#LargerCruiseships - Planning permission is been sought by the Port of Cork for a €1.5m deep-water pontoon and access bridge to cater for bigger cruise liners arriving in Cobh, writes the Irish Examiner.
The port authority has applied to Cork County Council for the facility, which it hopes to have completed by next April — the start of the annual cruiseseason.
Port of Cork commercial manager captain Michael McCarthy said it was imperative that it built facilities to handle the new generation of cruise liners.
"The current berth can handle ships like Celebrity Eclipse and Independence of the Seas, which are up to 330-340 metres in length. The next generation, such as the Quantum of the Seas (167,000 tonnes), will be longer and will carry nearly 4,000 passengers," he said.
This year the biggest vessel visiting the port will be the Royal Princess (141,000 tonnes) as previously reported on Afloat.ie, which arrives in Cobh next month. The Irish Examiner has more on the planning permission story, click HERE.
Afloat.ie adds three cruiseships are to call this Thursday, the trio are Sea Cloud II (2001/3,849grt) MSC Magnifica (2010/92,128grt) and Aidacara (1996/38,557grt). To find out further details of each visiting vessel, click to our coverage link above.
