Investment at the Port of Cork

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Massive new ship-to-shore cranes being installed in Port of Cork

The Port of Cork has commenced the assembly of two ship-to-shore cranes for the Cork Container Terminal (CCT).

Two Liebherr post-panamax size STS container gantry cranes have been delivered.

The cranes will have an outreach of 45m, a back reach of 15m and a lift height over rail of 32m, which means they will be able to cater for large container vessels that come to Cork.

The cranes are in the process of being assembled, and are due to be completed in the coming weeks.

They were built in Killarney, and are being assembled by local crane erection specialists William O'Brien Group, under the supervision of Liebherr engineers.

Construction on the Cork Container Terminal initially began in June 2019 and is expected to finish this year. The project, which is estimated to cost in the region of €80m, will initially offer a 360-metre-long quay with a 13-metre depth alongside.

The development also includes the construction of a 13.5-hectare terminal.

The Port of Cork is the second largest port in the Republic of Ireland in terms of turnover. Total container traffic in the Port of Cork is expected to increase from 240,000 TEU (or twenty-foot equivalent unit) in 2019, by 37% to 330,000 TEU over the next decade at the CCT, in part thanks to these new cranes.

Full article is via below web link here:
https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/Massive-new-ship-to-shore-cranes-being-installed-in-Port-of-Cork-aa1e3aaa-9f1c-4115-8a8a-6c7909a31403-ds

https://www.portofcork.ie/index.cfm/page/currentnews/id/242

https://www.portofcork.ie/contentFiles/images/new_liebherr_cranes_for_cct.jpg
Cranes at Cork Container Terminal. Photo: Port of Cork.

Courtesy: EchoLive.ie and Port of Cork

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Assembling of Ship-to-Shore Cranes for Port of Cork's New Container Terminal

The assembling of ship-to-shore (STS) cranes has begun at the Port of Cork's new Container Terminal in Ringaskiddy.

The new Liebherr cranes according to the port company, will improve liners' schedule reliability, and reduce trade costs and inventory holding outlays for shippers

In an announcement yesterday, the Port said it has taken delivery of two Liebherr post-panamax size (STS) container gantry cranes at the Cork Container Terminal. The assembly process has commenced on site and is due to be completed in the coming weeks.

The Port of Cork is the second largest port in the Republic of Ireland in terms of turnover. In 2019 the port handled total container traffic of 240,000 TEU. Thanks in part to the new Liebherr STS cranes, this is expected to increase by more than37% to approximately 330,000 TEU over the next decade in Cork Container Terminal.

CCT will soon become a major enabler of growth for Cork city and Munster as well as the national economy. The funding for this development has come from Allied Irish Banks plc (AIB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISFI), European Connecting Europe Facility Funds as well as self-finance, and these STS cranes will be core contributors to CCT's growth in the 2020s and beyond.

This is an edited version published on Afloat.ie

Full article available on Afloat.ie

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https://www.echolive.ie/portalsuite/image//3334c36e-7790-4b01-bbc2-be897d6d9589/mainMediaSize=537x291_type=image_publish=true__image.jpg
Generic stock photo of sunrise at Tivoli container terminal, Port of Cork.  Pic: Larry Cummins

Port of Cork announce operation date for new entrances at R613 and N28 junction in Ringaskiddy

The Port of Cork has this afternoon announced that the new entrance to Ringaskiddy Deep Water Berth and temporary entrance to Cork Container Terminal will come into operation this Friday 29th May.

The new entrance is located at the junction of the R613 and N28 in Ringaskiddy.

The Port of Cork have advised road users to be aware of the new traffic light system and road signage at the junction ahead of the entrances to Ringaskiddy Deep Water Berth and Cork Container Terminal coming into operation.

Traffic signals will be set to flashing amber on Thursday, May 28 and traffic lights will go into operation on Friday afternoon, May 28.

In a post to social media, The Port of Cork thanked road users for their patience during the works and said that it looks forward to progressing the new Cork Container Terminal to completion.

