Shannon Estuary News

Shannon Foynes Port Company has selected Bechtel to update its Vision 2041 master plan to accommodate offshore and onshore investment within and near its harbor in Ireland. Bechtel will support the company in considering how to deliver significant growth and expansion of the port, including how it can support the offshore wind industry and the production of alternative shipping fuels.Shannon Foynes Port is located in Ireland's deepest sheltered commercial harbor with jurisdiction over all marine activities on a 500-kilometer square area on the Shannon Estuary…

Ireland’s largest bulk port company, Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC), announced yesterday the commissioning of the first ports infrastructure project since the turn of the millennium, with a €50million capital investment programme at Foynes. Launched by Minister for Transport and Tourism Paschal Donohoe, the programme is the implementation of the first key element of the port company’s masterplan, Vision 2041, which is aimed at transforming the Shannon Estuary into a major national and international economic hub. Today’s announcement will see SFPC commence a seven year programme in quayside infrastructure development with a €12.5million investment in infilling of 3.45 acres on the port’s East Jetty, with work beginning this month.

The tanker, carrying a 15,000-tonne cargo of caustic soda with 22 crew on board, lost power to its main engines 100 nautical miles off Loop Head while bound for Aughinish in the Shannon Estuary, reports 'The Irish Times'. The tanker, Hellesport Charger, registered in the Marshall Islands, was on a voyage from Corpus Christi in Texas in the western Gulf of Mexico to Aughinish in the Shannon Estuary when it lost power. Sea conditions are said to be rough with a six-metre swell and winds of up to force eight. The ship is not, however, believed to be in danger.