The Port of Cork Company have today announced their annual results for 2010 and despite the current economic climate the Port of Cork delivered a reasonable performance with total traffic at the Port of Cork amounting to 8.8 million tonnes, a positive increase of 8.5% on the 8.3 million tonnes generated in 2009. Trade increases were most notable in oil traffic, animal feedstuffs, fertilisers, salt, coal, trade cars, zinc exports and roll-on roll-off (RORO) traffic. Such increases indicate signs of recovery in the economy.

Turnover for the year amounted to €22 million (2009: €20.8 million) and operating profit before exceptional costs and interest amounted to €2 million (2009: €1.5 million). Profit on Ordinary Activities before taxation amounted to €2.2 million. In 2009 the Port of Cork successfully completed the Cork Dockers Rationalisation allowing the port to provide more efficient, reliable and most importantly cost effective shipping services for all users in the future.

Commenting on the 2010 annual results, Chairman Mr. Dermot O'Mahoney said: "Despite a reasonable increase of 5.6% in turnover, the Port of Cork has had to take a closer look at the company's current business practices, to ensure more efficient work practices and better control of costs. An increase in exports by 9.7% compared to 2009 show some areas are returning to growth and this is positive for the region."

Oil traffic which is mainly handled at Conoco Phillips Whitegate Oil refinery, increased by 3.56% to 5 million tonnes. Container traffic reduced by less than 1% to 147,526 TEU's, maintaining the Port of Cork's status as the second busiest Port in Ireland in terms of numbers of containers handled. Containers are shipped to and from Cork to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Zeebrugee, Scandinavia, North West Europe and the Mediterranean, highlighting Cork's role as a important gateway for trade.

Non-oil traffic accounted for 3.4 million tonnes in 2010, an increase in 486,806 tonnes or 16.7% compared to 2009.

The Port hosted 52 cruise liners in 2010 which brought over 100,000 passengers and crew to the Cork region and a welcome contribution to the local economy. The Port's continued investment in upgrading the Cobh Cruise Terminal has paid dividends by attracting some of the largest cruise lines to berth at the dedicated cruise facility. The Port of Cork is committed to the thriving cruise business, and aims to grow the business further from 54 calls to 75 calls over the next five years.

Brittany Ferries' Cork to Roscoff route had a very successful season operating from March to November. Overall the Port of Cork's Ro-Ro business was significantly boosted in 2010 by the resumption of the ferry service linking Cork with Swansea. The Port of Cork remains very supportive of the drive to maintain this ferry link which brings a welcome boost to the local and regional economy.

In 2010 the Port of Cork completed and published its Strategic Development Plan Review, a key element of which involved a comprehensive evaluation of potential sites in Cork Harbour for future port facilities. A detailed and comprehensive assessment was made of 13 sites in Cork Harbour for suitability to meet the needs of the Port in the short/medium/long term for different modes of trade. In preparing the Strategic Plan, the Company engaged in an extensive public consultation process with stakeholders. The issues raised were compiled into an Issues report which in turn fed into the review process of the plan. At the conclusion of the process it was determined that the primary location for Port activities should be in the lower harbour at Ringaskiddy. This location is already associated with considerable port related activity and development and is consistent with the relevant Development Plans of Cork County Council and the South West Regional Authority.

Chief Executive, Mr. Brendan Keating said: "Overall the Strategic Development Plan Review reiterates the Port of Cork's commitment to ensuring that Cork remains a world class Port with a sustainable and economically viable future in supporting and serving the economic competitiveness of the national and regional economy. The plan was prepared on the basis of planning for the long-term traffic projections of 2030 and beyond. However, in recognition that much can change in the intervening period the Plan sets out a framework which is flexible and adoptable in the short to medium term and on a phased basis."

With the completion of this Strategic Plan Review the Port of Cork is confident that viable new port facilities can be delivered in support of the business and trading needs of the region. The Port of Cork Company is convinced that the provision of Port infrastructure capacity is essential in enhancing the economic prospects of the State, Cork City, County and the South West Region.

