Displaying items by tag: Stena Line Freight

24th March 2014

Freight Increase on Stena ‘North Channel’ Route Extends ‘Superfast’ Ferries Charter

#SuperfastCharter – The pair of 'Superfast' ferries serving Stena Line's Belfast-Cairnryan route have been extended on a charter contract with Tallink until August 2019.

The extended period is a further development of the company's freight business on the North Channel route between Northern Ireland and Scotland. The route offers up to 12 sailings daily with the Superfast vessels, Stena Superfast VII and Stena Superfast VIII on the 2 hour 15 minute crossing.

Since the inaugural sailings of the Superfast ferries in November 2011, they have boosted capacity to the route, service reliability and a steady increase in freight volumes. On board, freight drivers benefit from dedicated facilities of a lounge with a restaurant. The Superfast lounges feature first class style reclining seats.

According to Stena Line Freight, they continue to broaden business by offering new services, for example, a fuel-facility in Loch Ryan Port, Cairnryan and with Add Blue now available in addition to diesel.

The terminals at Belfast Harbour Freight hub are in close proximity for hauliers by combining operations with Stena Line's other routes to Liverpool (Birkenhead) and Heysham.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the freight-ferry Stena Hibernia on Belfast to Liverpool (Birkenhead) is now operating to an adjusted sailing schedule. The route is also served by a pair of passenger ro-pax sisters, Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey.

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9th November 2013

Busier Times for Birkenhead

#Birkenhead – Busier times lay ahead for Birkenhead Twelve Quays Terminal next week when Stena Line introduce a third ship on the route to Belfast while today the Isle of Man Steam Packet resumed a winter service, writes Jehan Ashmore.

As previously reported Stena Line were set to launch the freight-only ferry earlier this week however bad weather and technical difficulties delayed the entry of Stena Hibernia (1996/13,007grt).

The 114-trailer freight-ferry will initially operate eight sailings per week. These extra sailings will depart Birkenhead Tues – Fri (at 0300hrs) and depart Belfast Tues – Fri (at 1500hrs). She will be sharing the double-linkspan berth at Birkenhead with the company's ro-pax sisters.

The Ben-My-Chree of the Isle of Man Steam Packet operates the weekend-only service from Douglas with a round-trip on Saturday's and this is repeated on Sunday's.The return of the ro-pax to the Mersey replaces fast-craft Manannan sailings between the Manx capital and Liverpool. Facing directly opposite is Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula.

Ben-My-Chree continues operating Douglas-Heysham weekday sailings on the route she has served as a reliable workhorse for the last 15 years. The Steam Packet are to charter the freight-ferry Arrow on the Manx-Cumbrian service in response to competition early next year from new operator Ellan Vannin Line.

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7th November 2013

Delayed Freight-Ferry's Launch on Belfast-Liverpool Route

#FreightFerry – Stena Line's plan to launch a freight-only ferry on the Belfast-Liverpool (Birkenhead) on Tuesday as previously reported, has been delayed to next week, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Having had technical issues, the 114-trailer capacity Stena Hibernia (1996/13,007grt) also encountered bad weather. She is currently in the English Channel on a repositioning voyage understood to have departed from Brunsbuettel.

The introduction of Stena Hibernia as the routes third ship will see the vessel join passenger ro-pax sisters Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey. The 1996 built freight-ferry will initially run 8 sailings weekly departing Belfast Tues-Fri (at 15.00hrs) and from Birkenhead Tues – Fri (at 0300hrs).

For the ferry aficionado, the use of 'Hibernia' as you may recall is not the first vessel name given to a Stena ship. The last and former Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead conventional car-ferry St. Columba was renamed Stena Hibernia following a major refit in 1991.

Her owners choose to revive one of the traditional 'mail' boat names along with 'Cambria' on the Welsh route as running mate Stena Cambria was relocated from the Dover-Calais route, where she originally served as the St. Anselm.

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18th January 2013

Ferry Circles Dublin Bay Buoy in Readiness for Refit

#FERRY REFIT – In readiness for annual refit, Stena Line's Dublin-Holyhead two-ship service, is to be relieved shortly by a chartered Finnish ro-pax ferry, Finnarrow (1996/25,996grt) which carried out 'berthing trials' in Dublin Port yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore.

When the Stena Nordica (2000/24,206grt) is away in dry-dock, Finnarrow will take her roster in tandem with the route's second ro-pax Stena Advanturer. The relief ferry is owned by Finnlines and she has a 274 passenger capacity, space for 800 cars and can handle 154-freight trailer units.

In order for Finnarrow to perform berthing procedures at the single linkspan used exclusively by Stena Line at Dublin Ferryport (Terminal 2), the Stena Nordica departed the port into the rough sea of Dublin Bay. During this time she circled the Dublin Bay Buoy and throughout the bay, before returning to the berth just vacated by Finnarrow, so to resume her scheduled afternoon sailing to Holyhead.

Finnarrow had earlier this week set sail from the German Baltic Sea port of Travemünde and arrived at the Welsh port on Wednesday lunchtime, where she also undertook berthing trails.

Ironically both Stena Nordica and Finnarrow served together on Stena Line's Karlskrona-Gdyania route several years ago, where the latter vessel was also chartered out on their Harwich-Hook van Holland route.

The Finnarrow, which unusually for a Scandinavian operator, was built in Indonesia, when ordered for original owners Rederi AB Gotland. Under her current role, she is part of the Finnlines (Grimaldi Group) of operations running 14 ro-pax vessels between six countries and eleven ports throughout the Baltic and North Sea.

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12th October 2012

Stena Line Freight Wins Award

#LOGISTIC AWARDS – Stena Line Freight collected the Irish Sea Shipping Line of the Year Award at the Export & Freight Transport & Logistics Awards 2012.

The award was presented to Stena Line's Irish Sea freight commercial manager Frank Nieuwenhuys, at a ceremony held this week at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast.

Among the winners was Carna Transport based in Monaghan, which won in the best European Haulier category while NMC Haulage of Dungannon, Co. Tyrone picked up Haulier of the Year.

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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.