Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Fishguard Port

#FerryNews - An estimated 3,000 fewer vehicles travelled from Ireland to Fishguard in south Wales in the first quarter of the year.

UK Government figures seen by the County Echo reveal the number of vehicles travelling from Rosslare to Fishguard fell by 24% – or by around 3,000 vehicles – compared with the corresponding period for 2017.

Stena Line say the fall in the amount of incoming traffic at Fishguard Port for the first quarter of the year was due to essential maintenance.

A Stena Line spokesperson said: “The first quarter of 2018 saw a number of Stena Line vessels go into dry dock for scheduled maintenance, resulting in reduced services at Fishguard Port with an expected impact on our volumes for this period.”

Published in Ferry
Tagged under

#FerryNews- Operator Stena Line continues to remain committed to the Fishguard-Rosslare ferry route, Welsh county councillors have been assured.

Capt Ian Davies, Stena Line’s trade director for the Irish Sea, told councillors Kevin Doolin and Myles Pepper that the company enjoyed a “positive trading position” and “excellent forward bookings” for the summer season.

He was responding to local concerns about the future of Fishguard Port after the County Echo revealed that Stena had scrapped plans for a new £5m linkspan.

The move was seen as a blow to hopes of developing the port by attracting larger vessels.

The two councillors subsequently met with Capt Davies to share in a discussion on Stena’s decision to not proceed with the linkspan project in the short term.

For more on the story from County Echo, click here. 

Published in Ferry

The Rankin Dinghy of Cobh, Cork Harbour 

A Rankin is a traditional wooden dinghy which was built in Cobh, of which it’s believed there were 80 and of which The Rankin Dinghy Group has traced nearly half. 

The name of the Rankin dinghies is revered in Cork Harbour and particularly in the harbourside town of Cobh.

And the name of one of those boats is linked to the gunboat which fought against the Irish Volunteers during the 1916 Easter Rising and later for the emergent Irish Free State Government against anti-Treaty Forces during the Irish Civil War.

It also links the renowned boat-building Rankin family in Cobh, one of whose members crewed on the gunboat.

Maurice Kidney and Conor English are driving the restoration of the Rankin dinghies in Cork Harbour. They have discovered that Rankins were bought and sailed in several parts of the country.