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Displaying items by tag: Replacement ferry

#FerryNews - Around 35,000 calves are expected to be exported via the replacement ferry on the Rosslare-to-Cherbourg route during the four-week period that the Stena Horizon is out of action.

According to Agriland, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michae Creed, confirmed that the Stena Carrier will takeover from the Stena Horizon on February 20, when it goes into dry dock for maintenance.

But, the the department added that it is difficult to predict future market developments. Further lesser numbers are also expected to be exported on the Dublin-to-Cherbourg route.

Commenting on the approval of the Stena Carrier, Minister Creed said: “Since this issue of the withdrawal of the Stena Horizon from service for routine maintenance first came to notice in October 2017, senior officials from my department have been actively engaging with all relevant stakeholders on the matter.

For more on the story, click here.

Published in Ferry

#FerryNews - Ferry operator, Stena Line is still awaiting approval to carry animals for live export on the vessel that is set to replace their Ireland-France route ship Stena Horizon.

According to AgriLand which previously reported in recent weeks that Stena Line confirmed that it has chartered a vessel as a temporary replacement ship for the Stena Horizon during its planned maintenance. Afloat adds this ropax ferry operates the Rosslare-Cherbourg route.

However, meeting the necessary requirements to carry live export trucks on the replacement vessel has proved challenging.

The ferry company confirmed to AgriLand that the temporary replacement ship will start on February 20 for a period of approximately four weeks, while the Stena Horizon is in dry dock.

A spokesperson for the company continued: “Stena Line is currently working with the owners to obtain the necessary statutory vessel certifications for this highly specialist trade.

“The criteria for carriage is – naturally and correctly – extremely detailed in relation to key welfare issues such as stability, movement, ventilation etc".

To read more including a response from the president of the Irish Farmers' Association, click here.

Published in Ferry

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)