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Irish Naval Service News

06 Feb 2024

Irish Naval Service Signs Up for Wärtsilä Optimized Maintenance Agreement

(Photo: Wärtsilä)

Wärtsilä announced it has signed a five-year Optimized Maintenance Agreement with the Irish Naval Service. The agreement, which covers four offshore patrol vessels (OPV), is designed to ensure operational reliability along with long-term cost predictability.“We have had good experience with Wärtsilä over the years, and we have great trust in their capabilities. This agreement will help us to achieve the level of efficiency and reliability that we aim for, which in turn will improve the environmental performance of these ships…

17 Aug 2021

Babcock Pens Deal with Irish Navy

Credit: Babcock

Babcock International has won a contract to deliver the installation of a variable speed drive system for the central cooling system onboard the Irish Navy’s P60 Samuel Beckett Class.The variable speed drive system was first installed on the central cooling system of the fourth Offshore Patrol Vessel, LÉ George Bernard Shaw (P64), at time of build, enabling the vessel to use a variety of power outputs depending on the conditions and requirements. According to Babcock, the system has proven to be very successful…

30 Oct 2018

Tymor Marine Contracted for Vessel Mid-life Extension Program

‘Le Roisin’ – one of the P51 class Irish Naval vessels to be included in Tymor’s survey.  (Photo: Tymor Marine)

Tymor Marine of Aberdeen has been tapped to deliver a vessel mid-life extension survey for the Irish Naval Service.Tymor will survey the Irish Navy’s P50 class vessels to assess the condition of their structure, systems, equipment and machinery and provide a full analysis and report containing independent recommendations for integrity maintenance and upgrade activity.The award of this contract, following a competitive tender process, was one of several UK and European projects successfully completed by Tymor Marine in the marine…

21 Feb 2017

Kelvin Hughes radar for RN's River-class OPVs

A world leader in the design and manufacture of navigation and security surveillance radar, Kelvin Hughes announced in April 2015 that it had been selected to supply its SharpEye systems for the new Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) - HMS Forth, HMS Medway and HMS Trent. Today, the company is delighted to announce that it will also be supplying the same industry-leading radar equipment for the two latest Batch 2 ships – HMS Tamar and HMS Spey. Each ship will be equipped with a SharpEye I-Band radar for helicopter control and navigation as well as an E/F-Band SharpEye™ radar for navigation and collision avoidance. In addition, Kelvin Hughes will be supplying its ARPA widescreen radar display for all of the Batch 2 OPVs.

03 Jan 2017

OPC: Making Naval History

Winning Design: an early drawing of the USCG-select Vard 7 110 from Vard Marine and an updated version from the U.S. Coast Guard. (Image: Vard Holdings)

In September, 2016, an U.S. shipyard and the Canadian design business of an Italian-owned Norwegian shipyard won the largest vessel procurement contract in U.S. Coast Guard history. Now, Eastern Shipbuilding will build nine — and possibly many more — Vard Marine designs in its Panama City, Fla., shipyard. Early impressions are of a unique vessel not so unlike comparable European designs by Vard Holdings or parent company Fincantieri. An oceangoing hull of clean, classic — some would say Canadian — lines are the platform for an electronics and weapons payload designed…

11 Sep 2016

Irish Naval Ship Rescues 423 People

The Irish naval vessel LÉ James Joyce rescued 423 migrants from 18 separate vessels on Saturday during a search and rescue operation 40 nautical miles northwest of Tripoli, Libya.   The Irish Naval Service described the operation as complex. The rescue operation lasted over five hours. The rescued migrants were given water and medical treatment.   LÉ James Joyce participated in the rescue mission on foot of a request from the Italian Maritime Rescue Co-Ordination Centre.    In addition to the migrants brought onboard the LÉ James Joyce, the ship acted as on scene coordinator for 5 NGO vessels who rescued an additional 1500 migrants from the 18 vessels.   LÉ James Joyce has rescued 1,882 people to date (excluding the current rescue).

28 Jul 2015

Voyager IP Wins Irish Navy Satellite Contract

Left to right: Rory Fitzpatrick, ceo, National Space Center; Simon Coveney TD, Minister of Defense, Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Commodore Hugh Tully, Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service and John Makarus, operations director, Voyager IP at the launch of the new satellite service (Photo: Voyager IP)

Voyager IP, the Irish marine telecoms solutions specialist, has partnered with the Irish National Space Center to win a €500,000 contract to manage the entire satellite communications service for the Irish Naval Fleet at home and abroad. Voyager IP will provide the satellite airtime, technical assistance for the onboard systems and a 24 hour helpdesk from its base in Wicklow, while the National Space Center will provide the satellite network infrastructure. Simon Coveney TD, the Irish Minister for Defense, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, officially launched the new service.

