Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Record Operating Profits

#ports&shipping - Record operating profits at the Port of Waterford amounted to €964,000 for the first six months of this year, up substantially from the same period in 2016.

Turnover at the company increased by 21% to €3.8m for the first half of the year.

One of the major contributors to the increased turnover was additional bulk throughput with total bulk tonnes up to 701,992 for the six months, an increase of 30% on the equivalent period a year ago.

Growth was experienced across all products handled with animal feed and project cargo activity performing particularly strongly.

The commercial state company has also recently published its annual corporate plan update covering the years to 2021. This envisages activity and profitability increasing significantly with annual revenues targeted to reach almost €10m and capital investment of €5m forecast. 

Ship arrivals in the six months to June 30 were up 19% on the first half of 2016 and an additional three people are now directly employed by the Port.

An economic study on the cruise business in the southeast is underway and as Afloat reported yesterday saw a maiden call to an Irish port by the newly-commissioned Silver Muse off Dunmore East.

The company also continues to work with the southeast’s local authorities and a wide group of other stakeholders to advance the region’s economic agenda.

Looking at the first half performance in 2017, Frank Ronan, Chief Executive, Port of Waterford, said: "The ongoing success of our partners in the bulk sector has helped deliver a strong trading performance. In other parts of the business, we are working hard to attract additional container services and to find ways to grow our share of the cruise market. The support of our various allies in the region is key to our success and we will continue to work in close partnership with all of our stakeholders."

The Port of Waterford Corporate Plan 2017-2021 is available at www.portofwaterford.com

Published in Ports & Shipping

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!