Article published on EchoLive.ie

https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/Port-of-Cork-announce-operation-date-for-new-entrances-at-R613-and-N28-junction-in-Ringaskiddy-6bd0ce0f-32ea-4eaa-8517-279bc37228b7-ds

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Cork cargo link shaves week off US supply chain

Irish pharma, drinks and dairy sail directly to Philadelphia in 10 days
by Shawn Pogatchnik 
July 20 2020 02:30 AM

https://www.independent.ie/incoming/1765b/39380153.ece/AUTOCROP/w1000/20cork.jpg
Fast delivery: Dawn breaks over a section of the new Port of Cork container terminal at Ringaskiddy, Co Cork. Photo: David Creedon / Anzenberger

Exports of pharmaceuticals, dairy goods and drinks are reaching American markets at record speed by sea since the launch of Ireland's first direct shipping cargo link to the US.

John Kirkland, managing director of Independent Container Line (ICL), confirmed it is winning business from other routes since launching its weekly service from the deep-sea terminal at Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, bound for the US port of Chester, south-west of Philadelphia.

It is the first direct container service to the US from Ireland...

Full article via below link from the Irish Independent online.

Source:
https://www.independent.ie/business/world/cork-cargo-link-shaves-week-off-us-supply-chain-39380305.html

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'This will be the biggest transformation in Irish ports for the next 15 years'
- Brendan Keating CEO, Port of Cork

Port of Cork CEO Keating sees big future for ?86m Ringaskiddy cargo hub

by Shawn Pogatchnik 
July 16 2020 02:30 AM

Cargo ships keep getting bigger - and Brendan Keating is positioning Cork to become their first Irish port of call.

The sprawling operations of the Port of Cork Company already host the largest weekly arrival of any cargo ship to the island, the Maersk service from Central America carrying bananas and other fruits sold by Fyffes, Keelings and other food distributors nationwide.

Cork is a key arrival point for Ireland's oil and animal feed, too.

But Keating sees a near future when Cork becomes Ireland's main port for much bigger shipments from continental Europe and America. That vision is taking shape right now at Ringaskiddy.

He has spent much of his 18 years as Port of Cork chief executive seeking to develop that deep-water facility 20km south-east of Cork city into the port's main hub.

After nearly a decade of planning and two years of sometimes fractious relations with primary contractors BAM Civil, Keating expects the new ?86m Cork Container Terminal to open by early 2021.

First: ICL has launched a weekly service connecting Ireland directly with ports in US
He describes the facility, with a 13.5-metre depth and 360-metre berth, as a game-changer. The transatlantic cargo vessels which, for decades, have passed Ireland without stopping will finally have a sufficiently long and deep dock to accommodate them.

"Hand on heart, this will be the biggest transformational change in the port sector on the island of Ireland for the next 10 to 15 years," Keating says. "Dublin Port can't do what we'll be able to do. We'll attract much larger vessels."

While Brexit threatens to constrain UK trade on many fronts, it could make Cork more valuable as ships seek new harbours and logistical hubs along shipping lanes which will soon lose UK ports from their EU supply chains.

"We will have a geographical advantage, particularly in shipping lines trading between Europe and the Americas," Keating says. "We have major shipping corridors passing the mouth of Cork Harbour. With the new facilities we'll be able to attract a dramatically increased level of business activity."

This decade promises much wider change in a semi-State company overseeing disparate assets: berths along the River Lee, the cargo terminals at Tivoli, Ireland's only oil refinery at privately owned Whitegate, a future bulk terminal in Marino Point, the cruise line hub of Cobh, and a sister port in Bantry.

Keating says the company is discussing with a key financial backer, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, on how best to redevelop Tivoli on the north bank of the River Lee.

That 160-acre site for decades has been the port's main access point for cargo ships but, increasingly, today's vessels are too big and their hulls too deep to get there. Keating estimates even moderately large cargo ships would hit the seabed long before crossing the Jack Lynch Tunnel, never mind reaching the Lee.

"They would probably run aground on the approaches into Lough Mahon," he says.

Understanding the Port of Cork's future starts with TEUs, the standard unit for measuring cargo and short for 'twenty-foot equivalent unit'. A small container is one TEU, a more common 40-foot container two.

