#1860dockExcavation! - Arklow Fame (2006/2,998grt) the last ever ship to be dry-docked in Dublin Port that closed a month ago, was back in the port today at the Boliden Tara mines facility, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Dublin Graving Docks (DGD) Ltd closed with the loss of 26 full-time employees as the shiprepair, maintenance and conversion facility operated under license of the Dublin Port Company expired at the end of April. The site of the 220m long Graving Dock No. 2 (built 1957) was the largest in the state and is to be in-filled as part of DPC plans to increase space capacity as part of the €227m Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) project to cater for increasingly larger cargoships.

Given the name of the former dock yard company, what about the other dock? That was Graving Dock No. 1 (dating to 1860) which was in-filled less than a decade ago to increase hard-standing area for ro-ro freight operations of an expanding terminal next to the DPC’s headquarters of the Port Centre building.

The final vessel to use Graving Dock No.1 took place in May 2006 but not for standard repairs but most surprisingly was for scrapping! This involved a 1954 built Tonga flagged converted cargoship used for livestock service between Dover-Dunkerque and possibly from Dublin too from where the 836 tonnes vessel was impounded by Irish authorities in 2003.

The veteran vessel was left to languish in port and Alda K having had four names over a career spanning almost half a century would never see service again. The final chapter of this small ship ended when DGD Ltd began breaking up the the vessel in Graving Dock No. 1. The sight of this activity in the capital was most surreal to observe and something one would expect overseas.

Ironically as part of the ABR project, Graving Dock No. 1 which is a listed structure is to be excavated, despite it been in filled less than a decade ago in late 2008. The site is to be developed into a new arts and industrial heritage visitor attraction centre, located next to the port’s first dedicated cruise terminal along the North Quay Wall Extension. Currently this is where P&O Ferries operate from ro-ro terminal no. 3.

The double berth €30m terminal is to accommodate some of the world’s largest cruiseships and as well to been located closer to the city-centre. Currently the largest cruiseships can only be handled at berths alongside Ocean Pier which have deeper berths than those upriver at the North Wall Extension next to the Tom Clarke Bridge, until recently known as the East-Link toll-bridge.

#CruiseEurope2016 – Cruise Europe’s 2016 conference takes place for the first time in the Irish capital this week (31 May- 2 June). The prestigious three-day conference is to attract over 200 delegates from leading cruise destinations to the event co-hosted by Dublin Port Company and Dublin City Council, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The conference coincides with no fewer than seven cruiseliners calling to the capital this week and in a record breaking season with 113 calls scheduled this year. The cruiseships will bring more than 180,000 visitors to experience the city’s sights and attractions. Among those calls, four are turnaround cruises, which will see passengers travel to Dublin Port to begin their cruise.

A notable highlight of the season so far was the first and only Irish port of call for Disney Cruise Line’s impressive 300m long two funnelled Disney Magic which made a maiden voyage to Irish shores last Thursday bringing 3,650 passengers and crew.

Also making an impression in early May was the return call to Dublin Port of MSC Splendida with 4,600 passengers and crew. At 333m the giant ship operated by MSC Cruises is the 11th longest cruiseship in the world and last summer she became the longest vessel ever to visit the capital. Operated by MSC Cruises the ship has also called to Cobh last year and this season.

According to the Chairman of Cruise Europe, Captain Michael McCarthy of Port of Cork Company, the conference represents an opportunity for delegates to nurture long-term relationships, discuss and debate operational issues, regulatory policies, and to explore new ventures and markets. The conference will also be a great opportunity to showcase Ireland to the cruise industry as a destination to all the major cruise lines and service suppliers of the cruise industry worldwide. 

Cruise Europe represents 120 ports and associate members on the continent. The goal of the organisation is to have cruise companies, ports and likely destinations working together in a unified manner to ensure safe and enhanced experiences for cruise passengers.

