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Displaying items by tag: Whiddy Island Oil Terminal

#WhiddyOilTerminal – Bantry Bay Oil Terminal has been acquired by Houston, Texas based Zenith Energy, an international liquids and bulk terminal company from Phillips 66.

The terminal has a storage capacity of more than 8 million million barrels holding a third of Ireland's strategic petroleum reserves. Zenith intends to continue operating the terminal on a commercial basis. 

For more the West Cork Times reports HERE. 

Phillips 66 continues to operate Whitegate Oil Refinery in Cork Harbour, the only such facility in Ireland. As previously reported on Afloat.ie the refinery at Whitegate was withdrawn from sale last year following attempts to find a buyer failed.

Mike King of Phillips 66 was among the speakers of the major energy conference "Cork Harbour – Energising the Region" held in December.

To read his presentation and others click HERE on topics that discussed the opportunities and challenges in terms of energy, industry and tourism for the harbour.

Published in Coastal Notes
As the cruise season draws to a close, passengers from the German 28,856 tonnes Amadea, visited Bantry Bay, west Cork today, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The former Japanese cruiseship launched in 1991, anchored off picturesque Glengariff and neighbouring Garinish Island. Amadea had called to Waterford Estuary yesterday and before her first Irish port of call she called to Dartmouth en-route from embarking passengers in Bremerhaven.

At 192m in length, the 600-passenger capacity cruiseship is operated by Pheonix Reisen. The German based travel agency also runs fleetmates Albratross and Artania. The later Finish built vessel was best known as Princess Cruises Royal Princess, when launched by the late Diana, Princess of Wales in 1984.

Apart from the handful of cruiseships that call, Bantry Bay is otherwise used by oil tankers bringing supplies to the Whiddy Island Oil Terminal. The terminal consists of an offshore single point mooring, tanker Jetty, and an onshore tank farm. The bay runs some 35kms long and is 10km wide at its broadest at the entrance and steadily narrows to 3-4kms at its head. In addition the bay is largest of the main inlets in the south-west.

Glengariff in recent years has also welcomed another German operator, Peter Deilmann's Deutschland (1988/22,496grt) and the UK based Cruise & Maritime Voyages Marco Polo (1966/20,080grt). To read more on this vessel which regularly calls to Irish ports click HERE.

Published in Cruise Liners

New York Yacht Club’s biennial Invitational Cup

Ireland has a proud history in New York Yacht Club’s biennial Invitational Cup, with Irish participation from the very start and a podium result in 2019.

In 2009, two Irish Clubs,  Royal St. George in Dun Laoghaire and Royal Cork in Crosshaven, entered into New York's newest sailing competition that was reminiscent of Newport’s America’s Cup days when 19 yacht club teams from 14 nations descended on this “City by the Sea”.

The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is a competition between yacht clubs, with strict eligibility rules ensuring that each team is comprised exclusively of amateur sailors.

The competition, which was first run in 2009, has drawn entries from 49 clubs from 22 nations on all six inhabited continents.

The New York Yacht Club won the inaugural event in 2009, with the Royal Canadian Yacht Club winning in 2011 and 2013, England's Royal Thames Yacht Club winning in 2015 and Southern Yacht Club from New Orleans winning in 2017.

In 2019 the regatta was sailed for the first time in the New York Yacht Club’s fleet of IC37 yachts, and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, from Australia, became the first Southern Hemisphere club to win the trophy. And it was in this edition that Anthony O’Leary’s Royal Cork team took the bronze medal.