While Tivoli can take vessels with maximum cargo of around 1,200 TEUs, Keating says, Ringaskiddy will take ships bearing loads five times as large. These so-called 'Panamax' class ships are small enough to fit through the Panama Canal but still much too big for Irish ports.

These ships carry at least 5,000 TEUs. They require harbours that are at least 13 metres deep.

For now, the single deepwater berth at Ringaskiddy - used mainly for handling bulk cargo including animal feed, scrap and fertiliser - is used to accommodate the few arriving Panamax-sized vessels, chiefly the weekly Maersk service from Central America launched in 2012. But it lacks the fixed cranes, sufficient dockside storage and logistical support that many operators want for efficient discharging and loading of container ships.

Once the Cork Container Terminal at Ringaskiddy opens, operations at Tivoli will be phased out. Keating says that site, 7km east of central Cork, is likely to become home by 2030 to at least 4,500 housing units, a business park and new riverside tourism amenities and berths for leisure craft.

Ringaskiddy, in turn, will become a magnet for European cargo operators which normally stop in England but go right past Ireland. The first to make the 'right turn' into Ringaskiddy is Independent Container Line (ICL), which in June launched a weekly service connecting Ireland directly with ports in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

For now ICL, like Maersk, uses the 'bulk' dock with its slower mobile crane and relatively cramped space.

The Port of Cork originally planned to have the Cork Container Terminal running by the spring of 2020, but faced immediate difficulties with the winning ?46.3m bidder for the main works contract, BAM Civil. Soon after its 2017 award, BAM told the port it had identified an "arithmetical error" in its tender that omitted ?12m in costs. The port took BAM to the Commercial Court to enforce the contract. Work began months late in 2018.

Disputes have continued to delay completion, including most recently for construction of a new jetty at Ringaskiddy.

"We've had delays, absolutely," Keating says. "We had an initial legal dispute with the contractor. And yes, there is an issue at the moment with regard to the construction of a jetty. But we're in discussions with BAM about that as we speak. I'm very confident that the facility will be completed and operational within six months."

When asked to describe the current difficulties, he says: "There's an issue of design and an issue of finance. But we're in discussions. I'm confident it will be resolved."

The headline cost for the new terminal has grown by ?6m in the past two years to ?86m, though Keating says that higher figure includes the cost of two Liebherr ship-to-shore gantry cranes erected in February. The project is being jointly financed by AIB, ISIF, the European Investment Bank and the port itself.

Keating cites the development of Ringaskiddy as his proudest achievement from a career that started, like his father, in local government.

Brendan Keating is the eldest of nine children. His family lived all along Ireland's Atlantic coast as their father, Seamus, worked his way up the local government ladder from Tralee, Co Kerry to Lifford, Co Donegal, finishing up as county manager of Galway.

Brendan spent six years boarding at Rockwell College, his father's alma mater in Cashel, Co Tipperary, where he was a sprinter and on a national champion relay team. He played as a winger, too, on Rockwell's senior cup rugby squad which lost the Munster schools final in 1973 to Christian Brothers Cork.

"Christians were the bane of our lives," he recalls with a laugh. "I'm very often reminded of that defeat as I spent my last 18 years in Cork!"

After graduating from NUI Galway with a degree in business and commerce, he went to work for Sligo Corporation - and met his wife, Aileen, at the local AIB branch on Stephen Street.

"I'd go in to lodge my cheque. I always waited for her window to come open," he says, noting they were wed in 1981 after he relocated to Portlaoise to work in the roads and planning divisions of the Laois council.

The couple both worked for a decade in Co Meath - he for the county council in Navan, she at the AIB branch in Ashbourne - before he gained a big 1994 promotion to be assistant city manager for Cork. He helped develop the council's plans for the Jack Lynch Tunnel, during which he worked closely with port officials.

He won promotion again to become city manager of Limerick in 1999. The family, now grown to include daughters Claire and Niamh and sons Eoin and Niall, resettled in Ballyclough south of the city.

In 2002, the top post at the Port of Cork came open. In the 18 years since, Keating has overseen doubling of cargo to 240,000 TEUs last year, the purchase of the former Irish Fertiliser Industries site at Marino Point in 2017 to be developed as a new deep-water bulk terminal, and the modernisation of Cobh berths that hosted nearly 100 cruise liners carrying 243,000 visitors in 2019.

