Displaying items by tag: Portsand Shipping News

9th November 2015

UK Liner Agency Kestrel Group Enters Irish Market

#NewLinerAgency – A UK liner agency, the Kestrel Group enters the Irish market this month.

Operating as Kestrel Liner Agencies (Ireland) Ltd, the firm will open its first office in Dublin, and the new entrant is expected to open further offices soon in Cork and Belfast.

The new entrant takes over the business of Greenco Shipping and the existing shareholders and employees will join the new company.

Kestrel Liner Agencies (Ireland) Ltd will represent Hoegh Autoliners, Tropical, Universal Africa Line, Cargo Levant, Nirint Shipping, Ecuadorian Line, South American Independent Line, Onego, Fednav and Nordana.

The Kestral Group was the first UK liner agent to combine liner agency with forwarding and NVOCC activity. The Group has formed strategic partnerships and joint ventures to grow the business into a global brand.

Andy Thorne, Group Chairman of Kestrel said: "Following our growth last year, opening in San Francisco in May and Cape Town in November, I am delighted that we have been able to conclude this expansion into Ireland. This is great news for the whole of the Irish market, giving shippers and consignees greater choice of carrier, and principals extended coverage.

The chairman added, “Kestrel is the first new Liner Agency business in Ireland for many years and I am certain that our stellar growth experienced elsewhere will be mirrored here. I am delighted that John Lalor, Bob Kevitt and their team are joining us.

It was confirmed by the chairman that Kestrel Liner Agencies (Ireland) Ltd will be recruiting additional sales personnel in Dublin, Cork and Belfast to assist the new strategic partnerships to grow the business. “The agency will be looking for self-motivated freight people to join, so if you know how to find logistical solutions for customers, are relationship driven and want to join Europe's fastest growing Liner Agency business, please do contact us."

Further planned expansion for 2016 includes the UAE, Namibia and additional offices in the Caribbean.

In 1994 Kestrel was formed and is the only shipping company to be named in the Queen's birthday honours list in the UK, receiving the much coveted Queen's Award for International Trade.

Published in Ports & Shipping

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Masterplan for Shannon Foynes Port Company

A masterplan for Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC), the state's second largest port operation, is to look into the marine infrastructural requirements for the next three decades along the 500 sq km Shannon Estuary, writes Jehan Ashmore.

SFPC's Masterplan Achieving the Vision 2041 will be a public consultation process and with the participation of port's stakeholders and interested parties. The masterplan aims to capitalise on the significant growth potential and focus promoting the port as a strategic economic driver for the mid-west region.

Port expansion options are to be examined so to prepare ports for larger trade volumes when the opportunities arise. Also under consideration are the non-core assets at the Port of Foynes and Limerick Docks. To read more about the masterplan and the challenges and issues that has been identified in both ports click HERE.

The statutory jurisdiction of the estuary is under the control of SFPC, which is responsible for the estuary that runs from the mouth entrance marked by Kerry and Loop Heads and stretching far inland to Limerick City. The natural waterway can handle vessels of up to 200,000 deadweight tonnes (dwt) which are the largest ships that can dock in Irish waters.

Published in Shannon Estuary

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Take a View From the Bridge

This year's Cork Harbour Open Day is set to be an action packed programme of events and activities including for the first time a free open day at the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) in Ringaskiddy, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Tours of the impressive campus (12 noon to 5pm) will incorporate the panoramic bridge ship simulators, the survival pool and the marine workshops. To watch the technological and highly-skilled training exercises undertaken by the students click VIDEO and or further information in general about the nautical college visit www.nmci.ie

In the evening the Cork Corona Film Festival will hold a fundraiser themed the 'Amazing Cork Maritime Experience' at the NMCI from 5pm onwards.

Also in Ringaskiddy, at the Deepwater Quay, Fastnet Lines' 22,000 tonnes Julia will be open to the public between 11am to 3pm. This will allow those to tour the facilities of the 1,500 passenger/325 vehicle capacity ferry which has operated the year round Cork-Swansea route since last year.

To enable visitors to visit the events spread across the world's second largest natural harbour, a free shuttle-ferry service connecting Ringaskiddy, Monkstown,Cobh, Aghada and Crosshaven will be operating on the day. The ferry service is sponsored by the Port of Cork Company and National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI).

Published in Cork Harbour

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What is the Ilen?

The Ilen is the last of Ireland’s traditional wooden sailing ships.

Who designed the Ilen?

The Ilen was designed by Conor O’Brien, the first Irish man to circumnavigate the world.

Where does the name Ilen get her name?

Ilen is named for the West Cork River which flows to the sea at Baltimore, her home port.

Who built the Ilen?

The Ilen was built by Baltimore Sea Fisheries School, West Cork in 1926. Tom Moynihan was foreman.

What is Ilen built from?

Ilen's wood construction is of oak ribs and planks of larch.

What are the dimensions of the lIen?

As-built initially, she is 56 feet in length overall with a beam of 14 feet and a displacement of 45 tonnes.

How did the Ilen get from Baltimore to the Falkland Islands in 1926?

Conor O’Brien set sail in August 1926 with two Cadogan cousins from Cape Clear in West Cork, arriving at Port Stanley in January 1927 and handed it over to the new owners.

How much did the Ilen cost in 1926?

The Ilen was delivered to the Falkland Islands Company, in exchange for £1,500.

What roles has Ilen performed in her lifetime?

Ilen served for over 70 years as a cargo ship and a ferry in the Falkland Islands, enduring and enjoying the Roaring Forties, the Furious Fifties, and Screaming Sixties. She stayed in service until the early 1990s.

Who from Ireland rediscovered the Ilen in the Falkland Islands?

Limerick sailor Gary McMahon and his team located Ilen. MacMahon started looking for her in 1996 and went out to the Falklands and struck a deal with the owner to bring her back to Ireland.

What condition was Ilen in when she was found in the Falkland Islands?

After a lifetime of hard work in the Falklands, Ilen required a ground-up rebuild.

How did the Ilen come back to Ireland?

A Russian cargo ship transported her back on a 12,000-mile trip from the Southern Oceans to Dublin. The Ilen was discharged at the Port of Dublin 1997, after an absence from Ireland of 70 years.

Who restored the Ilen?

It was a collaboration between the Ilen Project in Limerick and Hegarty’s Boatyard in Old Court, near Skibbereen. Much of the heavy lifting, of frames, planking, deadwood & backbone, knees, floors, shelves and stringers, deck beams, and carlins, was done in Hegarty’s. The generally lighter work of preparing sole, bulkheads, deck‐houses fixed furniture, fixtures & fittings, deck fittings, machinery, systems, tanks, spar making and rigging is being done at the Ilen boat building school in Limerick.

How long did it take to restore Ilen?

Ten years. The boat was much the worse for wear when it returned to West Cork in May 1998, and it remained dormant for ten years before the start of a decade-long restoration.

What is the role of the Ilen today?

Ilen now serves as a community floating classroom and cargo vessel – visiting 23 ports in 2019 and making a transatlantic crossing to Greenland as part of a relationship-building project to link youth in Limerick City with youth in Nuuk, west Greenland.