The ro-pax Dublin Seaways made a last crossing with a Saturday morning arrival at Birkenhead. After disembarking passengers, vehicles and freight traffic, the 21,856grt vessel immediately departed the Mersey for a short-term deployment on the company's North Sea Rosyth-Zeebrugge service.

Sistership, Liverpool Seaways also completed her last crossing to Birkenhead with an overnight Saturday sailing. This was the final scheduled sailing under DFDS Seaways ownership and marked the last foot-passenger crossing on the Liverpool route as rival operators P&O (Irish Sea) and Seatruck Ferries do not cater for this market.

The vessel returned to Dublin yesterday from Birkenhead; this was to facilitate the loading of drop-trailers and terminal based tugmasters (engine-driven truck/cabs) that tow unaccompanied trailers on the roll-on roll-off vessels. After a short turn around at the terminal, Liverpool Seaways departed Dublin, bound for Immingham. The UK east coast port is where DFDS operate an extensive freight route network across the North Sea.

The ro-pax Liverpool Seaways and freight-ferry Anglia Seaways berthed in Dublin Port yesterday prior to sailing away from the Irish Sea. Photo Jehan Ashmore / ShipSNAPS

In addition the 13,704grt Anglia Seaways also docked in Dublin yesterday from Heysham to perform similar duties like the Liverpool Seaways. Several hours later, the 114-trailer capacity vessel set a southbound course past The Muglins, bound for Avonmouth.

DFDS cited its decision to exit entirely from Irish Sea sector due to the sharp decline in the Irish and UK economies in 2008 and 2009. The company suffered continuous losses on its remaining routes and the issue of over-capacity, particularly on the north Irish Sea.

Only last December, the Danish owned shipping operator sold its other two Irish Sea routes to Stena Line in a £40m acquisition deal. This is all the more remarkable considering DFDS Seaways purchased the previous route operator, Norfolkline's Irish Sea division of their four routes and seven vessels, in July 2010.

The sale to Stena covered the three terminals used on the Belfast routes to Birkenhead and Heysham, which is another freight-only service. In addition the acquisition involved the sale of the South Korean built freight-ferries Hibernia Seaways and Scotia Seaways; like the Anglia Seaways they were all former Norfolkline / Maersk Line vessels.

Interestingly the acquisition is to include the purchase of the chartered 27,510grt ro-pax sisters Lagan Seaways and Mersey Seaways. When the Visentini built sisters were completed at the Italian shipyard, they were placed on the Belfast-Birkenhead route in 2005.

On 1 December Stena Line UK Ltd acquired DFDS Seaways Irish Sea Ferries Ltd (since renamed Stena Line Irish Ferries Ltd). Although the acquisition of SL ISF by Stena Line has been completed and DFDS no longer owns SL ISF, Stena Line await formal approval from the Irish competition authority and the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to integrate SL ISF into the wider Stena Line business.

In the meantime during this transitional period, it is business as usual for customers using the Belfast-Birkenhead and Belfast-Heysham routes. Online bookings continue to be accepted on www.dfdsseaways.com or tel: (01) 819 2999 and in the UK tel: 0871 230 033

The following ferry and  cruise operators are exhibiting at the show: Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Celtic Link Ferries, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Cruise Holidays, Travel.ie, Hurtigruten, John Galligan Travel, MSC Cruises, Princess Cruise Lines, Pullmantur Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Saga, Silversea Cruises, Thomas Cook and Voyages To Antiquity.

Also exhibiting is Emerald Star for those interested in taking a cabin-cruiser holiday on the Shannon.

For opening times of Holiday World Show (incorporating the Caravan & Motor Home Show) see below

Friday 28 January 1.00 pm - 8.00 pm 

Saturday 29 January 11.00 am - 5.30 pm

Sunday 30 January 11.00 am - 5.30 pm

For a full listing of exhibitors, ticket prices and further information about the show logon to www.holidayworldshow.com

At the second award ceremony, the company was again called to the podium to receive their 'Best Ferry' Company Award at the inaugural Irish Travel Awards, hosted by the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA). The award was voted by staff from travel agents throughout the country and the ceremony was attended by 500 guests at the Mansion House.

"Our staff can be doubly proud of their achievement – the first time that any ferry company has taken two top awards on the same day." commented Tony Kelly, Irish Ferries marketing director.

