We still have free salt / grit available from outside our office on the North Quay. Wicklow town. Please feel free take what you need. Stay safe and stay warm. Look after those who need help.

Amazing response for the Free Gritting salt and we're only delighted to Help. We still have about 4 tonnes available for those who need it. It works brilliantly as you can see in the photos. Again, please take what you need and give some to those who might need it. The grit pile is located outside our office on the North Quay. Bring bag / bucket shovel. Donations to Wicklow RNLI if desired. Please take care, stay warm and look after those who need help.

Snow Storm Update: We have a limited supply of gritting Salt (Approx 8 tonnes) that we are giving away for free. We ask that you only take what you need for yourself and those in need who you can help (It's not to be taken for profit or resale please). Salt will be available from 1pm today outside our office. Bring a shovel / Bags / Bins to load yourself. Any donations to the lifeboat would be appreciated. Stay Safe, Stay Warm and look after those in need.

Scotline Press Release Scotline, Magnusson Shipping and the Hallands Hamnar are delighted to advise that on Thursday December 7th a new record was set with the export of over 1 million cubic meters of Swedish sawn timber in a calendar year. In 1979 Peter Millatt of Scotline and Sandy Catto of Scotlog approached Sven Asare of Magnusson Shipping with an idea to ship pulp logs from Scotland to Sweden. The liner service exporting sawn packaged timber from Sweden to the UK began in 1982 and the total volume shipped from Varberg that year was 29,000.00 cbm. The volume has grown steadily from these early days as has Scotline’s fleet of ships - which now stands at 11 ships ranging from 1400DWT to 4600DWT. When MV Scot Mariner left Varberg on Thursday 7th December, a record - 38 years in the making - was broken. Magnusson Shipping took the bookings, Scotline supplied the vessels and Hallands Hamnar’s stevedores loaded the 1 millionth cubic metre of packaged timber to be shipped from the port in 2017. This is equivalent to over 11,000 full lorry loads in a calendar year, putting Varberg firmly on the map as Sweden's largest timber port. It has taken the combined efforts of Scotline, Magnusson Shipping and Hallands Hamnar along with the continued support of the Sawmills who have regularly chosen to ship through the port of Varberg. Today we ship between 40 - 80,000 cbm each month, loading 4-7 ships a week from Varberg. We are proud to have grown together with Magnusson Shipping and the port of Varberg who have helped Scotline to become one of the leading timber carriers from Sweden to the UK. However, Hallands Hamnar are not satisfied with breaking this record but continue to invest in the port, having recently bought a new Gottwald crane from Lapphoja in Finland, which has 100-tonnes capacity. This gives them opportunity to diversify their product portfolio and attract new business. Emil Vranjancu, Commercial Director of Hallands Hamnar, said: “It is so great that, so many Sawmills choose Varberg to export their timber, but we see it as a consequence of the fact that we have invested hard in strengthening both service, logistics and our capacity in Varberg. Faster handling means more departures and shorter stock times, which provides faster cash for our customers.” Scotline would like to offer their congratulations to Magnusson Shipping and Hallands Hamnar on this incredible milestone and would also like to thank the Sawmills and Agents for their support. We look forward to a continued successful partnership with them all for many years to come!

https://www.marine.ie/Home/sites/default/files/VirtualTour/index.htm?language=en Virtual tour of Irish Research vessel 'Celtic Explorer'

It's that time of year again ...

A team of scientists on board the RV Celtic Voyager during a recent survey to understand the habitat use of elusive beaked whales, got more than they bargained for when they encountered four separate groups of breaching whales within a couple of hours survey effort near the Rockall Trough. Very little is known about beaked whales as they are rarely encountered at sea and are shy around vessels. New species of beaked whales are being described as recently as last year. Here in Ireland we have at least four species of beaked whales; Sowerby's, True's, Cuvier's beaked whale and northern bottlenose whale. "We think that the groups encountered were either Sowerby's or True's beaked whale, possibly both, they are incredibly difficult to positively identify at sea," said Dr Patricia Breen, NUI Galway, Chief Scientist on the survey. We know that they undertake huge dives to great depths of up to 2500m for an hour at a time. They feed mostly on squid but also deep sea fish. This was a collaborative study between NUI Galway, UCC, Marine Institute, Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy, Marine Conservation Research and Washington State University. The aim was to characterise beaked whale habitat using acoustic technology in a small study area, as the whales are more likely to be heard rather than seen. As well as using a hydrophone to detect whale clicks the team also characterised the habitat by recording oceanographic information such as salinity, temperature and depth as well as the fish and squid species in the area, their most likely food source.

Port has been really busy recently. We have just had a visit from one of the largest vessels in recent times. Mv. "Arina" loaded a cargo of recycled metals. She has a deadweight capacity of almost 4400 MT. The vessel which is registered in Lithuania has a crew of 10 and sailed from the port on Monday PM High Water. The berth was immediately occupied by Mv. 'Ceg Cosmos' which is a regular caller.