Dublin Port Company has opened a new state-of-the-art Seafarers’ Centre at Dublin Port following a €500,000 investment in the facility. The new Seafarers’ Centre was unveiled today at an official opening attended by guest of honour, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh, who is also Honorary Admiral of Dublin Port.
The Seafarers’ Centre breathes new life into the site of the old Odlums flour mill. Housed in the former Odlums workers’ canteen, which had been in use up to the mill’s closure in 2012, the Centre now provides a base for vital services to sailors docking in the port, an essential workforce of the city’s economy. Features of the old canteen building such as decking, beams and the original exterior wall have been retained and preserved as part of the new design.
As Dublin Port’s first custom-built Seafarers’ Centre, it will support over 7,500 visiting seafarers a year arriving from all over the world, typically from countries such as India, China, Ukraine, Russia and the Philippines.
In addition to Dublin Port’s €500,000 investment, the International Transport Workers’ Federation has committed €55,000 in funding towards the completion of the Centre, helping to support its role in representing the best interests of transport workers globally.
Features of Dublin Port’s purpose-built Seafarers’ Centre include free Wi-Fi access for sailors to contact family and loved ones while ashore, cooking and dining facilities, and a relaxation and recreation space including a pool table, library and TV den with beanbags.
The new Centre also brings together two long-standing traditions in caring for seafarers in Dublin, the Anglican Mission to Seafarers (The Flying Angel) and the Catholic Apostleship of the Sea (Stella Maris). Both organisations will operate together under one roof at Dublin Port to provide spiritual guidance and friendship to seafarers of all faiths, and those of none. The Flying Angel will relocate to the Seafarers’ Centre from its existing location, while Stella Maris’ presence at the Centre will complement the organisation’s existing operation at its city centre location on Beresford Place.
Ardmhéara Críona Ní Dhálaigh said at the official opening; “I mo cháil oifigiúil mar Ardmhéara agus Aimiréil Oinigh Chalafort Bhaile Átha Cliath, tá an-áthas orm an t-Ionad Mairnéalaigh nua seo a oscailt.
I commend Dublin Port for creating such a welcoming facility for the thousands of seafarers who visit our shores and make a valuable contribution to our city and society. It’s wonderful to see the Catholic Apostleship of the Sea and the Anglican Mission to Seafarers working in tandem to continue their respective traditions of caring for seafarers, and providing these workers with a home from home.”
Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company Eamonn O’Reilly said; “We are delighted to open Dublin Port’s new purpose-built Seafarers’ Centre. It means that Dublin Port can provide sailors working thousands of miles from home with a space to rest, socialise and connect with family and friends under the care of Stella Maris and the Flying Angel. The Centre is a fine example of sustainable development in practice at Dublin Port. Odlums is an iconic part of Dublin Port’s industrial heritage, and that makes today’s opening particularly special.”

Dublin Port today became the first – and only – Irish port of call for Disney Magic on her maiden voyage to Irish shores. The ship’s 3,650 passengers, cast and crew were greeted by an entertainment spectacle on the quayside in Dublin Port. The 300m, 11-deck luxury liner is one of 113 cruise ships scheduled to call at Dublin Port in 2016. Pictured were two characters onboard Disney Magic.  At the same time this morning, the German Liner Mein Schiff 1 has docked off Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

She arrived in the early hours of this morning carrying over 2,700 passengers and 950 cast and crew. The ship’s passengers were greeted by a ‘Game of Thrones’ inspired entertainment spectacle on the quayside in Dublin Port featuring music, drummers, dancers, entertainers, with Irish hounds and handlers.
As passengers disembarked they received a Cruise Dublin Visitor Pass, the new visitor card launched by Cruise Dublin, the Cruise Tourism Development and Marketing agency established to grow Dublin as Ireland’s premier port of choice for cruise. The pass provides special admission to a range of historic, cultural and sporting attractions, as well as incentives to shop and eat out at participating retailers, bars and restaurants in the city.
Dublin is the only Irish port of call for Disney Magic as part of a 12 night transatlantic cruise starting in Port Canaveral, Florida and finishing in Dover, England. The selection by Disney Cruise Line of Dublin as its chosen destination in Ireland highlights Dublin’s growing international reputation as a marquee destination for cruise tourism. Disney Cruise Line now joins a long list of the world’s largest cruise lines choosing to routinely call to Dublin Port. She will visit Dublin Port again on 13th June 2016.
On board, the ship encapsulates the glamour of the golden age of ocean travel. The ship’s Art Deco interior features specially commissioned paintings, sculptures and woodwork, as well as rare animation cells from the Disney archive. Awash with Disney inspired dining, theatre, leisure and entertainment facilities, the cruise line prides itself on offering age-appropriate play spaces and activities to provide everyone from toddlers to late teens with a Disney experience on board.

Pat Ward, Head of Corporate Services at Dublin Port Company, said; “Disney Magic is a spectacular ship and a very welcome sight for the city today. She is one of 113 cruise calls scheduled for Dublin Port this year, and undoubtedly a highlight of the season. Cruise is a dynamic business, and driven by passenger demand. As a result of that demand, we expect this to be Dublin Port’s biggest year on record for cruise. The season now routinely stretches to December, and the type of passengers arriving include younger families and those looking to explore the city unaccompanied. In response to those trends, the new Cruise Dublin Visitor Pass will help passengers make the most of their visit, while helping to support the city’s retailers and tourism offering.”

At 300 metres long, Disney Magic is at the upper limit of Dublin Port’s operational limit on ship length, i.e. able to enter Dublin Port and turn within the River Liffey.

