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Steam Packet Warns Of Disruption To Sailings


Amadeus

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Just wondered how much it costs to keep the Arrow almost permanently at anchor

 

It costs the IOMSPC £2.5 million a year to have it.

They do sub-charter Arrow during the year, covering the likes of Condor and Stena and even her owners SeaTruck during the course of a year. I would assume that gets the net cost down a bit.

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Just wondered how much it costs to keep the Arrow almost permanently at anchor

 

She's not been at anchor. She's been against a wall at Larne when she's not been needed.

 

At the moment, she's heading for Rotterdam to earn a bit of money.

 

If she was not available for emergency cover, we would have been in a mess a couple of times. Ships of that size that are available are hard to find.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Is something up with the manoeuvrability of the Ben at the moment ?.

Both sailings cancelled yesterday when it didn’t seem particularly windy and tonight’s Heysham sailing changed due to adverse weather yet shipping forecast showing only force 6/7 forecast.

Perhaps its me but they didn’t seem to cancel until it was force 9 a few years ago

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It's not directly related to wind strength/direction or wave height whilst at sea, it's more to do with manoeuvrability in port.recently sailing times have been changed more frequently because of tidal conditions in Heysham. Combine silting/ poor draft clearancd with wind in the wrong direction and no tug and a fairly low wind speed can affect the ability of a slab sided boat like the Ben to negotiate a 180 degree turn in a confined space.

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It's not directly related to wind strength/direction or wave height whilst at sea, it's more to do with manoeuvrability in port.recently sailing times have been changed more frequently because of tidal conditions in Heysham. Combine silting/ poor draft clearancd with wind in the wrong direction and no tug and a fairly low wind speed can affect the ability of a slab sided boat like the Ben to negotiate a 180 degree turn in a confined space.

40/50 knots of wind last nignts forcast- a bit breezie to turn around

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Is something up with the manoeuvrability of the Ben at the moment ?.

Both sailings cancelled yesterday when it didn’t seem particularly windy and tonight’s Heysham sailing changed due to adverse weather yet shipping forecast showing only force 6/7 forecast.

Perhaps its me but they didn’t seem to cancel until it was force 9 a few years ago

 

it might not be too windy here, but there is the other end to consider. just like shitty wing didn't recently which was the last straw for regulators but wind anywhere didn't seem to matter to them.

Edited by WTF
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It's not directly related to wind strength/direction or wave height whilst at sea, it's more to do with manoeuvrability in port.recently sailing times have been changed more frequently because of tidal conditions in Heysham. Combine silting/ poor draft clearancd with wind in the wrong direction and no tug and a fairly low wind speed can affect the ability of a slab sided boat like the Ben to negotiate a 180 degree turn in a confined space.

 

Thing is John.... how much influence does IOMSPCo have with Peel Ports to insist on regular dredging? The build up silt has been known about for some years and it seems to be getting worse to the extent that IOMSPCo has to arrange it's schedule to fit in with Peel Ports inability to do something about it. I recall being on the Ben about 7 years ago when it got stuck on a sand/silt bank on the entrance to the harbour, we had to wait 2 hours before there was sufficient draft to float off it. And so it goes on....

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The Steam Packet is only a small part of traffic throughput. The Irish freight sailings are by far the bulk and are expanding all the time.

 

The influence of the Bay Gateway M6 connection on Heysham expansion shouldn't be underestimated

 

Peel Ports has indicated it will be upgrading Heysham, adding another Linkspan. Presume that will necessitate dredging. However freight sailings tend to be more flexible than passenger ones, although chilled freight and just in time logistics for food to supermarkets and internet shopping deliveries etc means it is less marked a difference than before.

 

Being stuck on sandbanks is nothing new. Happened regularly in Fleetwood when I was a kid.

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It's not directly related to wind strength/direction or wave height whilst at sea, it's more to do with manoeuvrability in port.recently sailing times have been changed more frequently because of tidal conditions in Heysham. Combine silting/ poor draft clearancd with wind in the wrong direction and no tug and a fairly low wind speed can affect the ability of a slab sided boat like the Ben to negotiate a 180 degree turn in a confined space.

So what has changed then, has the Ben become less manoeuvrable or increased its draught?, has the port become more silted up?, has the aversion to risk increased?.

 

The number of sailing cancelled would increase quite markedly if force 6/7 was going to be considered as too bad to sail going forward

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