Types of craft

The Ship Silhouettes The characteristics of the ships to be seen in Irish waters and their purpose.

Container Ship

Lighthouse Tender

Container ships are large modern ships and easily recognisable with the containers stored on deck.

Trawler

Trawlers come in many shapes and sizes. The traditional inshore trawler usually has a wheelhouse aft and a large derruk forward for hauling nets. It may also have a mizzen sail to help with manoeuvrability.

Bulk Carrier The modern lighthouse tender has a superstructure forward with a large low working deck aft. It also has a large crane for handling buoys and cargo.

Passenger boat / car ferry

Easily recognisable by their high superstructure windows and lifeboats along each side.

High Speed Ship HSS

Bulk carriers are large vessels for carrying cargos such as coal grain and ore. They look similar to a VLCC except the hatch coamings can be seen and they rarely carry their own cranes or derricks.

Car Carrier

Car carriers are large floating car parks for transporting cars around the world. they are a large box like construction with ramps in their side and at the stern. These large vessels are usually of catamaran construction with water jet engines. They have a sleek aerodynamic design and two ramps at the stern.