The Cyprian container vessel CT Rotterdam encountered engine problems whilst off the southeast coast of Wexford yesterday afternoon (October 19th). The vessel is currently being towed by Atlantic Towage's Ocean Challenger to the Port of Waterford’s Belview Port Container Terminal facility.

The vessel had been en route to the Port of Rotterdam, having sailed from Dublin Port laden with a cargo of containers.

This afternoon (October 20th) a Port of Waterford Pilot Boat crew will transfer senior pilot, Michael Griffin, onboard the CT Rotterdam to guide the vessel up river.

A local tug, the Tramontane, operated by South East Tug Services, will assist in the operation.

When asked about the operation, Harbour Master Captain Darren Doyle said, “This incident underlines the importance of the Port of Waterford’s facilities from a national strategic perspective. We were happy to be able to offer assistance to the vessel, thus preventing a potentially higher-risk incident whilst also minimising disruption to the shipping supply chain”.

David Sinnott, originally from Wexford, who has been working in Germany at Carl Zeiss Vision International as Vice President of Product Management, has been appointed the new CEO of the Port of Waterford Company.

He will take up the post at the end of September.

Prior to his time in Product Management at Carl Zeiss Vision, he served in several positions for the company in supply chain management.

Starting out in materials management at their former manufacturing facility in Wexford, Sinnott then spent time as Director of European Supply Chain, before taking a role as Director of Business Integration.

Sinnott was president of Wexford Chamber of Commerce in 2002 and 2004.

A number of vacancies are currently open for roles with shipping companies based on the South Coast.

In the Port of Waterford, shipping services firm Maritime Expert Ireland is recruiting for cargo surveyors in liquid and dry bulk cargos.

Candidates will work on a rotational basis and the position requires extensive travel. During the ‘on’ period, they will be based in a company apartment in Holland, Belgium or Germany.

The role requires a marine or port background, and cargo surveyor experience is beneficial. The nature of the job requires a certain standard of physical condition.

A full European driver’s licence is a must, as is a TIC (formally IFIA) certificate (or the willingness to obtain one).

Successful candidates will have the ability to work well on their own but still be a team player. They will have a proactive, can-do mentality, as well as an excellent customer-focused attitude and good communication skills.

They must also not be afraid of heights, water and confined spaces, the company emphasises.

Applicants should sent their CV and cover letter to [email protected]

Meanwhile, Hamilton Shipping is recruiting for a port agency assistant based in its busy Port of Cork office.

The role will require boarding vessels such as dry bulk, oil tankers, cruise vessels and naval ships.

Applicants must be of a good standard of education, and ship agency or allied shipping experience is preferred. A full clean driving licence is a prerequisite.

Out-of-office-hours work and weekend work on a rota basis will be involved. From time to time the port agency assistant may be required to work at other company sites.

Interested parties should send their CV to [email protected]

Boatbuilder Frank Kowalski of Safehaven Marine Ltd in Youghal, Co Cork, could certainly give the makers of Deadliest Catch a run for their money with his cool videos set to stirring musical scores.

One of his latest is of sea trials on board the Port Láirge, the Port of Waterford’s new pilot boat, in 55-knot winds with swells reaching five metres.

While testing the vessel’s capabilities, Kowalski recounts how “we captured some great aerial drone footage of her punching through the breakers and some fabulous imagery of her offshore in very strong winds, although a drone did bite the dust and went for a swim in the getting of it!”

The Interceptor 48 was delivered to Waterford’s harbourmaster Capt Darren Doyle in mid-November, and he spoke to Wavelengths about the new vessel and how it was commissioned.

The Port Láirge is powered by a pair of Scania D13 500hp engines, has an operational speed of over 25 knots and can carry five pilots and two crew in comfort.

Capt Doyle also talked about other recent developments, including the re-introduction of rail freight between Ballina in Co Mayo and Belview - what transport minister Eamon Ryan describes as a “climate friendly option” which could take hundreds of trucks delivering goods between the west coast and south-east off the road.

And he spoke about the inevitable, but fairly limited, impact of Brexit...

Earlier today (Friday 19 November) the Port of Waterford received its new pilot vessel from Cork’s Safehaven Marine.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the port invested some €1 million in the 15m Interceptor 48 named Port Láirge, the Irish for Waterford and a name long associated with a steam-powered dredger that served the city for more than 70 years until the 1980s.

Powered by a pair of Scania DI 13 500hp engines through Twin Disc ‘Quickshift’ gearboxes, the vessel is self-righting, has an operational speed of 25 knots, can carry five pilots and two crew in comfort and ensures year-round capability in all weather conditions.

The Interceptor 48 pilot vessel Port Láirge at dockside in Waterford | Credit: Port of Waterford/Twitter

Safehaven says Port Láirge is the 48th pilot boat it has supplied to ports globally and the 23rd of its class, a statistic “demonstrating how well regarded the design has become in the specialised pilot boat market”.

The Port of Waterford is to invest almost €1 million in a new pilot boat from Safehaven Marine.

Due to come unto use in September 2021, the pilot boat will be named Port Láirge, the Irish for Waterford and a name long associated with a steam-powered dredger that served the city for more than 70 years until the 1980s.

The 15-metre-long boat will provide safer working conditions for pilotage personnel, the port says.

Safehaven Marine in Co Cork won a tendering process to design and build the new boat which will be fitted with the latest marine safety technology.