Cruise traffic was scheduled to grow even more this year - until Covid-19 arrived ahead of St Patrick's Day.

"That's decimated. All gone. We've lost over 100 calls," he says. "As long as the 14-day quarantine remains, it's going to be impossible and most of the cruise liners are in US waters, not Europe. So we're looking at 2021 before we can hope for any recovery there."

That lost tourism means the Port of Cork expects to see its revenues fall by at least 25pc this year, including a potential 5pc drop in cargo. The company reported turnover of ?35.4m in 2018.

Keating sees the port's fortunes tied to growth in cargo traffic at Ringaskiddy. That will mean building warehouse and logistics capacity on the 120-acre site and neighbouring lands. He wants its logistics centre at least doubled in size to 200,000 square feet.

It won't all happen on his watch - because Keating retires on August 31. "While I still have this job," he says, "I'm loving it and enjoying it."

Irish Independent
Source:
https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/this-will-be-the-biggest-transformation-in-irish-ports-for-the-next-15-years-brendan-keating-ceo-port-of-cork-39371277.html

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Port of Cork seeks contractors for redevelopment of Tivoli docks

Container traffic at Tivoli is to move down the harbour to Ringakiddy

https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/3970/1985189_11_articlelarge_LC_20flight_2009.jpg
The transfer of container traffic to Ringaskiddy will free up 153-acres of land at Tivoli for redevelopment. Picture: Larry Cummins

The Port of Cork is moving ahead with plans for the long-term redevelopment of the city's Tivoli Docks.

Container traffic and other services at Tivoli are to relocate to the new Cork Container Terminal currently under construction at Ringaskiddy.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/3970/1985237_3_articleinline_LC_20cranes_2001_1_.jpg
The ship-to-shore cranes in position at the new Port of Cork container terminal at Ringaskiddy Co. Cork. Tivoli is to be redeveloped with a cessation of container activity at that site. Picture: Larry Cummins

The transfer will free up a 153-acre brownfield site for future redevelopment including a new railway station and thousands of new homes.

The Port of Cork is now seeking an engineering-led, multi-disciplinary design team to facilitate the redevelopment of the Tivoli lands on the north bank of River Lee.

In recent days, the company published an initial contract for the preliminary design and planning stages for the required access, public transport and cycleway infrastructure...

Full article published in the Irish Examiner online
Source:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/economy/arid-40062965.html

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WATCH: Impressive Port of Cork cranes move into position at new state of the art facility

Video footage from the Port of Cork below via this YouTube clip below here:
https://youtu.be/TSnp4NU75Vs

THU, 05 AUG, 2021 - 08:00
MAEVE LEE

THE Port of Cork's impressive Ship to Shore Gantry Cranes have moved into position at a new state of the art facility.

In 2020 the Port of Cork took ownership of two Ship to Shore (STS) Gantry Cranes for the new state of the art Port facility, Cork Container Terminal in Ringaskiddy.

The cranes were built by Liebherr Container Cranes Ltd in Killarney and were assembled onsite under the supervision of expert Liebherr engineers.

They have an outreach of 45m, a back reach of 15m and a lift height over rail of 32m.
Photo image below here:
https://www.echolive.ie/cms_media/module_img/5182/2591255_6_articlelarge_DJI_0541.jpg
Cranes at Cork Container Terminal. Photo: Port of Cork.

A Ship to Shore Gantry Crane is the single most important piece of equipment in any container port, used to lift containers between the ship and land.

The new cranes are fitted with the latest energy-saving Liebherr Liduro drives, safety features and power management systems.

With a safe working load of 54 tonnes in weight, the cranes will ensure that the Port has the lift and reach capacity to cater for even the largest container vessels which will visit Cork Container Terminal.

Once operational, Cork Container Terminal will deliver the fastest, most reliable, and cost-efficient container service available to local businesses as well as Ireland's international exporters.

Sources:
https://www.portofcork.ie/index.cfm/page/currentnews/id/276
https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40352741.html