Displaying items by tag: Stena HSS Berth Removal

11th May 2016

Disused Stena HSS Berth to be Removed from Dun Laoghaire

The disused Stena HSS fast-fery berth-linkspan at Dun Laoghaire and associated structures are to be dismantled and removed by barge

#HSSberth – The disused Stena HSS berth at Dun Laoghaire Harbour is to be dismantled and removed in a process taking up to 10 weeks to complete, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Planning permission was granted to Stena by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to dismantle berth No. 5 at St. Micheal’s Pier from where the final HSS Stena Explorer sailing to Holyhead took place in September 2014.

The operator having consolidated existing services on the Dublin Port route to the Welsh port that began in 1995.

Work at No. 5 berth is where the specialist docking infrastructure designed only for Stena HSS 1500 class fast-ferries, is to involve the removal of the linkspan, gangway and associated equipment.

A tug, MTS Valour is to begin towage of a barge from Stranraer, Scotland to Dun Laoghaire where the HSS related structures are to be loaded on board.

Coincidentally, Stranraer is also where Stena operated the HSS Stena Voyager in tandem with a pair of ferries on the Belfast route until switching Scottish ferryport to Cairnryan in 2011.

Also as part of the works in Dun Laoghaire (see Notice to Mariners No. 9) will be the removal of the pontoon at No 4 which is the adjacent berth on St. Micheals Pier. This berth-linkspan was last used by the smaller fast-ferry, Stena Lynx III until 2011.

Afloat.ie awaits a response from Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company to finally confirm proposals to restore seasonal-only ferry services to Holyhead, having begun a tendering process in February 2015.

Only in recent months saw the retail letting opportunity of the former ferry terminal and now the project to remove ferry-related infrastructure from the port.

Published in Dun Laoghaire Harbour News

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Stena's Planning Application to Remove Dun Laoghaire HSS Berth Declared Invalid

#HSSberthRemoval - A planning application from Stena Line to remove its idle HSS fast-ferry berth in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, has been declared invalid due to failing to comply with articles in the planning procedures, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCoCo) has deemed the application submitted earlier this month to be invalid due to a failure to fully furnish documents in accordance with the Planning & Development Regulations 2001.

Among the articles not complied by Stena Line in its application to DLRCoCo, is the requirment that an applicant shall within the period of two weeks before the making of a planning application give notice of the intention to publish the application in a newspaper.

It transpires that the planning authority only received the application from Stena but this was submitted late, been one day beyond the required fortnight to be recognised valid.

Stena Line's head office in Holyhead (responsible that is for its Irish Sea south operations) has made no new resubmission to DLRCoCo to date.

The Stena HSS berth has remained redundant since the ferry operator withdrew the fast-ferry craft more than one-year ago in September 2014. The ferry firm decided to concentrate all operations in Dublin Port.

Prior to the transfer to the capital, Dublin Port has already been a customer of Stena since 1995, one year before the HSS Stena Explorer took up service on the Dun Laoghaire route. The former fast-ferry remains laid-up in the Welsh port, while two ferries operate the Dublin-Holyhead route which takes 3 hour 30 minute to complete the core central Irish Sea route.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Stena want to remove this year the specialist custom-built HSS craft berth linkspan, associated steel-supporting pier dolphins and concrete structures at St. Michael’s Pier. To give an indication, the outermost dolphin extends from the pierhead and is somewhat a little further into the harbour to that parrallel of the East Pier Bandstand.

The application would also involve work to dismantle where the 19,638 tonnes fast-ferry used to dock next to the connecting east/west walkway (double passenger enclosed gangways) structure and connecting walkways to the terminal completed in the mid-1990’s. There are plans to incorporate the proposed €18m cruise-berth’s associated passenger access and use of vehicle hard-standing areas within the disused ferry terminal.

Also last April, Afloat.ie contacted Stena which confirmed that as part of an agreement with Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, they will have to remove the linkspan and that the ferry firm were seeking the assistance of Stena Metall and Stena Teknik.

In the request by Stena to remove the berthing equipment at St Michael’s Pier, this would mean that no other fast-ferry except for the high-speed sea service (HSS) can use this port infrastructure. Secondly, as referred above the HSS Stena Explorer is laid-up in Holyhead's inner harbour.

There are however several parties who responded earlier this year to DLHC with expressions of interest to resume the seasonal-only ferry service. According to the harbour authority, should there be a suitable operator this would be from the season of 2016.

Published in Dun Laoghaire Harbour News

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Stena Line Looking to Remove HSS Berth at Dun Laoghaire Pier

#HSSberthRemoval – Ferry operator, Stena Line announced that is it to apply for planning permission to remove its idle ferry berthing equipment at St Michael’s Pier in Dun Laoghaire Harbour over the coming months.

Back in April, Afloat reported on the future of the specialist berth-linkspan built only for the Stena HSS fast-ferry (which closed services to Holyhead almost a year ago) against the backdrop of the proposed €18m cruise-berth.

The ferry company took an advertisement out in the Dun Laoghaire Gazette which reports of this story which said Stena Line would be submitting a planning application to Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council but, as yet, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has not received a planning application for the works.

As part of Stena Line’s planning notice, it has stated that it will remove the east/west walkway, terminal walkways and the supporting steel and concrete structure at St Michael’s Pier.

By removing the berthing equipment at St Michael’s Pier, high-speed sea service (HSS) ferries will no longer be able to berth in the locality, but currently the Stena Line HSS is the only HSS vessel that docks in the berth.

For more on this story and responses from local councillors, click here.

Published in Dun Laoghaire Harbour News

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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.