IRELAND\\\


Issue 2 2014 - Freight Business Journal


17 Ireland’s Continental ambitions


A flurry of new services to the Continent, and a new lo lo venture on the Irish Sea could herald the start of a recovery in the Emerald isle’s fortunes. Martin Roebuck reports.


New ships and


terminals boost Stena prospects


Stena Line’s Irish Sea growth is welcome, even if


it hasn’t


immediately translated into an improvement to the bottom line, says says head of freight UK


and Ireland, Richard


Horswill. Cairnryan to Belfast was


up 14% and Heysham and Liverpool to Belfast by around 8%. The Holyhead to Dublin route experienced growth of over 2% while Fishguard to Rosslare remained static. But:


“Unfortunately,


despite this growth, our ferry operations continue to lose money which is clearly not a sustainable position so we are currently reviewing our business model to identify efficiencies and help reduce costs.” Recovery has been export


eastbound led but


this will equalise as the construction sector picks up this year, Horswill predicts. In 2012 Stena deployed two new F Class ships on the Belfast to Heysham route. These modern ships provide much needed additional freight capacity, says Horswill: “Last year we benefited from having these vessels on the route for the whole year and we are delighted with how they are performing and the fact that they are meeting our


customers’ expectations. “In November 2013 we


added extra freight capacity on the Belfast to Liverpool route when we introduced the Stena Hibernia, providing our freight customers with greater availability and choice.” The vessel currently


operates eight sailings per week and has capacity for 12 drivers and 110 unaccompanied units, which represents an additional 1,680 lane metre capacity. Belfast is a very important freight


hub for Stena


and Northern Ireland’s geographical location means that it is very dependent on strong freight links. Moreover, “units can leave Belfast Port on Stena Line’s choice of routes and head for Rotterdam in Holland on our service from Killingholme or Harwich on the east coast of England. We also operate rail freight services – from Rotterdam to Posnan in Poland and from Kiel in the north of Germany to Verona in Italy.” With significant investments


and strategic long term commitments, particularly in the Belfast Harbour hub, Stena’s focus this year will be drawn to the Republic of Ireland where more opportunities are presenting themselves as the economy steadily improves.


Energy boost for Belfast


Energy, old and new, was the big story for Belfast Harbour in 2013. Overall volumes through the


port grew by 16% to reach a record of almost 23 million tonnes. A surge in coal imports, prompted by shale gas discoveries in North America that have driven down the world price of coal, was responsible for more than half the increase. Belfast dredged to 11 metres


to facilitate a new direct service feeding Kilroot power station, which generates 30% of Northern Ireland’s electricity. Every ten days or so, 55,000-tonne shipments of coal arrive in the port and are offloaded using the largest mobile crane in Europe. Capesize vessels previously called at Hunterston in Scotland, from where the coal was transshipped. Meanwhile, 200,000 tonnes wind


of farm components


moved through Belfast in 2013. Foundations and towers are in place for half the turbines at the West of Duddon Sands terminal, operated by Dong Energy and Scottish Power Renewables, and the port has taken delivery of components for all 108 turbines. The site began generating energy in early February. Joe O’Neill, Belfast Harbour’s


commercial director, says there will be a short pause later this year before construction picks up again, with two existing wind farms off the Lancashire coast set to expand. The quarry sector shipped 1.2


million tonnes of aggregates out of Belfast last year, a 31% increase. Road building materials were in demand in southern England and increased volumes were exported to the Netherlands and Belgium. In the reverse direction, a large upturn in imports of fertiliser,


animal feeds and grains helped throughput of dry bulks to a new record. “The agricultural market is very strong, and gearing up for another big liſt when the EU production cap is removed next year,” O’Neill says.


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