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Displaying items by tag: Port of Fishguard

#FerryNews - Of all the stories that have come out of Brexit and Wales, the impact or otherwise on the country's port links with Ireland has been one of the biggest.

Wales so writes BBC News, has three ports that link Great Britain to Ireland, with warnings of long queues if, as a result of whatever Brexit negotiations produce, customs and border checks are needed.

One port, Holyhead, has had much written about it - with concerns new checks could result in delays and disrupt its business model.

But the smaller Port of Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, with its own roll-on, roll-off service, has also been a focus of some concerns.

  • 'Free ports' urged to boost business
  • Holyhead 'extra-complexity' post-Brexit
  • Concern about Holyhead port
  • 'Danger' to Welsh ferry ports

An assembly committee report last year found 100,000 lorries were carried to Ireland via ports in Pembrokeshire in 2015 - a third of those through Fishguard.

The UK government said it did not want a so-called "hard border" with Ireland and it is unclear what, if any, impact the final Brexit settlement would have on Wales' ports.

Jeremy Martineau, secretary of the Fishguard and Goodwick Chamber of Trade, said the organisation, which has 140 members, does not have a view on Brexit.

But asked what he thought personally about the impact of leaving the EU on the town, the Remain voter said: "It depends on what happens with the Ireland/Northern Ireland border."

He feared border checks would deter commercial traffic from using the link - something he said was more significant than passenger traffic - and was concerned about direct routes from Ireland to the continent being developed.

For further reading on the story click here. 

Published in Ferry

Shipyards

Afloat will be focusing on news and developments of shipyards with newbuilds taking shape on either slipways and building halls.

The common practice of shipbuilding using modular construction, requires several yards make specific block sections that are towed to a single designated yard and joined together to complete the ship before been launched or floated out.

In addition, outfitting quays is where internal work on electrical and passenger facilities is installed (or upgraded if the ship is already in service). This work may involve newbuilds towed to another specialist yard, before the newbuild is completed as a new ship or of the same class, designed from the shipyard 'in-house' or from a naval architect consultancy. Shipyards also carry out repair and maintenance, overhaul, refit, survey, and conversion, for example, the addition or removal of cabins within a superstructure. All this requires ships to enter graving /dry-docks or floating drydocks, to enable access to the entire vessel out of the water.

Asides from shipbuilding, marine engineering projects such as offshore installations take place and others have diversified in the construction of offshore renewable projects, from wind-turbines and related tower structures. When ships are decommissioned and need to be disposed of, some yards have recycling facilities to segregate materials, though other vessels are run ashore, i.e. 'beached' and broken up there on site. The scrapped metal can be sold and made into other items.