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Irish Ports Stories
Galway Sea Festival Sets Sail with Galway Bay Sailing Club Annual Regatta
The flagship event of the Galway Sea Festival is the Galway Bay Sailing Club Annual Regatta. The regatta which takes place from Friday evening through to Monday afternoon involves three days racing in Galway Bay. Founded in 1969 the Galway…
Irish Ports Witness Surge in Animal Feed Imports
#FodderShipments – As Irish Farmers struggle with one of the worst fodder crisis in over 50 years, ports across the country have seen unprecedented levels of animal feed imports, according to the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO). Most of the…
Admiralty Marshall Directs Sale of 'Clipper Faith' Cargo Vessel Berthed in Dublin Port
Clipper Faith, the cargo vessel at the centre of a High Court proceedings earlier this month is to go for public auction by direction of Admiralty Marshall one of the largest vessels directed to be sold this way in recent…
Estuary Bell, Sail for Cancer, Crew Courses & Mermaids at Foynes Yacht Club
Members of Foynes Yacht Club are gearing up for the first leg of the Estuary Bell race, which will be taking place on Saturday, May 26. It's only of a number of activities happening at the Shannon Estuary club with its own…
Ports & Shipping Review:  Galway Port 99%, X-Bow Call, Detained Cargoship, Cruise Liffey, New Pilot RIB and QM2
#ShippingReview: Over the last fortnight Jehan Ashmore has reported from the shipping scene where plans for the expansion of Galway Harbour are "99 per cent ready to go". The increasing strategic importance of Cork Harbour as a base for the…
Queen Mary 2: Bon Voyage As Dun Laoghaire Bids Farewell to Success of Big Visitor
#QM2Farewell– Queen Mary 2 under the command of master Kevin Oprey, weighed anchor in Dublin Bay yesterday evening after her historic maiden visit off Dun Laoghaire Harbour and from where a flotilla set out to take a final close-up view…
Cruiseships: Small, Medium & Large Make Calls to Dublin Bay Ports
#CruiseLiners – The dual serving liner and cruiseship Queen Mary 2 was not the only passenger vessel visiting Dublin Bay today, as the Serenissima docked within Dun Laoghaire Harbour and Artania called to Dublin Port, writes Jehan Ashmore. The contrast…
Queen Mary 2 World’s Largest Liner Heralds Cruise Boom for Dún Laoghaire Harbour
#LinerQueenMary2 -RMS Queen Mary 2 the world's largest ocean liner made her maiden visit to Dublin Bay, anchoring offshore in calm sunny conditions off Dun Laoghaire Harbour early this morning. A five star welcome saw 3,000 passengers greeted by a…
Queen Mary 2 Departs the Clyde Bound for Dublin Bay Debut
#LinerQueenMary2- Queen Mary 2 is currently underway and bound for Dublin Bay, having departed Greenock Ocean Terminal, where she launched the cruise season at the Clyde port. Tomorrow morning the world's only 'liner' will make her historic maiden anchorage call…
Naval Service to Sell Off Pair of Older Patrol Vessels
#NavalService – Two Irish-built navy patrol ships launched at Verolme Cork Dockyard, are to be sold off after 40 years of service according to the Herald. LE Emer (P21) and a sister ship LE Aoife (P22) were built between 1978…
Cruiseship Berths to be Much Closer up the Liffey
#DublinPort –Visiting cruise ships such as today's arrival of Le Boreal to Dublin Port are to be brought much further up the Liffey in a new plan to develop deep water berths. Part of the river at Dublin Port is…
Sea Explorer Returns to Dublin Bay but Calls Instead to Dublin Port
#CruiseLiners – Sea Explorer the small cruiseship which spent a brief 'lay-up' period in Dun Laoghaire Harbour during the Spring, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, returned to Dublin Bay today again 'without' passengers, with the ship docking instead in Dublin…
Video Shows Wicklow's New Greystones Harbour Marina From the Air
Video taken on an evening microlight flight over Greystones harbour in County Wicklow reveals progress at the new town marina a month after it opened. A mix of 25 boats from sailing cruisers to motor boats to ribs and speedboats…
Detained Cargoship Shifts Berths for Cruise Caller
#DetainedCargoship – The detained Belize-flagged 19,000 tonnes cargo-bulker, Clipper Faith, previously reported on Afloat.ie, had to shift berths in Dublin port today so in order to accommodate a cruiseship, writes Jehan Ashmore. In place of the Clipper Faith is the…
Stormy Stan Sails In For Arklow's Gathering of the Fleet
#MaritimeFestivals - Stormy Stan sailed into Arklow aboard tall ship Ruth recently as part of the build up to Arklow RNLI’s Gathering of the Fleet Maritime Festival. This August Bank Holiday weekend, Arklow RNLI and Arklow Harbour will play host to…
Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company Opens Global Diaspora Forum
Ireland has an opportunity to become an example of best practice in diaspora engagement and policy. That's according to the organisers of the European strand of the Global Diaspora Forum, which is taking place in Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel in Killiney…

As an island economy, a healthy maritime sector is key to our national competitiveness. Virtually all our imports and exports pass through Irish ports.

Ireland is dependent on ports and shipping services to transport goods and 90% of our trade is moved though Irish ports. Shipping and maritime transport services make a significant contribution to Ireland’s ocean economy, with the sector generating €2.3 billion in turnover and employing over 5,000 people in 2018.

Ireland’s maritime industry continues to grow and progress each year with Irish ports and shipping companies making significant investments. The ports sector in Ireland is currently undergoing a number of expansions and developments with Dublin Port’s Alexandra Basin development, the development of Ringaskiddy in Cork by Port of Cork and the development of Shannon Foynes Port. Along with these major investments, shipping companies are also investing heavily in new tonnage, with Irish Ferries, CLdN and Stena leading new build programmes.

These pages cover the following sectoral areas: shipowners, harbour authorities, shipbrokers, freight forwarders and contractors, cruise liner operators, port users, seamen, merchants, academic institutions, shipyards and repair facilities, naval architects, navy and defence personnel.

Our pages are covering some of the most notable arrivals around our coast and reporting too on port development and shipping news.

This section of the site deals with Port and Shipping News on our largest ports Dublin Port, Port of Cork, the Shannon Estuary, Galway Harbour and Belfast Lough.

A recent study carried out for the Irish Ports Association (IPA) totalled 75.7 billion during 2004 and their net economic impact was some 5.5 billion supporting around 57, 500 full time employees.

Liam Lacey, Director of the Marine Institute’s Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) said, “The Irish maritime industry can look to the future with confidence. It has shown itself to be resilient and agile in responding to challenges. Over the past decade, it has had to respond to the challenges of the financial crisis of 2008, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and recent challenges. Ireland’s maritime sector has continued to underpin our economy by maintaining vital shipping links for both trade and tourism.”