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IRELAND


The Port of Cork is reformulating its redevelopment proposal for the Ringaskiddy lower harbour area by January 2012 after consultations with shipping lines and exporters.


An earlier application was rejected in June 2008 on the grounds of poor road interchanges and lack of rail connectivity. Port commercial manager Michael McCarthy says the National Roads Authority has


now addressed the road issue, while rail was never feasible. “We have shown that 90% of business is within 100km and could not viably be provided by rail. We’ve been through the whole scenario and it accounts for only 1-2% of Ireland’s overland movements.”


Michael McCarthy: scaling back earlier development proposal


The new proposal, on a smaller scale than before, would involve no land reclamation since landside facilities would be built


on 70 acres of former car pounds. “They’ve gone more for a just-in- time approach, whereas before they might store cars here for up to six months,” McCarthy says. A multi-purpose berth, with 11.5 to 12 metres of water alongside, is planned and could handle vessels of 1,500-2,000teu. Vessels of up to 800teu are the current standard for Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.


Cork saw an 8.6% increase


in total trade in 2010, taking it back to around the 2005 level. This “steadied the ship”, and McCarthy is encouraged by a further improvement of around 4-5% in box movements in the first two months of this year.


ISSUE 2 2011 Cork set to take the plunge into deep water again


ship service departs each port on alternate evenings, allowing an Irish driver to drop a load in London or Birmingham and return on the evening sailing back from Swansea, McCarthy says.


“We don't just have Irish


routes,we have branches too.”


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A multi-purpose berth in deeper water at Ringaskiddy would take pressure off Cork’s existing Tivoli terminal


However, he reports a


significant shortage of reefer boxes thanks to an increase of almost 20% in shipments of baby food, butter, cheese, meat and fish. Even equipment for ambient food and pharmaceutical exports is in short supply.


Fastnet resumed its Cork-


Swansea ro-ro service in March after carrying 3,000 accompanied units in the first season. The one-


A proposed ro-ro service


to Gijon that the Port of Cork hoped would launch in March is on hold, though McCarthy insists a twice-weekly service would be viable if an operator could take a 10-15% share of total Ireland- Spain traffic. Traffic would be bi- directional, with live cattle, meat and fresh fish going south and ceramics among the northbound cargo, he says.


Con-ro service attracts a queue of car customers


The joint venture under which CLdN, C2C Lines and ECS European Containers operated twice- weekly Dublin-Zeebrugge and Dublin-Radicatel con-ro services was dissolved in March. C2C is no longer part of the agreement, but the service continues pretty much as before, using vessels that carry double-stacked containers, driver-accompanied and unaccompanied trailers, tank- containers and up to 600 cars. Burke Shipping Group, which CLdN


handles through its Need a good line? It's aseasyas nightline-delivers.com


Portroe Stevedores subsidiary at Dublin’s common-user terminal, can accommodate vessels up to Humbermax size with five decks after Dublin Port Co installed a new ro-ro ramp in 2009. The con-ro concept is unique on the Irish Sea, says Ódran Montgomery, commercial & operations manager – stevedoring. Following investment in tugs to handle the stacked containers, he says a ship can be turned around in as little


as six hours, compared with up to 18 hours for traditional lo-lo vessels.


Although overall consumer sales are down 10% year on year, car sales in Ireland have grown since the low point of the recession, Montgomery says. CLdN claims a direct con-ro service from Europe benefits the automotive industry by reducing waiting time in Benelux ports and enabling swifter delivery to dealerships, compared with the alternative UK landbridge. The Burke terminal is the closest


to the Dublin port entrance and the Irish motorway network. The company is currently expanding RTG crane capacity, and will increase from six container stacks to eight. Around 300 metres of quay wall is being strengthened. Trains will be able to run right to the quayside after new track is completed in April. One train per day is currently loaded and offloaded a couple of hundred metres back from the quay.


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