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Displaying items by tag: Offshore Renewables

Marine renewables sector in south-west Wales, is to High Speed Tranfers Marine, an offshore vessel company, expand into Pembrokeshire after recognising the opportunities of the sector in the region.

HST Marine provides solutions in shipping, vessel management and chartering to industries throughout Europe from their headquarters in Swansea.

After learning at an industry event last year of the £60m Pembroke Dock Marine project,  they now occupy an office and warehouse space in the heart of the development at Pembroke Port (see ferry deal) where they will be storing crew transfer vessels, RHIBs and workboats.

Site modifications are planned at Pembroke Port to create a modern port capable of delivering the needs of the marine energy and engineering sectors, including a deep-water slipway. Forming part of the ports' project as alluded, it will create the right conditions for job creation, skills development, supply chain resilience and economic growth.

CEO at HST Marine, Tom Nevin, sees this as a huge opportunity for Pembrokeshire. “Projects such as the Pembroke Dock Marine port infrastructure changes are crucial to HST’s current and long-term business plans. In order to expand, grow and compete with international companies, these types of projects are incredibly important and will help us to establish ourselves in south Wales” he said.

Tim James, Head of Commercial and Energy at the Port, has welcomed the team, commenting “HST Marine are bringing credible expertise and equipment to the growing cluster of specialists attracting year-round, well-paid employment opportunities into our community. Businesses like HST are recognising that Pembroke Dock, in particular, has the potential to play a major part in Wales’ aspiration to meet net zero targets and we must evolve our assets to meet their needs and those of future generations.”

Pembroke Dock Marine is funded by the Swansea Bay City Deal, the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, and through private investment.

Published in Power From the Sea

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.