Work has already commenced on the €230m ABR Project which will expand capacity in Dublin Port and will be largely completed in four years. The ABR Project, once complete, will mean that larger ships will be able to routinely call at Dublin Port, turn within the expanded Alexandra Basin West and berth as far upriver as East Link Bridge.

#DisneyDublin - Disney Magic is to be one of the highlights of Dublin Port's cruise season and as the first Irish port to welcome Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of the famous Walt Disney Company, writes Jehan Ashmore.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the call next Thursday of the 300m long Disney Magic, only 33 short of the port's record holder MSC Splendida, will have 3,650 people on board visiting the capital. The 84,000 tonnes cruiseship has a 2,700 passenger capacity and they are accommodated in 875 staterooms. In total there are 11 public decks and a crew of 950.

The call by Disney will represent further confidence by the sector in choosing to make Dublin Port a destination in a season scheduled to bring 180,000 visitors from 113 calls. Of those calls four are turnaround cruises, where cruise-goers travel to the capital to begin their cruise.

The cruiseship was built in 1998 by the Italian yard of Fincantieri and the then newbuild was homeported in Port Canaveral, Florida until transferred to Europe almost a decade ago in 2007.

This led Disney Magic to make a repositioning voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and beyond when based out of Barcelona to embark inaugural cruises in the Mediterranean.

Disney Magic has an appearance that clearly echoes to the era of the trans-Atlanctic liners.

The design of having two funnels and painted in red and topped in black pays homage to liners like Normandie, France (see, large containership/longsest cruiseship). This iconic liner latter became converted into a cruiseship as the Norway, that anchored off Dun Laoghaire in the mid-1990’s.

#WorldsLargest – The World's largest pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) vessel, Höegh Target, with a 14 deck capacity for 8,500 car equivalent units, made another call to Dublin Port today along with a giant cruiseship, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The arrival from Rotterdam of the 76,420 gross tonnes PCTC, is impressive given not just because of the sheer overall size of the leadship of six ‘Horizon’ class Chinese built newbuilds, but also the imposing square shaped upper superstructure at the bow. This compared to a circular conventional car-carrier design, is to maximise additional space to enable a total deck area equal to the size of 10 football fields or 71,400 sqm. Of the 14 decks, five are capable of been 'lifted'. 

It is claimed by Norwegian operator, Höegh Autoliners, that the 12 meter width ramp could easily crowd 75 elephants! on the stern ramp which takes 375 tonnes of cargo weight. The final Horizon class that are Post Panamax vessels, is to be delivered this year and they are each estimated to emit 50 per cent less CO2 per car transported than a standard car carrier.

At 200m in length, Höegh Target is some 89m short of the ‘Grand’ class cruiseship, Caribbean Princess which too is docked in port.

As reported today, the 19 deck Caribbean Princess with more than 3,000 passenger capacity called from Cobh, Cork Harbour and is berthed at Ocean Pier. While on the other side of the pier is where Höegh Target docked within Alexandra Basin east.

Both vessels present a temporary high-rise environment on the port estate, where such large vessels are increasing in number to the port. This has led to the Dublin Port Company’s ABR project costing €277m, the largest single capital investment project in the port for 200 years.

The ABR is to permit very large ships with even deeper drafts following major dredging, to dock inside the port.

#CaribbeanCall - Caribbean Princess of 112,894 tonnes sailed overnight from Cobh, Cork Harbour and made a very early arrival call of 03.30 to Dublin Port this morning, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The Princess Cruises call follows that of another giant MSC Splendida of 137,936 tonnes that made a recent return to the port following a debut to Dublin last season. This year is a record breaking season with 113 calls scheduled and bringing around 180,000 visitors.

At 289m Caribbean Princess may not be the longest ever cruiseship to dock in Dublin Port as demonstrated by the 333m MSC Splendida with up to 4,600 passengers. Today's call of the impressive 'Caribbean' that towers 19 decks alongside Ocean Pier, is one more deck higher than the 'Fantasia' class MSC Splendida.

The 3,142 capacity Caribbean Princess is one of the most frequent class of cruiseships to visit Dublin Port over the last decade. In 2004 the ‘Grand’ class leadship, Grand Princess made an inaugural call which then broke the port record as the first cruiseship to exceed 100,000 gross tonnes.

Princess Cruises is operated by the world’s largest cruise company, the US based Carnival Corporation which among its other subsidiaries includes P&O Cruises. Last year their 700 passenger Adonia called to Cobh last year.

Under a new brand ‘fathom’ the Adonia, made a historic call to Havana, Cuba this month, the first US cruise ship to visit the country in almost four decades.

