#ArklowNewBULKER – Arklow Shipping Ltd's newest and largest bulk-carrier Arklow Spray is currently heading along the Western Scheldt leading to Antwerp, having departed Liverpool's Gladstone Dock lock mid-week, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Arklow Spray which was berthed at Liverpool's Royal Seaforth Container Terminal (See Liverpool2) , was delivered this year to ASL having been launched last year from South Korean shipbuilders.

The 34,919dwt ship principle dimensions are length: 182m, beam 30m on a draft of 10m. She has a grain capacity of almost 47,000m3 and engine output delivers 14 knots.

She is the second of the 'S' class following Arklow Spirit which was launched last year also from the same Asian shipyard of Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering.

Departing Liverpool this morning, another Arklow bulk-carrier, the 2004 built Arklow Wind, one of the 'W' class bulk-carriers, had shared the Gladstone Dock lock with P&O Ferries Norbank, one of three ro-pax ferries serving the Dublin route.

As for the Arklow Wind she is bound for the jetty at Aughinish Alumina on the Shannon Estuary.

Across the Irish Sea in Dublin Port are even more Arklow vessels, the 2009 built bulk-carrier Arklow Manor which is berthed at Alexandra Basin West and also nearby the smaller short-sea general cargoship Arklow Future.

All three bulk-carriers represent a succession of vessel designs and ships that entered service just over a decade ago and all are Irish flagged and registered in their owner's homeport of Arklow.

Arklow Shipping have a healthy track history of constantly replacing older tonnage with newbuilds.

As previously reported six 'B' class 'greener' multi-purpose general cargo-ships are on order from Ferus Smit shipyard's Dutch facility in Westerbroek which launched Arklow Bay last month.

Unlike her bulk-carrier counterparts, she is part of ASL's Dutch division, Arklow Shipping Netherland based in Rotterdam, the port of registry of her sister leadship Arklow Bank.