Sustaining the quality of the environment in Cork Harbour, particularly in areas which have the potential to be affected or influenced by Port Operations, is a priority for the Company.  The Port of Cork Company is committed to the highest standards in environmental management programmes through the implementation of global best practice and is accredited under ISO14001 and the EcoPorts foundation.

During 2010 the Company was involved in a number of local community based projects in Cork Harbour.  The new Port of Cork City Marina was constructed during 2010, and it is an addition to the high quality facilities already in existence such as, the Millennium Garden in Tivoli, the Pier in Crosshaven and the landscaping at Ringaskiddy. The Port of Cork also continued to work in partnership with the National Maritime College of Ireland in providing training for Port and Harbour related activities.  It is intended that this area of activity will be expanded over the next three years.

Additionally, the schools initiative, now in existence for over five years, continues to grow and be more successful in raising awareness levels of the Port among school children in Cork. The 2010 schools project, the most successful to date, recently concluded with a large number of projects submitted from schools.  The theme of this year's competition was "Making Cork Harbour a Green Energy Hub for the future".

Operators of the Cork-Swansea port route, Fastnet Line celebrated their 100,000th passenger late last month, after opening the service in March 2010, writes Jehan Ashmore.

In addition passengers travelling on the Julia can visit the newly installed tourist office where an advanced booking system will be available for all accommodation, leisure, and hospitality facilities located on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Irish and Welsh members of the West Cork Tourism Co–Operative, which established the ferry operation will staff the tourist office full-time during the summer months. The facility is unique to Irish-UK ferry services and was officially opened by the new Cork County Mayor Tim Lombard. For further information from the co-operative click www.westcork.ie and more about the other on board facilities click HERE.

With competition from summer sells on offer from rival operators on the Irish Sea, in particular on St. Georges Channel services, Fastnet Line are combating with deals to encourage higher occupancy sailings during the peak season.

The company are also preparing to accommodate Irish soccer fans in the autumn, following the success of Swansea City F.C. in gaining promotion to the Premiership.

Alliance Franҫcaise de Cork and Fondation Belém in association with the Port of Cork are pleased to announce arrival of the French tall-ship fleet, Belém, a 116-year old barque at one stage owned by the Guinness family, writes Jehan Ashmore.

During her four-day stay the pride of the French tall-ship fleet is to berth at Albert Quay, in the heart of Cork city-centre where the public can thread her timber decks on Saturday (2 July) between 11.30-17.00 hours and on Sunday (3 July) starting from 10.00 till 18.00 hours. There is an admission of €5 for adults, a concession of €3 and a family ticket costs €10.

Visitors can trace her long and varied career with an exhibit housed below decks of the historic vessel which was built in 1896 in Nantes. For nearly two decades she crossed the Atlantic transporting a diverse cargo but mostly spices, sugar and cocoa beans from her namesake port of Belém do Pará, on the north-east coast of Brazil bound for France. She would sail upriver on the River Seine to supply the cocoa beans for a Paris-based chocolate-maker.

Belem would later become under the British flag and she became the property of the Duke of Westminster, who converted her to a luxury pleasure yacht. In 1921 she was sold to the Hon. Arthur Ernest Guinness, who renamed her Fantôme II and took part in the Cowes regattas and cruised around the world between 1923 and 1924 with his family.

To read more on the vessel's other career's under several owners until her present-day role as a sail-training vessel operated by the Fondation Belém click HERE and also www.portofcork.ie

In addition to visitors boarding the Belem, the public are invited to attend free readings by the Cork poets William Wall and Thomas McCarthy. Accompanying the poets are French writers Maylis de Kerangal and Olivier Sebban for a session of Franco-Irish readings which too takes place on the Saturday evening between 18.00 -19.30 hours.

