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Issue 7 2019 - FBJ >> 12 trend that


and vice-versa. A n o t h e r


has emerged in recent years is the growth of direct ferry links between Ireland and Continental Europe. Once regarded as something of a niche area, the range of destinations and operators has grown and now includes Brittany Ferries with its new link from Cork to Santander in Northern Spain as well as its existing route to Roscoff in France and CLdN with


its numerous routes to


north-west European hubs. “We’re using the direct services more and more,” says


Greene. “With the frequencies that are there now, there are lots of options to move direct to Europe.” With careful choice of departures, journey times are not signifi cantly slower than via the UK land bridge and reducing road miles is always a good thing from a carbon reduction standpoint. Excluding the Nordic region and the UK, Greene reckons that around 60% of his traffi c now uses the direct continental routes; not so long ago, it was more like 40%. There are also some


advantages over the land bridge route. It’s a less ‘bitty’ journey and a truck can depart


port on the Continent with a full driver’s day ahead of it. It helps combat the driver shortage and, in future, it will have the advantage of being Brexit-proof, avoiding any of the delays that might build up in and around the Channel ports. There are still one or two


gaps in the schedules and range of destinations. Greene would like to see a service from Ireland direct to somewhere like Dunkerque or another port near the French-Belgian border. Many customers are moving


their stockholdings from the UK to Belgium or the Netherlands, a trend that is


only likely to increase after Brexit. “We do see a trend towards hubbing in Europe and feeding the Irish traffic on the direct boats, which fill the ‘sweet spot’ between the land bridge and the container services.” Trailers offer a lot more


flexibility than containers, they can be moved around easily


from one port to


another and there tends to be much less shuffling of empty equipment. DSV’s extensive fleet and network helps too, making it easy for it to operate across multiple ports.


///IRELAND


High tech fl ourishes in Ireland’s cool climate


Could the port of Cork one handle regular transatlantic container vessels? With a major expansion of container capacity well under way,


it’s


not a far-fetched notion, says harbourmaster Captain Paul O’Regan. The new container terminal at Ringaskiddy would be capable of handling container vessels of 3-4,000teu and a service to New York or the US east coast “could be a game- changer,” he believes. Cork already handles one


service from the Americas, the Maersk-operated route from South America that moves mainly refrigerated produce, although it can carry dry boxes too. This uses the existing Ringaskiddy terminal, with mobile harbour cranes and will move across to the


8% in January-August 2019 compared with the same period, says deputy chief executive Donal Crowley. Ro ro freight is also up strongly, thanks


to Brittany


Ireland’s cool, damp climate is ideal for rearing cattle and growing potatoes, but it is also conducive to a rather more high tech industry – data centres, says DSV’s Robert Greene. The sophisticated servers and equipment that run the Cloud don’t take kindly to high or rapidly changing temperatures. Those that are located in hotter countries need extensive – and expensive – cooling. Far better to put them somewhere the temperature is lower and doesn’t change too much – which is why 30% of EU data centres are now in Ireland. Many of the others are


Ferries’ new Ringaskiddy container


terminal when it opens next year. Captain O’Regan says: “This shows what the port can do, using just mobile cranes, so there are opportunities.” Cork is also developing its


links with Europe. Captain O’Regan explains: “At the moment, we are over-reliant


on Antwerp, Rotterdam and Zeebrugge (major hub ports where there have been congestion problems from time to time) so our ambition is to create new links with other ports. We’re signed a memorandum of understanding with Amsterdam to help identify new opportunities.” With growing congestion on


the roads around Dublin, and the lack of capacity in that port, Cork sees its natural hinterland extending further, all the way up to Galway in the North-west. From a maritime point of view, it offers many advantages


–


deeper water, especially when the new Ringaskiddy terminal opens, and it is closer to the main shipping lanes. It


new Santander route, which is set to boost total units to around 40,000 this year last year. Trade cars are down 18% though, mainly because weaker Sterling has encouraged the Irish to buy cars in the UK. Dry bulk is also down, but mainly because the fodder crisis last year boosted imports to abnormal levels. Cork has also been handling


windmills for onshore wind farms in the area and the port itself is also home to a large chunk of


Ireland’s gas


electricity generating capacity, some of it mothballed but other stations still active. Another important activity in the port area is assembly


in the Nordic region, which again enjoys (if that is the right word) a generally cool climate and DSV, as a Danish-owned company has already built up


opportunities to increase traffic still further. The EUR86 million investment has been met by a unique blended funding package and is by far the most significant spending project by the port in its long history, says Crowley. The work is on schedule, which could allow the first operations to be moved to the new site sometime in 2020. Eventually, the existing Tivoli


container terminal will close and the land there developed for other industrial uses. Cargo handling operations at the city quays, which currently handle around 500,000 tonnes a year, will also move, along


considerable experience in the complex logistics of delivering all the material and equipment for new data centres, expertise that it is now using in the Irish market. It is a branch of project logistics. A new data centre can easily require 100 trailer loads of equipment, possibly as many as 300, all of which have to be delivered in sequence – building materials, steel, ducting, insulation as well as the data storage equipment itself. DSV’s size and readily available equipment is also an advantage, allowing it to gear rapidly when required.


A further advantage of


locating data centres in Ireland is that a lot of the equipment is made there – a legacy of the days when Ireland was the computer assembly capital of the world.


vessels to be handled. It will offer a 360m berth but a second 200m berth could be added in a second phase that could start quite soon, says Crowley. The new terminal will use


straddle carriers to begin with but will eventually migrate to rubber-tyred gantries, which offer higher capacity. It will also have 500 reefer


points, plus another 100 in a remote location – an important factor now that some much of the food and pharma trade has switched from dry boxes. The Ringaskiddy


development is not Cork’s only major scheme. There is also a joint venture scheme with BMDC to purchase and develop 60 usable acres at Marino Point for dry bulk and similar cargo, although suitable road access will need to be provided. Cork is probably less likely


also


lies in the heart of Ireland’s agricultural area, all the pharma companies have their headquarters in the region and Pepsi Cola has its main base here. True, the consumer base is smaller than Dublin’s, but it is growing fast. At the moment, Cork


handles around 250,000teu of containers a year, as against Dublin’s 700,000teu. Boxes are among Cork’s fastest-growing traffics, up


of new container cranes for Liebherr. The new equipment for Ringaskiddy will come from here – although there was no local favouritism and the firm had to tender against stiff competition against other suppliers for the work. Liebherr supplies ports all over Europe from its Cork base. The new container terminal at Ringaskiddy will create


with forwarders, hauliers and other ancillary services. Getting the industry involved in the development of the new terminal was an important part of the process, and the response has been very positive. The new Ringaskiddy


terminal will offer much deeper draft than the 6.5 metres maximum at Tivoli and will


also allow much longer


to be affected by Brexit than other Irish ports as it handles little traffic to and from the UK. However, it would be able to offer Ireland breathing space if other ports became heavily congested. One facility that Captain


O’Regan would like to see added is a Border Inspection Post. It is frustrating that Irish imports subject to SPS checks currently have to go to Dublin. In the past, the government has been reluctant to authorise it, but the new pressures brought by Brexit have now made it imperative, he says.


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