In both of the awards, the ferry company won against competition from UK and Continental ferry companies operating on services in and out of Ireland. Irish Ferries operate on two Irish Sea routes between Dublin-Holyhead and Rosslare-Pembroke Dock. In addition on the direct continental routes to France between Rosslare to Cherbourg and to Roscoff during the high season. For information about Irish Ferries logon to www.irishferries.com

Reservations Office Ireland : +353 (0) 21 4378892

Open Monday - Friday 9.00 am - 5.30 pm

Reservations Office UK: 0844 576 8831

Open Monday - Thursday 8.00 am - 8.00 pm

Open Friday 8.00 am - 7.00 pm

Open Saturday and Sunday 9.00 am - 6.00pm

The Bursary programme is a work experience scheme aimed at undergraduates of Universities, Institutes of Technology and National Institutes for Higher Education. The Bursary Scheme is strictly limited to undergraduates who have completed 2 years study in a relevant discipline. Below is a description of the positions and other details.

IMDO – Maritime Economics (2)

Two students are required to provide direct assistance in the key programmes of the Irish Maritime Development Office. The key programme areas include Business Development and Shipping Market Analysis supported by a strategic marketing programme. Two students will be required to co-ordinate research on market and economic issues in the Irish maritime industry and analyse data on competitor maritime jurisdictions.

The successful students will gain a broad knowledge of the maritime industry, international trade, maritime finance, and national shipping development. They will also gain a valuable insight into the national and international maritime transport sector and associated business services, along with experience in collating information and critical analysis.

The student should have good communication and analytical skills. An interest in international trade, business, economics or shipping and logistics is desirable but not essential. The student should be able to work independently and also as part of a team. The bursary will be based in MI-Harcourt Street.

For further information on the busary scheme you can download a PDF file from here and also download a PDF application form here. In addition information in general about the IMDO can be found by logging onto www.imdo.ie and the Marine Institute at www.marine.ie

The following ferry, cruise and specialist travel companies exhibiting at the Belfast venue are: DFDS Seaways (formerly Norfolkline), Celebrity Cruises, Complete Cruise Solution, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Cunard, Norwegian Cruise Line, P&O, Princess, Pullmantur Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Seabourn, Silverseas Cruises, The Cruise Machine (trading as Vamos Holidays) and Voyages To Antiquity.

On the following weekend, The Holiday World Show in association with The Sunday Times will be held on 28, 29 and 30 January at the RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin, which incorporates the Caravan & Motor Home Show.

Like the Belfast show The World World Show in Dublin will have numerous exhibitors with worldwide destinations and all types of holidays on show. The following ferry, cruise and specialist travel operators will be exhibiting: Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Celtic Link Ferries, Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Cruise Holidays, Travel.ie, Hurtigruten, John Galligan Travel, MSC Cruises, Princess Cruise Lines, Pullmantur Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Saga, Silversea Cruises, Thomas Cook and Voyages To Antiquity. Also at the show will be Emerald Star for those interested in taking a cabin-cruiser holiday on the Shannon.

Visitors to the Holiday World Show Dublin can attend cruise talks hosted by the Eoghan Corry Free Expert Clinics during the three-day long show. For a full listing of exhibitors, ticket prices, opening hours and further information about both shows logon to www.holidayworldshow.com

The work is part of a Dublin City Council project to evaluate an extension at the Ringsend plant where treated water will be released into the bay. The council are conducting detailed feasibility studies which will be examined for an Environmental Impact Assessment.

To date the project has involved two other rigs, the Aran 250 and the larger Excalibur which remains in the bay. The barges will be towed to 20 pre-determined bore-hole locations in the bay where the jack-up rig barges operate 'legs' to sit on the seabed which enables a steady working platform. The rigs are operating on a continuous basis in an area covering most of Dublin Bay and close to the Burford Bank on the eastern fringes.

In addition a buoy will be positioned 300-metres of the barge during drill operations, which is expected to take approximately one week for each drill. For information on the location of the bore-holes, they can viewed from the Dublin Port website by clicking HERE The project is expected to be completed in late Spring.

Several support craft are engaged in the project that recently included the Seabed Worker, a 3,923 gross tonnes Norwegian anchor-handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) the tugs Multratug 7, MTS Valiant and Trojan and the RIB-craft sisters, Brian Boru and James Joyce which are on standby duties. Like the Trojan, the 12-seater RIBS are based at the Poolbeg Yacht Club Marina where in the tourist season the craft provide excursions in Dublin Bay for Sea Safari Tours. In October the project also required the services of the yellow-hulled catamaran, Xplorer to carry out a bathymetric survey of Dublin Bay. The larger tugs and rigs are based opposite in Alexandra Basin / Ocean Pier.