For further information contact Vytenė Laučytė, Cultural Coordinator, Alliance Franҫaise de Cork Tel: (021) 431 0677 or by email: [email protected]

All advance bookings for the visit on board the Belem are to be made at Alliance Franҫaise de Cork. Tickets are also available at the entrance to the tallship alongside Albert Quay, Cork. Last year Alliance Francaise celebrated its 50th anniversary

The 14,620 dwt US-based training-ship Empire State made a return call to the Port of Cork last night for a four-day stay, writes Jehan Ashmore.

At over 172m long the cruiser-sterned vessel with a port of registry of New York, moored at the Cobh Cruise Terminal which was recently visited by another US training ship, State of Maine (click HERE).

The veteran vessel now in her sixth decade of service and is the also the sixth training-ship to carry the name 'Empire State' for the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College.

Empire State was laid down as SS Oregon at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia. She was launched in 1961 for the States Steamship Company and delivered a year later for service in the Pacific trades. For further information about the vessel's interim career before she was converted for her current role click HERE.

Despite her conversion she still presents a distinctive profile with the superstructure positioned amidships between the cargo-holds.

Prior to the Empire State's arrival the French cruiseship Le Diamant departed Cobh for an overnight passage to Dublin, where last year the Empire State made a port of call.

The next cruise-caller to Cobh is the 296-passenger Silver Cloud which is scheduled to dock on Monday evening.

For five-days the US training-ship State of Maine will make Cork Harbour her port of call, when the 16,000 tonnes vessel docks this evening, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 500-foot long ship is on a 55-day training cruise that started late last month from her homeport of Castine Harbour in Maine. Since then the Maine Maritime Academy's training-ship has visited Norfolk, Virginia before crossing the Atlantic to include calls to Valetta, Malta and the vessel's most recent port of call was Civitavecchia in Italy.

Onboard the former oceanographic vessel that served in the US Navy as the USNS Tanner, there are students, officers and crew. The Maine Maritime Academy purchased the vessel in 1997 and she was converted to accommodate the training needs of the college.

The academy was founded in 1941 and enrolls more than 900 students from 35 states and from several foreign countries. Students in the college are awarded A.S., B.S., and M.S. degrees in 15 fields of study.

State of Maine is to berth at the Cobh Cruise Terminal, the facility which normally caters for cruiseships is to be followed by another training-ship the 17,000 tonnes Empire State on 22 June.

Ocean to City, Cork Harbour's annual maritime festival, takes place this year from 3-12 June. 

The yearly celebration of Cork’s maritime history and its unique harbour begins on Friday 3 June when members of the public can voyage through the city by kayak, enjoy the thrill of a sea safari trip around Cork Harbour or follow TG4’s Padraig Ó Duinnín as he presents a historical walking tour and talk on rowing in Cork. 

The highlight of the festival, An Rás Mór, takes place on Saturday 4 June and will see boats of all sizes row 15 nautical miles from Crosshaven via Cork Harbour, Monkstown and Blackrock before finishing at the boardwalk in Lapps Quay in Cork. 

Around 400 Irish and International rowers will compete in a diverse range of vessels including dragon boats, kayaks, currachs, Celtic long boats, Cornish pilot gigs and Irish coastal rowing boats. 

Sunday 5 June will see a special 10km kayak race through the city centre. The Irish Naval Service flagship LE Orla will also offer free public tours, while Meitheal Mara will host a guided voyage around the island of Cork by a variety of small craft.

To mark the Cork Harbour School and Heritage Trails Weekend from from 9-11 June, a series of events highlighting the attractions of Cork Harbour, both water and land based, will take place.

Activities include a summer school on the theme of 'recreation in a working port', which will be held in the Port of Cork on Friday 10 June and opened by Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney. 

For more details visit www.oceantocity.com.

Cruiseships continue to grow in size but the opposite could be said for Grand Princess when her Skywalker Nightclub weighing some 211 tons was removed, writes Jehan Ashmore.

A floating crane-barge with a 1,000 ton lifting capacity hoisted the structure sky-high away from the ship which was berthed at the Grand Bahama Shipyard drydock facility. The ships owners, Princess Cruises cited the main reason for the removal was in order to 'significantly improve the operational performance of the ship, including greater fuel efficiency.'

