Port of Cork

History

Historically, the navigation and port facilities of the city and harbour were managed by the Cork Harbour Commissioners. Founded in 1814, the Cork Harbour Commissioners moved to the Custom House in 1904. Following the implementation of the 1996 Harbours Act, by March 1997 all assets of the Commissioners were transferred to the Port of Cork Company. This statutory body is responsible for the management, control, operation and development of the Port of Cork and the harbour. In February 2021, the company sold and vacated the Custom House building.

Operations

The Port of Cork company is a commercial semi-state company with responsibility for the commercial running of the harbour, as well as for navigation and berthage in the port. In 2011, the company had a turnover of €21.4 million and made pre-tax profits of €1.2 million. This was down from a turnover of €26.4 million and profits of €5.4 million in 2006. Container traffic increased by 6% in 2011 when 156,667 teus were handled at the Tivoli container facility, however this was down from a peak of 185,000 teus in 2006. The 2006 figure saw the port at full capacity and the company drew up plans for a new container facility capable of handling up to 400,000 teus per annum at Ringaskiddy, which was the subject of major objections. Following a public Oral Planning Hearing in 2008, the Irish planning board An Bord Pleanála rejected the plan due to inadequate rail and road links at the location. There has been an increase in cruise ship visits to Cork Harbour in the early 21st century, with 53 such ships visiting the port in 2011, increasing to approximately 100 cruise ship visits by 2019. These cruise ships berth at the Port of Cork's deep-water quay in Cobh, which is Ireland's only dedicated berth for cruise ships.

In 2021, The Port of Cork reportedly had an operating profit of €7.8 million (€6.1m in 2020).

Traffic

Vessels up to are capable of coming through entrance to Cork Harbour. As the shipping channels get shallower the farther inland one travels, access becomes constricted, and only vessels up to can sail above Cobh.

The Port of Cork provides pilotage and towage facilities for vessels entering Cork Harbour. All vessels accessing the quays in Cork City must be piloted and all vessels exceeding 130 metres in length must be piloted once they pass within 2.5 nmi of the harbour entrance.

In 2021, the ports of Cork and Bantry reported a total consolidated traffic of 10.6 million tonnes, largely in line with the equivalent figures from 2020. Due to the retention of existing traffic and the commencement of a number of new direct services to Europe from Ringaskiddy (following Brexit), 2021 also saw a year-on-year increase in the number of container twenty-foot equivalent units or TEUs (from 250,209 TEUs in 2020 to 281,816 in 2021).

Facilities

The Port of Cork has berthing facilities at Cork City, Tivoli, Ringaskiddy, and Cobh.

Cork City's quays are primarily used for grain and oil transport. The city quays house 10 berths, mostly privately owned.

Tivoli's infrastructure includes container handling facilities, as well as provisions for oil, ore, livestock, and a roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) ramp. Before the Ringaskiddy Ferry Port opened, car ferries also operated from Tivoli. Today, the Ro-Ro ramp at Tivoli is primarily used by companies importing cars into Ireland.

Ringaskiddy is home to a passenger and car ferry terminal, and operates as a deep water port.

In 2022, the Port of Cork Company opened a €89 million container terminal in Ringaskiddy. According to the Irish Times, this represented the "largest single investment by any port in Ireland over the past 100 years".

Cobh's quays are used as a terminal for cruise ships - the only such dedicated cruise terminal in the Republic of Ireland.

There are a number of other private berths elsewhere around the harbour. These are usually associated with a particular industry. These specialised berths are in Whitegate (oil jetties), Passage West (grain), Rushbrooke (cargo), Ringaskiddy (car ferry) and Haulbowline (naval/military).

Passenger ferries

Operating since the late 1970s, Brittany Ferries runs a ferry service to Roscoff in France. This operates between April and November from the Ro Ro facilities at Ringaskiddy.

Previous ferry services ran to Swansea in Wales and Santander in Spain. The former, the Swansea Cork ferry, ran initially between 1987 and 2006 and also briefly between 2010 and 2012. The latter, a Brittany Ferries Cork–Santander service, started in 2018 but was cancelled in early 2020.

In April 2022, the Port of Cork company entered into a three-year agreement, with Brittany Ferries, for a second weekly sailing between Cork and Roscoff.

Gallery

File:Port of Cork, view from the east into the city.jpg|View from the east looking upriver into the city File:Lighthouse from the Swansea- Cork ferry - geograph.org.uk - 71761.jpg|Mouth of Cork Harbour File:Port of Cork sign.jpg|Cruise terminal at Cobh File:THIS LITTLE HARBOUR AT BLACKROCK VILLAGE MAY BE NAMED PIER HEAD OR THE PIER (WHERE CASTLE ROAD MEETS BLACKROCK ROAD)-144306.jpg|Container ship at Tivoli

References

References

1. "United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations (UNLOCODE) IE/Ireland".
2. "Port of Cork Annual Report 2021".
3. Ireland, TheCork ie (News)-Your Online News from Cork. (2022-03-12). "Port of Cork Company gets award for helping Irish-American trade".
4. (18 July 2016). "Port of Cork boosts profits by 79%". Irish Examiner.
5. "Port History". Port of Cork Company.
6. Shanahan, Catherine. (2021-02-04). "Port of Cork moves out of iconic Custom House".
7. (13 August 2012). "Port Of Cork Company Announce 2011 Annual Results". Port of Cork Company.
8. "Annual Accounts 2006".
9. (27 June 2008). "Port of Cork €225m development rejected". RTÉ News.
10. (6 November 2019). "Port of Cork eyes further cruise growth despite record year which saw 243,000 visitors step ashore". Irish Examiner.
11. (27 July 2017). "Port of Cork cruising towards €15m terminal". Irish Examiner.
12. Ashmore, Jehan. "Increased Turnover at Port of Cork and Profits for 2021".
13. Taggart, Emma. (2022-07-08). "Port of Cork reports profits of €7.8m".
14. Kennedy, John. "Port of Cork signals ambitious growth plans {{!}} ThinkBusiness".
15. "Berths at Cork". Port of Cork Company.
16. "New Cork container terminal marks biggest port investment in a century".
17. (13 July 2020). "Cobh cruise terminal to get 15m upgrade". Cork Independent.
18. "Lower Harbour Quays". Port of Cork.
19. (23 March 2013). "Brittany Ferries Launches 35th Season of Service". Afloat Magazine.
20. (1995). "Ferries of Cork". Ferry Publications.
21. (5 February 2012). "Swansea-Cork ferry: Fastnet Line to close service with loss of 78 jobs". BBC.
22. (16 January 2018). "New ferry route to link Cork and Spain from April". Irish Times.
23. (29 January 2020). "Major Cork ferry route cancelled". The Echo.
24. (7 April 2022). "Port says bonjour to a new sailing".