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Displaying items by tag: Celtic Sea ferry operator

#FERRY NEWS – The former Fastnet Line ferry Julia (1981 / 22,161grt) is to embark on a new life as a floating dormitory for workers building and servicing offshore wind turbines in the North Sea, according to The Examiner.

The rather ignominious end for the ferry once billed as one of the jewels in Cork tourism industry, marks the final chapter in the short and troubled life of Fastnet Line, which was set up by West Cork Tourism Co-operative.

At over 30 years-old the ship, which had capacity for 1,860 passengers, made its maiden voyage on the Cork-Swansea route in March 2010. She was bedevilled by mechanical problems in the first few days of operation, and in late 2011 the Celtic Sea service was withdrawn due to higher-than-expected fuel prices.

It had been hoped to restart the route this year, but Fastnet Line went into receivership last month. The vessel had been sold, reportedly for €5m, to C-BED, a Dutch-based company which are to rename her Wind Perfection.

For more on this story about the short-lived ferry operation click HERE.

Published in Ferry

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.