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Displaying items by tag: Haughey

#TallShips - If you're still stumped for the perfect Christmas gift for a maritime-minded loved one, how about a trip aboard Celtic Mist?

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group's (IWDG) Celtic Mist Certificate entitles holders to a trip on board the cetacean research vessel, which was launched just months ago after extensive renovation work from its new home berth in the Shannon Estuary at Kilrush, Co Clare.

And if you're lucky, you might have a real whale of a time - like the video above showing some stunning underwater footage from the boat's maiden voyage in its new life.

As part of the fundraising campaign to refit Celtic Mist as a research vessel, the IWDG produced a very attractive A4 certificate acknowledging the support of the purchaser towards the refitting work and entitling them to a voyage on board the vessel.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Celtic Mist - the yacht formerly sailed by late Taoiseach Charles Haughey - was gifted by the Haughey family to the IWDG to assist in its marine wildlife conservation work.

A €60,000 refit of the sailing ketch - and former Tall Ships Races competitor - was completed in August this year, which saw extensive work on the interior of the vessel to transform crew accommodation and make space for scientific instruments necessary for the IWDG's research mission.

Published in Tall Ships
The yacht once owned by the late former Taoiseach Charles Haughey will be only Irish entrant in the Tall Ships Races at Waterford later this month.
The Irish Times reports that Celtic Mist will take part in the first leg of the race to Greenock in Scotland before it is fitted out for its new life as a research vessel for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.
The IWDG's Simon Berrow confirmed that it has accepted the Haughey family's donation of the yacht as a gift to support its study and conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoise in Irish waters.
He said the group first had to explore the feasibility of running such a large vessel before it could accept the "very generous offer".
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

The yacht once owned by the late former Taoiseach Charles Haughey will be only Irish entrant in the Tall Ships Races at Waterford later this month.

The Irish Times reports that Celtic Mist will take part in the first leg of the race to Greenock in Scotland before it is fitted out for its new life as a research vessel for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.

The IWDG's Simon Berrow confirmed that it has accepted the Haughey family's offer of the yacht as a gift to support its study and conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoise in Irish waters.

He said the group first had to explore the feasibility of running such a large vessel before it could accept the "very generous offer".

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Tall Ships
Celtic Mist, the trawler yacht belonging to the late Charles Haughey, is up for sale through UK yacht brokerage AAA Marine in Cowes.

The 52 footer that has a cruising speed of 6 knots has been put up for sale by the family of the former Taoiseach with an asking price of €175,000.The boat is lying on the Isle of Wight.

The full details and photos from the broker are HERE.

The sale has created considerable media interest. Examples HERE and HERE.

Published in Boat Sales

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).