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Displaying items by tag: Livestockships

Two ferry companies sailing from Ireland to Cherbourg, France, have confirmed they will not bring livestock lorries on sailings scheduled for this week.

Both Irish Ferries and Stena Line have confirmed to Agriland.ie that they will not carry livestock for health and safety reasons due to Storm Dudley and Storm Eunice.

One ferry company representative said that the Cherbourg sailing (Thurs, 17 Feb) has been cancelled, adding that the weekend sailing “definitely wont be taking livestock” and may be “cancelled altogether” due to the storms.

These developments will put further pressure on traders selling calves to mainland Europe as it delays the supply of calves by a week.

More here on this story.

Published in Ferry

#Cattleships – The detention of the Ireland-Libyan serving livestock-carrier which has been in Fowey since February has been lifted by UK authorities, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Commenting to Afloat.ie, a spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "We inspected the Express 1 on 21 March at Fowey and lifted the detention as the operator had made the required safety improvements."

As previously reported the 7,087 tonnes vessel was expected to depart the port last week. Last Friday the livestock-carrier departed the port and was understood to be returning to Germany, from where she set off on her voyage in February.

It was during stormy seas in the English Channel, that led to an engine failure and call for assistance by a tug to Fowey.  She was subsequently detained at the Cornish port by the MCA  which carried out an inspection of the vessel following  'post-repair' sea trails.

 

Published in Ports & Shipping

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!