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Irish Ports Stories
Busier Times for Birkenhead
#Birkenhead – Busier times lay ahead for Birkenhead Twelve Quays Terminal next week when Stena Line introduce a third ship on the route to Belfast while today the Isle of Man Steam Packet resumed a winter service, writes Jehan Ashmore.…
Sandycove Harbour Gets Funding Boost in Budget '14 Allocation
#Harbours - Sandycove Harbour will receive more than €50,000 from a €295,000 package for repairs and upgrades to piers, quays and harbours around the Irish coast, as South County Dublin LifeTimes reports. The funding forms part of the €10 million…
P&O to Bring BBC's The One Show's Rickshaw Challenge for Children In Need
#BBCgoesP&O - The BBC One Show's Alex Jones will be passing through the Port of Larne's P&O Ferry terminal tomorrow evening (8 November) as part of the show's Rickshaw Challenge for BBC Children In Need. This eight-day relay challenge will…
2013 ESPO Award Winner Goes to Port of Antwerp
#HeritagePORT- Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas yesterday handed out the fifth edition of the ESPO Award on Societal Integration to the Port of Antwerp for its project 'Heritage: the breadcrumbs trail between city and port'. This year's edition of the ESPO…
Minister Welcomes Boost to Tourism & Trade as Irish Ferries Announce New Vessel
#FerryBOOST- Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar has welcomed Irish Ferries decision as previously reported, to add two extra daily services on the Holyhead-Dublin route next month and with a new vessel to boost tourism and significantly increase freight capacity. "This…
Irish Ferries Increases Capacity on Irish Sea Dublin to Holyhead Route
#ferry – Irish Ferries is to increase its capacity and frequency on the Dublin to Holyhead route through the introduction of a third ship in December 2013. Currently, the ferry company operates eight sailings per day on the key Irish…
Delayed Freight-Ferry's Launch on Belfast-Liverpool Route
#FreightFerry – Stena Line's plan to launch a freight-only ferry on the Belfast-Liverpool (Birkenhead) on Tuesday as previously reported, has been delayed to next week, writes Jehan Ashmore. Having had technical issues, the 114-trailer capacity Stena Hibernia (1996/13,007grt) also encountered…
Get Snapping! Seatruck Ferries Photo Competition
#PhotoCompetition – Seatruck Ferries, are currently running a photo competition to win £250 worth of vouchers of your choice. Participants are asked to take a photograph that must be that of a Seatruck vessel, nature or theme. Entries for the…
Leading Defence Forces Role for Naval Service Commodore
#NavalLEADER - Alan Shatter, Minster for Justice has promoted a Naval Service leader to the position of Defence Forces deputy chief of staff for the first time in the State's history. Commodore Mark Mellett was confirmed in the new position…
IMDO Shipping Review: Irish Exports Down, Diversifying Cargo Shift, Container Rates Increase and more
#Ports&Shipping –The latest IMDO Weekly Shipping Market Review includes the following stories as detailed below. Irish Economy: Exports down in Q3 - The Irish Exporters Association's latest quarterly review has indicated that merchandise exports fell in quarter 3 by 8.6%…
Brittany Ferries 35th Season Ends with Final Sailing
#FerryNews – Brittany Ferries final Cork-Roscoff end of season sailing for 2013 took place on Saturday as the flagship cruiseferry Pont-Aven headed past Cork Harbour's Roches Point Lighthouse, writes Jehan Ashmore. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Irish-French service began…
LD Lines Launch New UK-Spain Route
#NewROUTE – LD Lines has begun a new UK-Spain route between Poole, Dorset and Santander in Cantabria served by ro-pax Norman Asturias with a capacity for up to 500 passengers, 200 cars or 110 freight vehicles, writes Jehan Ashmore. As…
Ports & Shipping Review: Ghost Ship, EU Ship Recycling, Tourism Increase and more
#ShippingReview - Over the last fortnight Jehan Ashmore has reported from the shipping scene where the saga of the 'Ghost Ship' MV Lyubov Orlova may finally have come to an end in the Atlantic. The European Parliament has finally adopted…
Fyffes Container Technology Broadens Market Reach
#BananaBoxBoats –  Fyffes, Europe’s biggest banana importer headquartered in Dublin is through its Costa Rica base exporting fruit to growing markets in Russia and the Middle East. New shipping containers will now allow Fyffes to export fruit from Central America…
Ardmore Shipping Announce Acquisition of ‘Seafarer’ Sister
#NewTanker – Ardmore Shipping Corporation have acquired a 45,726 Dwt MR product tanker built in 2006 at Minami Nippon Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., Japan, for a purchase price of approximately $20.5 million. According to EON News, the medium-range vessel is expected…
Stena Line Voted 'Best Ferry Company'
#FerryAward – Stena Line was voted top ferry company for a record 21st year at the annual Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards. The 'Best Ferry Company' award was presented at a glittering awards ceremony last month in Newcastle, Co.…

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.”