Cork rises, but only slowly 28


The port of Cork handled 9.05 million tonnes of trade traffic in 2012, an increase of 2% on the previous year. It was the first time the port has topped 9 million tonnes since 2008, but Michael McCarthy, commercial manager, says conditions remain challenging. While there was a double-digit


fall in the import of goods through Irish ports overall last year, Cork saw


a 12% increase in imports excluding oil, benefiting from a surge in bulk imports of animal feedstuffs as a result of last summer’s appalling weather. McCarthy feels this may have been a short-lived upturn, however, as Irish dairy farmers are trying to downsize. Feed prices have doubled because of the US drought and milk prices have not risen to compensate, squeezing suppliers’ margins.


Cork’s container volumes


increased 6% in 2012. Exports of


85,000teu (73,000 laden)


exceeded imports of 81,000 teu (66,000 laden), an imbalance that McCarthy says continues to leave exporters in the Munster region short of equipment. “We guarantee that lines bringing empties in will have laden boxes back out,” he says. Maersk’s weekly service from Latin America, carrying mainly


Issue 2 2013


bananas for Fyffes, has brought a welcome new dimension to Cork’s box activity, with 70teu typically offloaded and 30 to 50teu of exports reloaded for the UK and Europe. “We turn the vessel round very


quickly every Friday and we have a new crane coming in July that will help us handle boxes and bulks even more efficiently. We’ve also invested in reefer points for the Maersk service, and more companies are looking to use it,” McCarthy says.


///IRELAND “Unfortunately, Cobelfret’s Le


Havre-Cork-Dublin service came and went aſter only 10 or 11 months, and with imports still well down, there’s been a lot of consolidation between the other shortsea lines as well. “Ports are a barometer of what’s


happening in the economy, and we’re still bouncing along the


bottom,” he concludes. “Although Ireland is beginning to do OK financially, goods exports are not showing the same level of growth as financial services. Business confidence is improving, but consumer confidence is not great. Car traffic, for example, won’t pick up till this country turns around.”


More firms are looking to tap into Maersk’s weekly Cork service


Stena grows in static market


Stena took on and rebranded Seatruck’s vessels on the Belfast- Heysham route


Stena Line is seeing double-digit growth across its


Irish Sea ro-


ro network thanks to gains in market share, despite a flat overall market. Richard Horswill, head of freight for UK and Ireland, says investment in new ships and port facilities is paying off. There is still pressure on


yields, but operators will increase rates as customers begin to see improvements in their business, Horswill says. “It’s necessary for the ferry industry to do this to maintain a reliable service,” he comments. Stena


is seeing particular


growth on its Belfast-Heysham service, where it is now the sole operator aſter the withdrawal of Seatruck Ferries last August. Horswill says utilisation is high on the daytime sailings, with haulage companies taking the opportunity to send unaccompanied trailers to Heysham while Belfast-Liverpool remains the more popular choice for driver-accompanied traffic. Aſter


acquiring the Belfast-


Heysham route from DFDS in 2011, Stena initially operated this service with two E-class vessels, Stena Scotia and Stena Hibernia. Seatruck set up a rival service


www.burkeshipping.com Dublin | Cork | Belfast | Foynes | Fenit


on the route in May last year aſter


transferring from Larne


to Belfast, briefly operating two newbuild F-class vessels, the 150-trailer Seatruck Performance and Seatruck Precision, to


Heysham. However, the service ceased in early August, with MD Alistair Eagles blaming a declining Northern Irish market and operational issues that were preventing Seatruck’s planned migration from Heysham to Liverpool. The two Seatruck vessels


were initially put out to charter with Stena Roro, “but we quickly realised there was going to be a capacity issue with just us in place on the route. Our existing tonnage would not be sufficient,” Horswill says. “The


Seatruck vessels had


been purpose-built for Heysham, so we took them on and got them prepared, painted and crews in place within a month. The vessels, 30% bigger than we operated before on the route, were introduced on 14 September. Their ramps and deck heights are suitable for the double-deck trailers now favoured by the UK distribution industry.” An unexpected benefit of the


Scotia coming out of service was that Stena had a ready-made solution when the Finnarrow, a refit relief vessel operating temporarily on the Dublin- Holyhead route, suffered stabiliser damage in February while berthing in Holyhead. Finnarrow was out of action for two weeks while repairs were carried out in Glasgow.


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