Mid-November 2010 saw the winter start to take its toll on coastal shipping. Arklow Raider was leaving the Irish port of Drogheda on 16 November with a cargo of cement for Swansea when she ran aground at the mouth of the river Boyne in force eight winds. Two tugs arrived, but they were unable to drag her from the beach. The pilot boat Boyne Protector, suction dredger Loch Foyle from Londonderry and the tug Oakgarth from Liverpool all reached the scene three days later, and the coaster was finally freed. She was then escorted by Oakgarth to Dublin, where she discharged her cement into sistership Arklow Rose, which left for Swansea. Arklow Raider went to Dublin Graving Dock, where it was found that she had damage to her steering gear and the plates amidships.
In the same gales, Red Duchess lost part of her deck cargo of logs three miles off Carnsore Point, on Ireland’s south east tip.
