Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

West Coast's Limerick Trading Celtic Spirit's Successor Seen Along East Coast Ports

7th November 2018

#IrishPorts - Afloat previously reported recalling in Limerick Docks more than a decade ago of a general cargoship Celtic Spirit whose successor sharing the same name recently called to Wicklow Port, writes Jehan Ashmore.

To recap, firstly the call of the past to Limerick in 2006 involved Celtic Spirit (1976/2,978grt) that was loaded with round timber (logs) then a newly formed trade. On the call by the current Celtic Spirit (1996/2,840grt) to Wicklow last week, this followed a departure of the ship's owners homeport of Cardiff, Wales.

The single box hold Celtic Spirit is operated by Charles M Willie Shipping Ltd, whose ships funnels are adjorned with a crest depicting an adaptive version of the Welsh flag with distinctive dragon. Also incorporated is a 'W' representing the intial of the shipowners also engaged in managing, charterering and liner operations. As reported in the coverage from Limerick, a pair of Arklow Shipping vessels in recent years were acquired by the Welsh shipping interests. 

Celtic Spirit arrival to Wicklow took place last Friday and on the next day of the October Bank Holiday weekend, loading began of solid recovered fuel (SRF) which is waste used for incineration. The shortsea trader remained at the east coast port into the early hours of Sunday morning, then headed north bound for Sodertalje in Sweden.

Also tracked Scot Isles which too had berthed in the same Cardiff Docks of Queen Alexandra Dock. The ship operated by Scotline has over the years been a regular trader to Wicklow and where on the Bank Holiday Monday discharged a typical cargo of packaged timber originally from Sweden.

Published in Irish Ports
Jehan Ashmore

About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

Email The Author

Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals. 

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button

As an island economy, a healthy maritime sector is key to our national competitiveness. Virtually all our imports and exports pass through Irish ports.

Ireland is dependent on ports and shipping services to transport goods and 90% of our trade is moved though Irish ports. Shipping and maritime transport services make a significant contribution to Ireland’s ocean economy, with the sector generating €2.3 billion in turnover and employing over 5,000 people in 2018.

Ireland’s maritime industry continues to grow and progress each year with Irish ports and shipping companies making significant investments. The ports sector in Ireland is currently undergoing a number of expansions and developments with Dublin Port’s Alexandra Basin development, the development of Ringaskiddy in Cork by Port of Cork and the development of Shannon Foynes Port. Along with these major investments, shipping companies are also investing heavily in new tonnage, with Irish Ferries, CLdN and Stena leading new build programmes.

These pages cover the following sectoral areas: shipowners, harbour authorities, shipbrokers, freight forwarders and contractors, cruise liner operators, port users, seamen, merchants, academic institutions, shipyards and repair facilities, naval architects, navy and defence personnel.

Our pages are covering some of the most notable arrivals around our coast and reporting too on port development and shipping news.

This section of the site deals with Port and Shipping News on our largest ports Dublin Port, Port of Cork, the Shannon Estuary, Galway Harbour and Belfast Lough.

A recent study carried out for the Irish Ports Association (IPA) totalled 75.7 billion during 2004 and their net economic impact was some 5.5 billion supporting around 57, 500 full time employees.

Liam Lacey, Director of the Marine Institute’s Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) said, “The Irish maritime industry can look to the future with confidence. It has shown itself to be resilient and agile in responding to challenges. Over the past decade, it has had to respond to the challenges of the financial crisis of 2008, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and recent challenges. Ireland’s maritime sector has continued to underpin our economy by maintaining vital shipping links for both trade and tourism.”