Dun Laoghaire Harbour will have a newly installed 'primary passenger ship tender pontoon' this weekend in time for its expected cruise liner visits to the harbour this summer.
It is understood that the whole tender operations for the visiting ships, (anchored in the bay) will now take place from No 4 berth using the nearby compound for coaches which means no disruption to harbour car parks.
The move has the added benefit of freeing up the town's Carlisle Pier for sailing events and boat storage.
Details are contained in the latest Notice to Mariners (No 10 off 2022) that is downloadable below as a pdf file.
This Saturday (16 April, 2022) the new 40m x 4.5m floating pontoon will be located at No 4 berth on the east side of St Michael’s Pier. Work is currently underway to assemble the pontoons at the Carlisle Pier where they will be put into the water and towed to the berth.
The new pontoon comes complete with mooring bollards, ramps and steps for the safe disembarkation of passengers.
Alongside calls, however, where smaller cruise liners berth in the harbour will still take place at the No 2 berth.
The harbour also has a smaller pontoon at No.2 berth installed near the old Coopers Slip at the Carlisle Pier and close to the town's RNLI lifeboat. As regular Afloat readers will know, this facility was used for Dun Laoghaire's first cruise call of the year.
It is expected that this small pontoon will remain in place for use as required.