Grand Princess may have lost her signature Skywalker Nightckub but three-decks below a new nightclub, One5, inspired by its Deck 15 location was created. In addition to this work which took place during April and May the 2,600 passenger cruisehip also underwent a major refit. The ship which had its last major refurbishment in 2004 has amenities to include an outdoor movie screen, fitness centre, spa, casino and four swimming pools.
For 'interactive' deckplans click here and interior slideshow click this link.

The distinctive 'Skywalker' feature became one of the most iconic in cruiseship naval architecture when the Grand Princess was launched as leadship
of the 'Grand' class in 1998. Located at the extreme aft of the vessel, the nightclub could only be reached by clubbers using an angled walkway (photo). Externally the feature was referred by some as the 'shopping trolley' and others percieved the design infleunce from towering poops found on ancient war-faring galleons.

Irrespective of the design origins, another 10 'Grand' class vessels were built by the Italian Fincantieni (at Malfalcone) Shipbuilding Group. The 'handle' (photo) feature on the Grand Princess was made with a heavier material compared to Golden Princess (2001) and Star Princess completed a year later. So there are no plans to remove these nightclubs. Of the more recent additions to the class modifications have appeared, notably without the inclusion of the Skywalker Nightclub's but there are changes to funnel designs.

Outside the Princess Cruises brand, the Ventura and Azura (also of the Grand-class) operate for P&O Cruises, serving the UK market from Southampton. The Hamsphire port welcomed the pioneering leadship Grand Princess on 5 May after she made a 16-day trans-Atlantic repositioning voyage from Port Everglades.

The cruiseship which has a crew of 1,200 alone will make the UK port its seasonal homeport this year from where she sails on cruises in Europe. On one of these cruises itineraries the Grand Princess (290m long x 36 beam X 8.5m draft) included a visit to the Port of Cork today. You can monitor the ship from Cobh Cruise Terminal via the 'live' bridge web-cam, noting the vessel is due to depart at 18.00 this evening bound for Dublin Port.

Grand Princess became the first cruiseship to measure over 100,000 gross registered tonnes when the 108,806 (grt) vessel docked in Dublin on 31 August 2004.

Last year the port handled 88 cruisecalls and this number of vessels is to be closely repeated this season. Over 200 cruise calls with around half a million passengers and crew are scheduled to visit the island of Ireland. The cruise sector business is estimated to generate €60m to the economies
north and south.

The Finnish Navy minelayer FNS Hämeenmaa is to dock in the Port of Cork at the city's central North Custom House Quay tomorrow morning, writes Jehan Ashmore.

FNS Hämeenmaa entered service in 1992 and measures 1,450 tonnes, she is the namesake class of two minelayers, the second FNS Uusimaa was also built by Finnyards in the same year.

At nearly 78m long the steel hulled vessels which have an alloy superstructure are designed to operate throughout the year in the demanding Baltic Sea conditions and the in the archipelago's.

They have an ice operating classification of ICE-1A and for military purposes they became one of first Finnish Navy vessels to incorporate stealth technology features. The pair are primarily tasked for minelaying duties but they also provide roles acting as an escort, transport and depot ships.

Armament comprises of 1 × Bofors 57 mm dual-purpose gun, 1 × eight-cell ItO 04 surface-to-air missile launcher, 2 × anti-submarine rocket launchers, 2 × depth charge rails and 100-150 sea mines (four mine laying rails).

Based in Pansio, the 20 knot vessels each have a crew complement of 60 personal. In total the Finnish Navy has around 2,100 officers, officer specialists and warrant officers, military personnel and civilian's workers.

On an annual basis close to 3,900 conscripts, of which approximately 30 are women volunteers do their military service in the navy. In addition about 3,400 reservists are trained yearly in naval refresher courses.

Cobh played host to yet another historic maritime spectacle when two giant cruiseships met off the town's deepwater quay at the same time this afternoon, writes Jehan Ashmore.