Recent launches for the Youghal-based performance boatbuilders include Interceptor 48 pilot boats for Montevideo in Uruguay and the Port of Coruna in Northern Spain.

Port of Waterford Harbourmaster Capt Darren Doyle said: “We look forward to the new Port Láirge being brought into service next year.

“Our pilot boat crew and pilots do vitally important work year-round and it is essential that they have the best possible vessel to operate from.”

In the south-east Port of Waterford there has seen increased traffic through the port's main container terminal at Belview this year.

In the 10 months to 31 October, WaterfordLive writes, that the port handled 19,576 containers, an increase of 11% on the same period in 2019.

At 1.1m tonnes, bulk volumes were in line with the previous year. The port’s overall revenues for the period amounted to €5.5m which was down by approximately 10% reflecting decreased parking revenues in Waterford city centre arising from the Covid-19 restrictions.

As part of its work with Irish exporters and importers, the port’s management team are currently gauging market demand in a potential new service that would directly connect the southeast of Ireland with northern France.

Click here for more on this story. 

The Port of Waterford is highlighting a new report which identifies Belview Port on the River Suir as ideally places to serve Ireland’s growing offshore wind energy sector.

And it says strategic investment of €42 billion over the next 10 years could create 2,500 jobs in the sector.

Produced by the Carbon Trust for the Irish Wind Energy Association and part-funded by Green Tech Skillnet, ‘Harnessing Our Potential’ calls for strategic investment into one or more Irish ports to take advantage of the commercial opportunity of delivering 3.5GW of offshore wind by 2030. This is the level required by the State’s Climate Action Plan.

In a detailed readiness assessment of 16 Irish ports under physical characteristics and connectivity, Waterford was one of just two ports – along with Dublin, which is already regarded as at capacity – to meet all requirements.

Waterford also scored strongly for availability of additional land for development, proximity to existing offshore wind farm developments and access to the national road network.

The report’s authors say: “The [Port of Waterford’s] physical characteristics and connectivity mean it has good potential to serve the growth in offshore wind.

“t is currently one of the few ports in the Republic of Ireland capable of handling the weight of larger offshore wind turbines. Existing brownfield land at the port already in use for storing onshore wind turbines has the potential to accommodate staging with little investment or manufacturing with significant investment.

“Given the area available to the Port, it is well-placed to serve the construction stage of offshore wind with a certain level of investment. Redevelopment of other lands around Belview has also the potential for the Port to become an offshore wind cluster if the economic case can be proven.”

Commenting on the report, Port of Waterford chief executive Frank Ronan said: “There is clearly a huge commercial opportunity as Ireland moves more and more towards renewable energy to meet our international commitments to address climate change.

“This wide-ranging report puts clear data behind that opportunity and challenges all of us to seize the opportunity.

“From our own perspective at Waterford, we have been working for some time to position Belview as an ideal location for this type of activity over the coming decade and well beyond 2030. This is a central theme in both our Corporate Plan to 2023 and Masterplan to 2044.

“We look forward to further constructive engagement with multiple stakeholders to advance this ambition.”

The full report, which is available to read HERE, notes that Ireland currently lacks the ready infrastructure to build offshore wind farms, meaning that we would potentially lose “billions … unless strateguc investment decisions are made now”.

At the top of the agenda at New Ross Chamber is to attract a major company, writes Independent.ie

The executive group met in New Ross on Tuesday and during a lengthy meeting four priorities were outlined. Chamber President Sean Reidy said these include attracting a major company to the town within four years, local stakeholders taking back ownership of the port, getting a large new hotel for the town and attracting a major retailer to open a shop in the town centre.

Mr Reidy said stevedores at New Ross Port are seeking to have more of a say in its running, after it was announced earlier this year that Waterford Port was being lined up to take control of its operations. 'The future development of the port is a big priority as the port has a big say in New Ross and in the stakeholders in New Ross. There is the issue of it going to Waterford but we have views on that and we have stakeholders on our board who are currently in discussions with the county manager about running the port. I would hope a way could be found. On the one hand it can't be in the hands of private enterprise. We would be really emphasising our fear that will Waterford promote New Ross in the way we want it promoted. We feel New Ross stakeholders need to have a say in how it is run going forward and we are supporting the stakeholders in the town in those discussions.

A total of eight migrants discovered “hiding” on board a cargo ship at a port near Waterford city on Wednesday are likely to be sent back to France in the coming days.

The discovery, reports The Irish Times, was made by the crew of a “bulk cargo ship” that was travelling from St Nazaire in France to Belview Port. Three men fled the ship after being discovered, but were apprehended by gardaí a short time later.

A garda spokesman said the eight migrants, all believed to be adult males from Albania, were found to be in good health.

“Gardaí in Waterford were alerted to an incident today, Wednesday 4th December 2019, in Belview, Co Waterford where eight males were discovered by the crew in hiding on a bulk cargo ship travelling from France to Ireland,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“Garda immigration officers attached to Waterford Garda station are currently dealing with the males and they will be processed under the immigration law.”

The eight men are are believed to have stowed away on board the bulk carrier at St Nazaire before it sailed to Belview Port, where it arrived at around 9am on Wednesday. Port officials alerted gardaí to the presence of the stowaways.

For much more from the newspaper's coverage click here.