Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Belfast Dry Dock

A Maltese flagged oil/chemical tanker which required emergency repairs is at the shipyard of Harland & Wolff, Belfast having arrived earlier this month, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 127m red hulled tanker, Songa Crystal called to Belfast Lough on 8 January and is from a fleet of chemical, crude and product tankers. Afloat.ie has identified the tanker is part of Songa Shipholding, of the Blystad Group which owns the vessel and technically is managed by division, Songa Shipmanagement Ltd, based in Paisley, Scotland.

Once in the fairway in Belfast, Songa Crystal proceeded to H&W’s Belfast Dry-Dock, the smaller of two dry-docks at the marine engineering facility located on Queens Island.

Emergency repairs took place of the 12,927 deadweight tonnes (dwt) tanker which has Panama as a port and registry and was built in 2006 by Samho Shipbuilding, in Masan, South Korea.

During dry-docking of the 18 year-old tanker which has had two previous names, has seen the H&W team involved in extensive cleaning and replacing works to both the engine room. This has also applied to the fuel tanks and to the port and starboard side shells.

According to H&W, they have been liaising closely with the ship's staff, ships superintendent and classification society, which has led to efficiency that has enabled progress with the steel repair process.

This was to ensure that the Songa Crystal will be fully operational as soon as possible, as the tanker it is understood, is to depart this week to rejoin the 21 strong fleet, which ranges up to 25,000dwt.

Published in Shipyards

SB20 (formerly Laser SB3) information

Designed by Tony Castro, the SB20 is a British-built strict one-design 6.15m keelboat conceived as a wide appeal, affordable, competitive sportsboat for teams of three or four sailors. It is also, arguably, the most successful sportsboat in the world with 800 owners competing regularly in a programme of exciting local, national and international events.

Originally known as the Laser SB3, the SB20 continues to deliver on its pioneering promise: a boat that is fun, fast and easy to sail by anyone of any age; the best value-for-money sportsboat in the market.

The Laser SB3 was designed by Castro and launched in 2002. In 2007 the Laser SB3 was awarded ISAF Recognised Status and the first World Championships were held in Ireland in 2008. In 2012, Tony Castro appointed a new builder, Sportsboat World. At this time, the Laser SB3 was renamed the SB20 and building was returned to the UK from Malaysia. The ethos of the class continues.

The boat is a strict one-design class, economic to buy and campaign, easy to sail with a simple deck layout and electric downwind performance delivered by the generous sail plan. The boat has a lifting keel, can easily be launched from a slipway and towed behind a family car.

Previous SB20 World Champions

2008 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Roger Gilbert, Roz Allen & Sarah Allan

Host National Yacht Club, Dun laoghaire, Ireland

2009 GBR: Craig Burlton, Stephen White, Adam Heeley

Host Clube Naval de Cascais, Cascais, Portugal

2010 GBR: Jerry Hill, Grant Rollerson, Joe Llewellyn

Host Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy

2011 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Andy Ramus, Ian Mills & Emma Clarke

Host Royal Torbay Yacht Club, Torquay, UK

2012 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Lesley Dhonau, Roger Hudson & Asenathi Jim

Host Hamilton Island Yacht Club, Queensland, Australia

2013 GRB: Craig Burlton, Stephen White, Adam Heley Host COYCH Club, Hyeres, France