04 Dec 2014

300 kilos Cocaine Intercepted in Portsmouth Port

The drugs were seized following the search of the cargo vessel Star Stratos at Portsmouth port yesterday evening. Approximately 300 kilos were discovered concealed within a shipment of bananas which had originated in Colombia. Investigations are continuing both in the UK and Ireland in conjunction with An Garda Síochána. “Working with our law enforcement partners in the UK and Ireland we have successfully prevented a huge quantity of what is likely to be very high purity cocaine reaching our streets. “Our investigations into the organised crime groups likely to be responsible for this shipment continues. Border Force Regional Director Carole Upshall said…

11 Jun 2014

Appledore Shipyard Gets Order for Third Irish Navy Ship

The future looks bright for Appledore, the UK Westcountry shipbuilder, as owning company Babcock says the yard has won a multi-million pound contract for a third Irish navy vessel, reports the North Devon Journal. Enda Kenny, Irish Minister of Defence announced that an order had been placed with the shipbuilder for a third offshore patrol vessel (OPV) for the Irish Naval Service at a cost of £43 million (€54,000,000). The new ship will be identical to the recently commissioned LÉ Samuel Beckett and the currently under-construction LÉ James Joyce. The 90 metre, 2256 tonne vessels are designed to provide an operational capability for many years of service in the North Atlantic, the main area of operation. Source: North Devon Journal

15 Jan 2014

Drifting North Atlantic Chemical Tanker Taken in Tow

Photo courtesy of Irish Coast Guard

The Irish Naval Service patrol ship LÉ Aisling stood by the tanker 'Hellespont Charger' in rough weather at the request of the Irish Coast Guard until the arrival of the tugboat after the chemical tanker with 22 crew on board lost power on its main engines 400 miles west of Loop Head, reports Ireland's RTE News. The tanker with 15,000 tonnes of caustic soda on board was taken in tow by the tug Thrax towards the River Shannon where the cargo is desined for the Aughinish Alumina plant there. Irish Naval Service vessel LÉ Aisling: Photo Irish Coast Guard Source: RTE News

13 Jan 2014

Irish Coast Guard Upgrades Entire Helicopter Fleet

Photo: Irish COast Guard

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar officially launched the Coast Guard’s new state-of-the-art S92 search and rescue helicopter for the Dublin region in Weston Airport. This is the fourth Sikorsky S92 helicopter base to come into operation for the Coast Guard and means all four Coast Guard bases now have upgraded helicopters. The new S92 helicopters replace the Sikorsky S61 which was in use until recently at the Coast Guard bases in Dublin, Shannon, Sligo and Waterford.

25 Apr 2013

ECDIS Ltd Delivers 10th Management Course

ECDIS Ltd delivered its 10th Management of ECDIS course to senior members of the Irish Naval Service as the start of further cooperation between the two organizations.   ECDIS Ltd’s Management of ECDIS course is designed for advanced and experienced users of ECDIS, or those who are now in a position of quality controlling the standards of their fleets’ navigation and making purchasing decisions. The course has proven very successful over the years in providing `top level` information to Fleet Managers looking to make the most efficient transition to Digital Navigation.

14 Aug 2012

Caley Davits for Irish Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel

Photo credit Irish Naval Service

Caley Ocean Systems contracted by Babcock to supply rescue boat davits for new Irish Naval Service ship. The all-weather Caley davits are designed for rapid deployment, enabling boats to be held in readiness and launched in seconds, even in Sea State 6 (5 metre (16ft) significant waves) conditions. Crew safety is paramount to the davits handling system which features anti-pendulation control for pitch and roll damping and reduction of pendulum swing. During boat recovery, the towing boom positions the boat under the davit…

16 Mar 2012

UL Smart Robot Explores Irish Wrecks

Multibeam sonar image of the WW1 U-Boat UC42 wreck taken by the UL smart robot, ROV Latis.

An advanced ‘smart technology’ marine robot designed and built by University of Limerick researchers was recently deployed to explore wrecks of The Aud and WW1 U-Boat, UC42 outside Cork Harbour. The Aud was scuttled by its crew while under Royal Navy escort to Cork Harbour after it was prevented from landing guns in 1916 and the UC42 sank in 1917 while laying mines. With the help of the Irish Naval Service, the UL Marine Robotics team deployed the advanced Smart Remotely Operated Vehicle called ROV Latis which has patented technology features…

14 Dec 2010

Irish Offshore Training Capability Launched

SEFtec NMCI Offshore Ltd (SNO), a public / private joint venture between SEFtec Global Training Ltd and The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI), will be launched on the 17th December 2010 at the National Maritime College, Co. Cork, by the Minister of Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Batt O’Keeffe. This venture brings together public infrastructure with private enterprise for not only offshore training, but design, manufacture, installation, commissioning and service of training simulators for the global maritime industry. Focused on supporting the successful and sustainable growth of the Irish offshore exploration sector, SNO has successfully secured the approval of the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization (OPITO) for its programme of courses.

22 Feb 2010

GAC, Nat'l Maritime College of Ireland Initiative

Christer Sjodoff, Group Vice President, GAC Solutions and John Clarence, Head of College, NMCI. (Photo courtesy Blue Communication Ltd.)

GAC, provider of shipping, logistics and marine services, announced the launch of GAC Training & Service Solutions Limited (GTSS), a new initiative that will provide training solutions for the LNG and tanker markets, as well as other commodity and maritime sectors. A joint venture between GAC and the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI), the partnership will provide expert delivery of a portfolio of training courses for both seafarers and shore-based shipping personnel.

27 May 2008

Aker Yards Marine Supports AOPS Project

Aker Yards Marine Inc. (AYM) is a member of the team assembled by BMT Fleet Technology Limited that has been awarded the Definition, Engineering, Logistics and Management Support (DELMS) contract for the Canadian Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) project. The Canadian navy will acquire between six and eight ice-capable patrol ships to assert and enforce sovereignty in Canada's waters, including the Arctic. During the definition phase (2008 - 2009) AYM will utilize its experience and expertise in the design of patrol vessels and icebreakers to support the BMT team in the development of an illustrative definition design for the AOPS.