Displaying items by tag: Dublin PortHolyhead

27th February 2015

‘Superfast’ Sails into Holyhead In Advance of Dublin Port Route Launch

#StenaSuperfast - Stena Superfast X, which is due to make her debut on the Dublin-Holyhead route next week arrived in the Welsh port yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Her first call to the north Wales port follows a delivery voyage from Gdynia in Poland where she underwent an extensive refit.

Under command of Captain Richard Davies, Stena Line's 30,551 tonnes newcomer arrived at her homeport on Anglesey. It is understood initial berthing trials were made at the jetty.

Stena Superfast X has a capacity for 1,200 passengers and almost 2kms of space for cars and freight vehicles. The 204m long vessel had sailed from the shipyard in Gdynia where work to upgrade passenger facilities and reconfigure vehicle decks were carried out on the 10-deck ferry.

The re-modelling of passenger decks "will be a hint of Scandinavian design" commented Ian Davies, Stena Line Irish Sea Route Manager (South) during a recent interview on BBC Radio Wales.

Among the facilities are free cinema's, catering for adults and for children, while the family lounge will feature X-Box stations for further entertainment. In addition to a premium plus lounge and for freight customers there is a dedicated trucker's lounge.

Launch of the Superfast X next week on the core central Irish Sea route follows the company's decision to withdraw the HSS fast-ferry service on the Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead route. Instead, Stena are to concentrate all existing operations from Dublin Port on the Ireland-Wales link.

The Stena Superfast X will make two round-trips daily, taking 3 hours 15 minutes and will operate alongside Stena Adventurer. The new ferry replaces the smaller Stena Nordica on the route which as previously reported on Afloat.ie, is heading for a new career on the Straits of Dover.

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23rd February 2013

Stena Send in ‘Freight-Only’ Ferry to Replace Damaged Chartered Ferry

#FerryBackUp – Freight ferry Stena Scotia (1996/13,017grt) docked in Dublin Port yesterday for 'berthing trials' and is to provide extra capacity for freight customers next week, writes Jehan Ashmore.

She is a replacement to the damaged chartered ferry Finnarrow, which as previously reported has since reached Scotland, with a tug berthing in Greenock.

The Dutch flagged Stena Scotia (capacity: 114 trailer units) will start freight-sailings next Monday (25 February) to Holyhead, where the 12-driver-accompanied vessel had called en-route yesterday also for berthing trials, having made an overnight passage from Belfast.

It was at the Anglesey port last weekend, where an incident involved the Finnarrow's stabilisers that led to cancelled sailings.

Stena Scotia will run in tandem with ro-pax Stena Adventurer (which takes passengers) on the Dublin route. There will also be additional passenger back-up with fastcraft HSS Stena Explorer sailings on the Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead route.

All passengers are advised to call Stena Line ferrycheck number 08705 755 755, for the most up-to-date information on sailings for 'foot' and those that are 'vehicle-only' by clicking this LINK.

The other regular Dublin route serving ro-pax Stena Nordica is as previously reported on refit cover on the North Channel and is expected to return to service on 19 March.

Stena Scotia (and sister 'Hibernia') had been lying idle in Belfast since September, having been replaced by larger chartered tonnage in the form of newbuild sisters, Stena Performance and Stena Precision.

The pair (from a quartet of newbuilds built last year) operate Stena's Belfast-Heysham freight service, following a short career starting off on the Irish Sea for operators Seatruck.

She has seen a succession of name changes in recent years, as Scotia Seaways under the navy blue colours of DFDS Seaways during a brief entry into the Irish Sea market in 2010.
Before that, she sported the pale blue livery scheme under Maersk / Norfolkline North Sea service as the Maersk Exporter completed in 1996.

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1st March 2012

Countdown to the Return of the HSS

#FERRY NEWS-A month from today sees the resumption of fast-ferry sailings on the Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead route, operated by Stena Line's HSS Stena Explorer, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 120 minute central-corridor route closed in mid-September due to consistent high operating costs in recent years. This led to the withdrawal of the fuel-thirsty HSS craft which is powered by four gas-turbine engines.

In addition most of the route's turnover was generated in the high season months, leaving the remaining months unsustainable. As such the company decided to make the service as a seasonal-only operation. To read a previous report of the closure click HERE.

The ending of the year-round-service was the first major break to the route since the introduction of the pioneering HSS Stena Explorer in 1996 which in turn had replaced conventional tonnage. The Finnish built craft was the first of a trio of sisters commissioned for Stena Line and only this vessel remains in service for the operator.

Also operating on the route in recent years was the smaller fast-ferry craft Stena Lynx III which had served several high and low seasons, though she will not be joining her larger fleetmate. The Tasmanian built Incat fastcraft was sold last year to South Korean interests as previously reported on Afloat. ie

Meanwhile the company's Dublin-Holyhead route is maintained by conventional tonnage vessels, Stena Adventurer and Stena Nordica which operate the 3 hour 15 minute service.

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17th January 2012

Ferry Operator Consider Court Finding

#FERRY NEWS – Senior managers in Stena Line are considering today the implications of a Labour Court recommendation that it increase redundancy terms for 39 workers at its Dún Laoghaire Harbour operation, the Irish Times reports.

The Labour Court rejected the workers' claim for automatic redeployment from the Dún Laoghaire service to Stena's Dublin Port – Holyhead route operation.

Stena's Dublin Port operation is managed by a subcontractor RoRo Services Dublin Ltd, which Stena said had no vacancies.

The ferry company has said the Dún Laoghaire -Holyhead service, which is now seasonal, will reopen in April, as previously reported on Afloat.ie. However, the company told the Labour Court there is currently no work for staff in the south Dublin port.

Workers who are members of SIPTU have been seeking redeployment to Dublin Port or enhanced redundancy payments.

However, while the Labour Court did recommend enhanced redundancy payments, the enhancement is less than that sought by the workers.

In previous redundancies at the company offered three weeks' pay per year of service, inclusive of statutory redundancy. In addition, they had received ex-gratia payments of €18,000 plus an additional €500 per year of service. The Labour Court recommended the €500 per year of service payment should be increased to €1,050 per year of service.

The Labour Court recommended that the company confirm staff in Dún Laoghaire would be given first call on jobs when the Dún Laoghaire service resumes in April.

A Stena spokesperson said senior management at the company were considering the recommendation and would make a statement later in the day.

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.