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Displaying items by tag: Older cargoship aground

#Cargoships - One of Arklow Shipping’s newest cargoships, the single-hold Arklow Cape is today docked on the River Suir at Belview the Port of Waterford, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The Irish flagged 5,053dwt newbuild with Arklow as a port of registry, was launched in October last year and delivered into service the following month. The ‘C’’ class vessel is the second of a 10-ship order from Ferus Smit’s Dutch yard in Westerbroek.

Arklow Cape departed from Bayonne on the French Atlantic coast and the voyage took two days to reach Waterford Estuary. The newbuild arrived yesterday evening to Belview Terminal, downriver of Waterford City.

In the career of Arklow Cape typical cargoes will include grain to be carried in a ship that measures 87m in length overall and is a similar size to cargoship Lisa. The 89m vessel dating to 2001, however while on the neighbouring River Barrow more than a week ago got into difficulties having grounded.

Fortunately all crew were safe following the incident which saw the cargoship become stuck on a mud-bank south of the Pink Rock. The location is between the disused Barrow Railway Bridge and New Ross Port, the ship's destination.

Tugs were dispatched to the scene from Waterford based operator, Fastnet Shipping. Among the tugs involved was the 25 ton bollard pull tug Bargarth which came to the aid of the St. John's registered cargoship. 

The undamaged Lisa was refloated and was able to continue the short leg upriver to the inland port to discharge a 4,500 tonne dry cargo.

After an inspection by maritime authorities, the cargoship was permitted to set sail.

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!