The largest drill-rig working to date on the project, the Excalibur arrived under the tow of the Multratug 7 on a misty morning on Christmas Day. Due to the weather conditions the red-hulled craft slipped quietly into the port. Several days later the imposing looking craft re-emerged with its six-towering jack-up 'sea-legs' that jutted skywards into an otherwise horizontal expanse of Dublin Bay.

The sight of the rig has presented many onlookers to mistakenly believe the drilling was for oil!...Not so but the assumption is not surprising given the reports last year of an oil-field discovery named the Dalkey Island Prospect. The name for the oil-field was referred to Dalkey, as the coastal suburb on the southern shores is the nearest landfall to the exploratory well sites at the Kish Bank Basin.

In fact this kind of exploratory activity was again to confuse residents throughout the bay when the drill-ship, Fugro Synergy was offshore at the Kish Bank between December 2009 and early Spring of 2010. Though on this occasion the search was not for oil but coal!

During this period the 5,200 tonnes vessel equipped with a drill-tower, seemed to be a near permanent feature on the horizon. A series of drill-wells up to 3,500-metres were conducted when the 2009 built ship was contracted to Irish based VP Power Ltd, to determine the commercial viability of extracting coal from the sea for generating electricity. The Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) project is a process where coal is heated in underwater rock reservoirs to extract gas, essentially converting gas-from-coal energy. Otherwise this method is commonly referred to as a 'clean' technology.

In addition to last year's search for deposits of large coal seams under the seabed, there was reports of a significant natural resource in the form of oil!... when several exploratory blocks again in the Kish Bank Basin were surveyed. The company behind this venture, Provident Resources, another Irish based exploration company, conducted initial oil surveys using air-born craft and as such no actual drill-based ships or rigs were used. Though should any oil flow, such an operation would be required.

Incidentally the Excalibur is designed also to perform offshore wind turbine installation work and is equipped with a 250-ton crane to hoist the wind-farm components. The vessel is operated by Fugro Seacore, a subsidiary of the Dutch parent company, Fugro, which also managed the drill-ship Fugro Synergy.

Maritime Management is seeking a Crew Manager for their fleet of bulk, reefer and exploration vessels. Previous experience in a similar role is important. The position requires English as the working language but if you are multi-lingual, especially Russian, this will be an advantage. All applicants must have an EU working entitlement. For further information and contact details logon HERE.

In 2002 Maritime Management was founded and is a supplier of services to the international maritime and shipping industry in Ireland, particularly those companies who are looking at Ireland as a base for their maritime operations. The company's primary services are ship management, maritime consultancy and marine surveying.

For further information about Maritime Management logon to www.bmml.ie

Seatruck Ferries, the only Irish Sea ferry company, dedicated solely to the carriage of freight, are looking to appoint a Group Operations Manager. The position is based in their Heysham office in Cumbria. In addition the appointment would require regular travel to Seatruck's other terminals on both sides of the north Irish Sea.

The company operates the Dublin-Liverpool, Warrenpoint-Heysham and Heysham-Larne routes which are served by an eight-strong fleet. In recent years four Spanish built newbuilds were commissioned into service on the Dublin-Liverpool and Warrenpoint-Heysham routes. Each newbuild has a 120 freight unit capacity.The remaining four vessels where built in 1998 and they can each handle 65 freight units.

Seatruck's Dublin Port operations is located at the Alexandra Basin terminal close to the East-Link Toll-Lift Bridge and the Point Village.

To find out more about the vacancy (including PDF) logon HERE and in general about the company click www.seatruckferries.com The closing date for applications is 31 January.

In total the National Roads Authority (NRA) will have 25,000 tonnes of salt available during the Christmas week, with 3,000 tonnes distributed to authorities on a daily basis. As a priority the salt will be used to grit the national primary network.  

The second bout of artic conditions that has gripped the country with temperatures plummeting to -17 degrees in the west and -15 degrees is forecast tonight in the north-west. Further snowfalls are also due in various regions tonight and with sub-zero temperatures expected to last up to St. Stephens Day. As such the demand for salt supplies has soared resulting in shipments sourced from overseas countries to include Turkey and Egypt.

CFL Prospect (see video-clip here) is owned by the Dutch shipping company, Kees Koolhof which since 2006 has built up a fleet of modern vessels to trade in the short-sea sector. The 2007 built vessel is one of nine Jumbo 6500s from a series completed by the Peters Shipyard at Krampen.

For the latest NRA's road weather stations logon here in addition to weather forecasts from www.met.ie