#FuelPipeline - A controversial €20m aviation fuel pipeline proposed by a developer, planned to stretch from Dublin Port to Dublin Airport, must indemnify Dublin City Council against any environmental damage caused by accidents on the line.

The Herald writes that this was one of 33 conditions laid down by An Bord Pleanala in granting planning permission for the 14km project.

Residents living along the route of the proposed line had raised concerns over its safety and possible environmental impact.

The pipeline runs through Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council territory. Both councils granted permission for it to go ahead last year.

While the Fingal decision wasn’t appealed to An Bord Pleanala, appeals were lodged against the decision of Dublin City Council by residents.

For more on the story, click here.

#LargeContainership - One of the largest ever containerships in recent years docked in Dublin Port on the same day of the longest cruiseship to call to the capital, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Afloat.ie has in recent weeks been monitoring CMA CGM Shipping’s containership Nicolas Delmas, with a capacity of 2,207(TEU) twenty foot-long equivalent units, which on Tuesday had discharged and loaded at Peel Ports operated MTL terminal in Ringsend. See, Maersk Line’s new Seago Line route: UK-Ireland-Spain (Algeciras: hubport) for Med/ North African ports.

The call of Nicolas Delmas provided an ideal opportunity to visit Dublin Port where on the opposite side of the port, MSC Cruises giant cruiseship MSC Splendida at 333m long had berthed. This was was the second successive season to the capital by the 4,600 passenger capacity ship.   

CMA-CGM's rotation of Nicolas Delmas is operated in a butterfly loop with the Windhoek, 1,577(TEU) on the FAS Irish Sea Feeder service that began in 2003. In fact, Windhoek is due to arrive this evening from Liverpool. Normally the rotation involves the following ports: Antwerp, Southampton, Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast, Greenock, Le Havre and then a return to Antwerp.

The Marsaille based CMA-CGM was formed in 1996 following a merger between Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM). The latter partner, CGM had previously run a ‘liner’ side of the business with the famous classic liners 'France' and ‘Normandie’.

In the case of MSC Cruises, they are a parent company of Geneva based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that continues likewise of rivals CCM-CGM, in the operation of very large containerships fleets on global networks.

At the top of this massive global business is the Maersk Group, which operates the world’s largest container shipping company through subsidiary Maersk Line. Recently the operator launched a new direct Cuba-Cork-continental Europe service.

So it was interesting to witness the contrasting shipping sectors from Dublin's East-Link toll-lift bridge. Also on that day President Higgins in a ceremony unveiled a plaque as the bridge is now named the 'Tom Clarke Bridge'. The bascule bridge completed in 1984 is the final river-crossing between the Liffey and the main port area leading out to the sea. 

#1916bridge - President Michael D Higgins unveiled a plaque to ‘Tom Clarke Bridge’ officially now the name to Dublin’s East-Link toll-lift bridge which is the last road crossing over the Liffey before meeting the sea, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The bridge name honours the memory of Tom Clarke, one of the chief organisers of the 1916 Rising and the first signatory of the Proclamation. The unveiling ceremony by the President accompanied by his wife Sabrina, took place on the Ringsend side of the bridge and coincided with the centenary this day 100 years ago of his execution along with Patrick Pearce and Thomas MacDonagh at Kilmainham Jail (Gaol). The State will commemorate all the other executions of the Leaders of the 1916 Rising up to 12 May.

According to Dublin City Council which took control of the bridge last year, there say there are no records of the bridge having been previously named. So for more than 30 years the bridge has been simply known as the ‘East-Link’ or ‘Toll-bridge’ taking traffic, mostly commuting motorists and port-related freight vehicles.

Completed in 1984, the bascule bridge forms a critical part of the capitals road infrastructure and a lifting span (45 metres wide) to permit vessels to pass to and fro between the main port and upriver to the city-centre. The process of raising and closing the span takes 3 minutes.

The last large vessels to transit through the bridge before today’s naming ceremony were a trio of Belgian Navy vessels that departed the capital following a visit over the May bank holiday weekend.

For today's proceedings to take place involving relatives of the 1916 leader, city officials and dignitaries, the bridge was ironically closed to both road and shipping traffic. This caused the most frequent boat user of the bridge, St.Bridget of Dublin Bay Cruises not able to carry out morning cruises. This would of seen the former Aran Islands and Inishbofin ferry berth upriver at Sir John Rogersons Quay.

In terms of the last most frequent Irish flagged commercial shipping to sail past the raised bridge span, that fell to the ‘Guinness’ ships, The Lady Patricia and Miranda Guinness. These purpose-built stout tankers plied the Irish Sea between Dublin and the Mersey and from there onto the Manchester Ship Canal.