In an unprecedented scheduling of cruiseships to the Port of Cork (Cobh), the inbound Independence of the Seas (154,407 tonnes) the largest cruiseship to call to any Irish port, passed the 122,000 tonnes Celebrity Eclipse which was preparing to depart from the town's cruise terminal.

Some 15 minutes later Celebrity Eclipse pulled away from the berth. During that timeframe the Independence of the Seas had completely turned around in the opposite direction to face Cobh after maneuvering in the swinging basin between Cobh and the Naval Base on Haulbowline Island.

The 4,175-passenger Independence of the Seas is the third of the 'Freedom' class vessels. She has a length of 339m and is a mere 11m shorter in distance to that of the 350m berth at Cobh. The 38m wide cruiseship has a draft of 8.7m and the depth of water at the town's quayside is 9.1m.

The 15-deck vessel was built by Aker Finnyards in Turku, Finland in 2008 for Royal Caribbean International (RCI). Amenities on the Freedom class consist of the an innovative surf park, canitilevered whirlpools, ice-skating rink, full-size boxing ring and a H2O Zone waterpark.

As for the 3,179-passenger Celebrity Eclipse, she is the second of five 'Solstice' class sisters and measures 317m (length) 48m (beam) and draws 8.6m. On the top deck there is the fresh green grass located at Lawn Club. She was built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and entered service last year for her owners Celebrity Cruises.

Independence of the Seas departed yesterday afternoon on an overnight passage from Southampton where the vessel is based in the summer and for the winter she is based out of Florida. The Celebrity Eclipse departed the UK south coast port from Cobh where the larger cruiseship is also to make overnight port of call.

In total 10,000 passengers and crew will of visited the Cork Harbour region alone over the May Bank holiday. To meet the surge in demand for the shore-based excusions a fleet of buses awaited and additional trains were also laid-on by Irish Rail. The railway station is located next-door to the Cobh Heritage Centre which retraces the town's strong trans-Atlantic liner era.

For the first time two cruiseship giants are scheduled to depart and arrive off Cobh at the same time this May Bank Holiday weekend, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The largest cruiseship to call to an Irish port the Independence of the Sea which weighs 154,407 gross tonnes (some 6,000 tonnes larger than the liner Queen Mary 2) will pass the Cobh-berthed Celebrity Eclipse of 122,000 tonnes around 14.00hrs on Sunday.

Weather permitting the Independence of the Seas will then be maneuvering in the swinging basin between Haulbowline and Cobh, just upriver of the Celebrity Eclipse which will then begin to pull away from the deepwater berth at the Cobh Cruise Terminal.

The 350m long berth has a quayside depth of 9m and is capable of handling some of the largest cruiseships on this island.

Prior to Sunday's sailing spectacle the Celebrity Eclipse is due to dock tomorrow afternoon for the overnight call. Likewise the 4,375 passenger Independence of the Seas will stay at Cobh for an overnight call and then depart's on Monday evening.

“Two such large cruise liners, have never before been in Cork Harbour at the same time, let alone pass each other creating a magnificent sight. An excellent viewing point for anyone planning on visiting Cobh on Sunday 1st May would be the High Road or Whitepoint in Cobh” said Port of Cork Commercial Manager, Captain Micheal McCarthy.

Together the cruiseships will have a combined gross tonnage of nearly 300,000 tonnes and they will bring 10,000 passengers and crew into the Cork region this weekend alone. Celebrity Eclipse is operated by Celebrity Cruises and the Independence of the Seas is run by Royal Caribbean International.

The 3,129 passenger Celebrity Eclipse made her 'maiden' cruise and port of call to Cobh last year following her high profile repatriation voyage from Spain with stranded UK tourists arising from the fallout of the Icelandic volcanic ash-cloud.

On that inaugural ocasion the Celebrity Eclipse which cost €500m became the 500th cruise caller to the Port of Cork where the vessel made an overnight call at Cobh. To see a time-lapse video marking the 500th cruiseship's arrival click here.