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Displaying items by tag: dredger refloated

Since a dramatic rescue in Drogheda Port with the re-floating of the hopper-dredger Hebble Sand from sinking in the River Boyne recently, no repairs have been carried out, writes the Drogheda Independent.

In addition there is no indication given as to when the almost 60 year-old dredger will be moved.

Fergus O’Dowd, the local T.D. has received correspondence from Louth County Council's environmental department, who have been overseeing developments in the process.

“What I have been told is, to date, no repairs have been made to the boat. They are currently monitoring the level of water in the boat to make sure the boat stays afloat and upright,” said Deputy O’Dowd.

“Tanks and pumps are due down during the week to remove diesel fuel from the vessel fuel tank and empty bilges. The contractor was on-site yesterday to make an initial assessment of equipment required. Once this is removed the repairs will be carried out with the aid of divers to make the vessel safe”.

The installation of double booms at the river berth still remain in place to contain residual diesel.

For more on the operation (click here) on the dredger that Afloat adds was built in 1963 to originally serve UK ports. 

 

Published in Drogheda Port

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.