swedish-based companies have engaged in a joint project to invest in Wales’ transition to renewable energy.

Minesto and Stena Line will build an assembly hall in the Port of Holyhead, which Minesto will utilise in their upcoming rollout of the company's unique technology to generate clean electricity from the ocean.

Both companies have signed an agreement in which Stena Line has committed to building an assembly hall on their land at the north-west Welsh port. The assembly hall will be leased to Minesto and used for the upcoming rollout of Deep Green, Minesto’s unique technology for cost-effective electricity production from slowly flowing underwater currents.

Minesto’s first commercial power plant array will be installed in Holyhead Deep off the coast of North Wales. The joint-project companies invites the public for your opinion! so click here for more. 

The company recently announced plans to expand the project from 10MW to 80MW installed capacity. This expansion would allow Minesto’s power plants to supply as many as 80,000 Welsh households with locally produced, reliable and renewable electricity.

The assembly hall in Holyhead is a key part of this process, allowing both assembly and service and maintenance of the power plants to take place in the port.

“We are very pleased to have finalised this agreement with Stena Line. With its direct quay access for offshore transports to and from site we have secured a unique location that suits us perfectly. In the establishment of our technology, it is also crucial to work with professional and long-term partners such as Stena Line. We are two companies from Gothenburg, exploiting these ocean energy business opportunities together in Wales, which adds to the excitement”, says Dr Martin Edlund, CEO of Minesto.

Stena Line has been active in Holyhead for many years, as owner of the port and through operating five ferry routes between Ireland and the UK. 

“This investment creates value for Stena Line in several ways and demonstrates opportunities in port operations linked to ocean renewables”, says Björn Petrusson, Chief Commercial Officer at Stena Line. “Our sustainability strategy has a clear focus on clean energy so participating in the development of new renewable energy sources is natural to us. This investment is good for our business and is also an investment in a better future for all of us”, Björn Petrusson concludes.

The assembly hall is scheduled for completion in June 2017.

Published in Power From the Sea

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