IRELAND\\\


A new 30-year master plan shows how the port of Dublin can double its current throughput to handle 60 million tonnes within its existing footprint. Dublin Port Co assumes


a


prudent annual growth rate of 2.5% through to 2040. This compares with average growth of 3.2% between 1950 and 1980, which accelerated to 4.7% during the mostly boom years from 1980 to 2010. “In a sense it doesn’t matter


if we’re right or wrong, because if we’re too optimistic in our assumptions, we will build later and if we’re too cautious, development will come sooner,” chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly tells FBJ. “We can double port


capacity in a series of bite-sized developments. We’re not talking about the London Gateway here. We can do it with infill works. From a financial perspective,


it


makes far more sense to squeeze more through what we have and there’s an environmental argument for that, too.” The master plan, published in


final form at the end of February, came aſter extensive consultation with local residents and other stakeholders. There has been unease over many years at the prospect of land reclamation in Dublin Bay, and demonstrators at the launch of the plan protested about noise disturbance from port operations. While O’Reilly does not


explicitly rule out port expansion further


into the bay, or new


infrastructure elsewhere on Ireland’s east coast, he says he cannot imagine this becoming


necessary in the next 10 to 20 years. Having worked in the port


since 1992 in stevedoring and terminal management, he speaks from long experience when he says that future operational changes and new technology could enable the port to handle even more than the projected 2040 tonnage. “No


one was stacking


containers six high under an RTG crane. Who knows what else might come along? Although I feel we would get the necessary consents, the challenges of developing at a new site would be even greater than here in Dublin.” He sees increased productivity


from existing space as key to the port’s medium-term development. Lo-lo operators achieve 40,000 tonnes of throughput per hectare per year, the same figures as for accompanied ro-ro, while unaccompanied ro-ro manages 20,000 tonnes. “Can we increase the density


of land usage? It’s self-evident we can,” O’Reilly says. “We lost DFDS and now have a spare terminal, but we kept the volume. We can double accompanied ro-ro if the demand is there. This is not Dover-Calais. It’s a longer sea route and the volume of trade is not as intense. Ramp capacity is there for when new ships come on.”


With ro-ro expected to increase


its share of overall port traffic from 57% today to 70%, the main challenge will be to provide sufficient land for unaccompanied trailers. Another 24.4ha of space could be needed by 2040. Some


Seatruck makes it three in a ro (ro)


Seatruck Performance, the third in a series of four newbuildings for Seatruck Ferries, is set to enter service on the Irish Sea in April, followed by the fourth new ferry in June. The first two vessels in the series,


Seatruck Progress and Seatruck Power, are now operating on the Liverpool-Dublin route. They have a capacity of 150 units, 35 more than their predecessors. Seatruck now offers 80 weekly


sailings on its four routes and last year carried more than 300,000 units. MD Alistair Eagles says: “We now have around 20% of the Irish Sea market and continue to gain momentum. Our success centres on the cost-efficiencies of the unaccompanied trailer solution. Our UK ports, Heysham and Liverpool, are also much closer to the origin and destination of goods than traditional routings via Scotland and Wales.”


repositioning will be needed immediately, as existing ro-ro facilities make way for a new cruise terminal to be built on the North Quay Extension by 2015. Also announced in the master


plan is a scheme to develop a 4.4ha site north of the main port area, cut off from it when the


Dublin Port Tunnel was built, as a car compound that will free up quayside space for other activities. A deeper approach channel


into the port and a new turning area will be required to allow the biggest cruise vessels to call at Dublin. If the port also needs to


Issue 2 2012


27 Cautious Dublin looks to double tonnage


accommodate larger container ships, being currently limited to 2,000teu, it can build deep berths alongside the Poolbeg power station. O’Reilly doesn’t accept the case


for ever-bigger freight vessels, however. He points out that one 10,000teu vessel per week would


meet the needs of the entire island of Ireland, a 1 million teu a year import and export market, but would be completely impractical. “Attempts to introduce a


direct container service to North America have been short-lived,” he argues. “If anything, we’re going to shallower ro-ro ships.”


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