Maritime News Thread

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122962735#Comment_122962735

Think there's three - IOM Steam Packet have one almost in the city, then there's Bootle where the Stena freight ferry to Dublin goes from and Birkenhead where the Belfast ferries go from

Vic_08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122962830#Comment_122962830

Stena only use the Birkenhead terminal which they have on long term lease. There are 2 linkspans at Birkenhead but they are capacity constrained by the size of the port area for freight and cars, they had already leased extra land to extend this but it hasn't been completed yet.

The Bootle facility was used by P&O before they were evicted, Peel Ports quickly announced some non-shipping development for the area so it may well now be incapable of taking ro-ro traffic. There is also the size of ships able to be accommodated there as it is accessed through locks.

Ben My Chree will be running a daily freight only rotation Dublin - Heysham for Stena from tomorrow.

Sea truck from Dublin also use Heysham. They are probably the biggest operator on that route but freight only

mikewest

Does anybody know if Irish Ferries are actually doing anything to increase sailings on the Irish sea considering they managed to shut down Holyhead and lose 4 large ferry crossings per day? 2 sailings per day from South Wales to Rosslare isn't going to cut it. They appear to be sitting around with their thumb up their arse while Stena have got some kind of plan.

Is it possible for them to pull the Dublin Swift out of winter storage considering it uses a different terminal in Holyhead or it gone for maintenance/repairs? As far as I know it's sitting up in Barrow in Furness.

AndyBoBandy

for the rest of this week there’s maybe only 1 day the Swift could sail…

mikewest

Fair enough, they've done enough damage in blustery weather recently

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122964207#Comment_122964207

IF didn't shut down Holyhead.

The port operators could have said our dolphins are not strong enough port closed.

IF are not just sitting around, they are losing their shirt and possibly contracts to other companies.

There are no berths available -yet- but you can be sure they are trying.

This isn't airports and aeroplanes where most things are interchangeable. Almost every berth and ship is significantly different.

I'm sure somebody in IF has thought of putting the swift into service.

Maybe Swift is in the plan if HH is confirmed shut for the longer term.

mikewest

I was being somewhat sarcastic in saying they closed Holyhead - although it was apparently the wash from one of their thrusters that pushed over a bit of infrastructure. Doesn't say much for the strength of the Dolphins or says a lot for the power of their ferry. Just getting bloody frustrated with the whole mess.

Odelay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122964207#Comment_122964207

A complete lack of understanding and critical thinking there.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122962129#Comment_122962129

SL have just announced that they are chartering an Isle of Man ferry for another Dublin to Liverpool sailing. Surely a sign that they as the Holyhead port operator know it won’t reopen for a long time.

IF still not announcing anything from their side. Just the one single ferry ploughing away from roslare to wales.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122964552#Comment_122964552

SL seem to hold all the aces in terms of berths, boats etc.

This won't be good as this is going to eventually hit us all in the pocket.

If there's a dominant player in the market, that means even higher prices.

Red Silurian

Has anybody sail-railing over the next 2 weeks heard anything form Irish Ferries. One would think the smart thing to do is to use Fishguard or Pembroke stations

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965486#Comment_122965486

That's what they are doing,, however I'm pretty sure Irish Ferries 2 largest ship (Ulysses & WB. Yeats) cannot operate out of Fishguard & Pembroke.. They are now operating Dublin - Cherbourg

Kiwi John

I would say that getting the repairs done might be the easy bit.

Getting the port workers to stand on that when they had to jump for there lives might be the hard bit.

Not made with hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965626#Comment_122965626

I'm thinking they will need to go for a full rebuild.

Maybe in the short term open one of the disused berths.

That's the saving grace really. There is an existing berth that can be put back in use, even if it's only for the smaller ferries.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965589#Comment_122965589

Looking at google maps Pembroke is 5-7hrs from London Euston and Fishguard doesn't have a train station. Also the lines to Holyhead and Fishguard have different operators

Gonna be fun times ahead unless they turn to Stena and book IF customers on to Stena ships

josip

I'm slightly concerned about my usual Swift 08:00 sailing in June :|

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966689#Comment_122966689

Fishguard Harbour station is right in the ferry terminal.

DOCARCH

No real surprise. HH to remain closed until January 15th 'at the earliest'. Reported on RTE.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966750#Comment_122966750

Thanks, didn't see that… How did I come to the conclusion that it's closed I don't know… Long day haha!

afatbollix

Is there any engineering blogs or anyone done some analysts of why they can’t use the other slip way?

Just trying to understand what has happened to get the whole thing condemned.

Tabnabs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965589#Comment_122965589

Stena are routing the Adventurer into Fishguard currently. If she can fit in, Irish Ferries will fit any of their ships in there also.

mikewest

And Isle of Inisfree is heading for Dublin rather than waiting to switch back for Pembroke so have Irish Ferries got themselves another ferry port?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966864#Comment_122966864

The catwalk structure is all basically one structure. The metalwork may be damaged from the section that collapsed. Additionally, the actual concrete dolphins that they're built on may have more damage than just the one that gave way.

Nobody outside of Stena and any contractors is going to have exact details on the failure yet though.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966864#Comment_122966864

While it looks like only one spur collapsed, my guess is that it wasn't a glancing blow from the first IF ferry but a full on blow during the storm, possibly did enough damage that it also shifted other parts of the jetty, not enough to collapse yet but enough to create a risk of future collapse. Remember the spur didnt collapse immediately after the first IF blow, it collapsed later when a later IF ferry was leaving.

Tabnabs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122965589#Comment_122965589

Actually, there's a scurrilous rumour going round that Stena have declined Irish Ferries request to use the Port of Fishguard, as is their right as the port operators…

mikewest

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966952#Comment_122966952

Stena may wish to but without knowing the exact details they will probably be prevented from blocking Irish Ferries under port access rules. This doesn't mean that Irish Ferries can rock up tonight and start using Fishguard though.

AndyBoBandy

I’d say the ~7-8 hour runs over and back from Liverpool will be great craic this weekend… particularly the Dublin bound sailings..

I guess from Fishguard they can plough straight over for some shelter up the coast, but coming from Liverpool there are no hiding places!!

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966952#Comment_122966952

Not sure they have the right as Transport for Wales competition laws might step in there.

More importantly, why would they? Practically free money from a competitor and a bit of good publicity to boot… Would be quite the open-goal missed

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122966866#Comment_122966866

They might have, but which one?