Follow the Fleet

The Fleet :: The Crew :: Cargo :: Ports :: The Weather :: Ireland and the Sea :: Home

Teachers :: News :: Contact Us

LESSON 1

The Fleet

ILV Granuaile

The Granuaille is a cargo ship which is owned by the Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL). ILV means Irish Lights Vessel. She was built at the Damen Shipyards in Holland in 2000.

The Granuaille is used to service warning lights and other aids to navigation at sea. There are 32 crew members. Each crew member works a 12 hour shift. During the day 16 crew members are on watch and at night the other 16 crew take over the watch. She is powered by a 3,500 kW diesel engine.

Kish
The Kish is one of the installations serviced by the Granuaile. Below is a picture of the Kish installation in Dublin Bay. The tower is 31m high and is situated 53°18.7' North and 5°55.3' West.

Kish has a light that flashes every 20 seconds with a range of 22 nautical miles and a fog signal that blasts every 30 seconds. It also has a radar beacon.

Did you know?

Letters that go before the ship’s name, are called prefixes. There are many of them including:
MV means Motor Vessel.
RV means Research Vessel.
ILV means Irish Lights Vessel. Granuaile has this title because it used to service the lighthouses around the coast.
FV- Fishing Vessel
SV - Sailing Vessel
HMS - Her Majesty’s Ship
USS - United States Ship
LE - Long Eireannach (Irish Naval Service ships)

Follow the Fleet LIVE

Find out where this ship is now . . . click here now to Follow the Fleet LIVE.