Displaying items by tag: Transfennica

30th May 2014

New Spain-UK-Belgium Ro-Ro Freight Service

#NewSpainUKfreight -Transfennica, the Dutch based freight operator, have recently started a new twice-weekly freight service from northern Spain to include a call to UK before an onward arrival in Belgium.

The new 'triangular' starts from Bilbao via Portsmouth, giving customers a direct connection and faster transit times from Spain to the UK and the added benefit of onward connections to Zeebrugge, before the service returns to Iberia.

Stena Forecaster (as pictured above in the English Channel) and a sister Stena Forerunner are ro-ro vessels with a capacity for 100 trailers, 150 double-stacked containers and 12 drivers.

The 24,688grt sisters both built in 2003, were recently required to server the Belgium-Spain-UK network.

On the Tuesday and Friday evening sailings from Bilbao will call Portsmouth on Thursdays at 06.00 hrs and on Sundays at 07.00 hrs.

When freight is unloaded in the UK, containers will be loaded as well as unaccompanied trailer units will be boarded bound for Zeebrugge.

This will enable clients to make efficient combinations in Portsmouth by dropping off empty or loaded units for Zeebrugge and/or Bilbao.

Customers now have the option to ship a substantial part of their Thursday and Friday collections during the weekend and to deliver all over the UK by Sunday evening/Monday morning.

There is also the added advantage that driver accompanied operators from the South West of England can use this route to Belgium.

As well as 12 driver accompanied, unaccompanied and containers, the direct service to Portsmouth is perfectly suited for out of gauge, heavy, mafi, project and hazardous cargo. In January, Transfennica replaced two smaller chartered vessels for the 'Stena' pair.

Martin Putman, Port Manager of Portsmouth International Port comments: "We welcome this initiative from Transfennica which has already established its credentials in the Spanish unaccompanied market. This new service will give freight customers using Portsmouth even greater choice and we look forward to developing this trade.

Eric de Wit, Director of Transfennica explains: "We believe the market is ready for an unaccompanied solution connecting Spain, the UK and Belgium. This will allow transport companies to efficiently use their own trucks in the UK and use the Portsmouth to Zeebrugge sailing to balance their cargo flows. The availability of other sailings, both in Portsmouth as well as in Zeebrugge, increases flexibility and efficiency. We are confident that we are introducing a service that the market needs."

Transfennica is part of the Spliethoff Group, one of the largest ship owners in the Netherlands.

The new service will compete with another newcomer, LD Lines whose freight services also provides for passengers on routes from the UK and northern Spain. In addition, Brittany Ferries which run services also from UK south coast ports to northern Spain.

Published in Ferry

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‘Proposed’ Cork-Spain Route Remains Under Review

The Port of Cork Company has announced that it is unlikely that the proposed new ferry service to Spain will commence in March, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The port authority has advised those waiting to book their holidays on the planned Cork-Gijón route, instead go ahead and make a booking with other ferry operators.

Existing Cork based ferry services are provided by Fastnet Line to Swansea, with the first outward bound sailing from Cork on 5 March. The port also serves the continent with a Brittany Ferries outbound seasonal sailing on the Roscoff route resuming on 2 April.

In addition to services running out of Rosslare operated by Celtic Link Ferries and Irish Ferries and the alternative option of landbridge connections to Europe via the UK.

In the meantime, the Port of Cork will continue to be in dialogue with potential operators and investor's, however in the current climate it is proving more challenging to establish the service. Yet both the port authorities in Cork and Gijon remain committed in establishing the first direct Irish-Iberia passenger ferry route, with an update on the Spanish service due in early June.

Since 2008 the port authorities of Cork and Gijón, through the Promotion of Short Sea Shipping and Co-Operation with Small Medium Enterprise's (Proppose) an EU Inter-Reg project, have conducted feasibility studies into the service.

Interest in the service to date, has shown interest from Brittany Ferries, P&O Ferries and Transfennica, a Scandinavian based operator. It was envisaged that a ro-pax type of vessel would operate the 24-hour route to Gijón in Asturias, the region which forms part of Spain's northern 'Green' coast.

The route across the Bay of Biscay would be an attraction to freight hauliers, saving mileage and reduced fuel costs in addition avoiding a weekend ban to trucks travelling through France.

Last summer the ro-pax Norman Bridge started a new route between Nantes / St. Nazaire (Montoir-de-Bretagne) and Gijón, operated by GLD Atlantique. This route received support through the EU 'Motorways of the Seas' (MOS) programme to divert vehicle traffic from congested road-infrastructure and transferred to designated shipping routes, using larger and faster ro-pax vessels.

The route's opening was marked with a declaration signed by Dominique Bussereau, the French Minister of State responsible for Transport and his Spanish counterpart Magdalena Alvarez of the first of two Franco-Spanish MOS concept routes, starting with the 14-hour GLD Atlantique service.

Published in Ferry

National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

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