#dublinport – Dublin Port Company today officially opened its newly completed Alexandra Quay Container Terminal following a €35m investment. The opening was welcomed by The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, T.D.

The opening marks the completion of the third and final phase of the development of the new facility. This third phase will enable the terminal to cater for an additional 80,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) per annum bringing the terminal's total capacity to over 400,000 TEU per annum.

The initial two phases of the project created new runways for three rows of rubber tyred gantry cranes (RTGs), a type of large mobile crane used for stacking shipping containers.

The third and final phase added a fourth runway for RTGs and deepened and strengthened the quay wall to allow bigger container ships to be loaded and discharged with modern high speed ship-to-shore gantry cranes.

The terminal's operator, Burke Shipping Group, has invested in a new seventh RTG and will take delivery of a ship-to-shore gantry crane later in the year. Both of these new cranes are being supplied by Liebherr of Killarney. The finished terminal has an area of 10.7 hectares and the completed development comes at a time when Dublin Port's full year trading figures show a 7% increase for 2014, equalling the record levels of 2007.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, TD, said: "I congratulate Dublin Port Company on the completion of the development of this new container terminal. The €35 million investment by Dublin Port Company is significant and represents a sustainable approach to planning for the long-term capacity and infrastructure needs of Dublin Port and its customers. The fact that trade levels for 2014 are on a par with 2007 is testament to the hard work and commitment of all at Dublin Port Company who are driving the company forward and ensuring that Dublin Port plays to its full strengths in delivering for our economy and for our continued growth and development."

Eamonn O'Reilly, Chief Executive, Dublin Port Company said: "Dublin Port Company is proud to open the newly completed Alexandra Quay Container Terminal today. We have invested €35 million to develop this facility so that Dublin Port can continue to facilitate growth in the economy and meet the needs of our customers and Dublin as a port city. This project is a clear example of how Dublin Port Company is finding innovative ways to address demand for increased capacity and modernised infrastructure using the port's existing footprint. I am confident that this timely and sustainable investment, delivered through a successful public private partnership, achieves this important objective for Dublin Port.

Lucy McCaffrey, Chairperson, Dublin Port Company said: "Dublin Port Company's Masterplan includes a commitment to use the port's existing lands to the greatest extent possible. This is a very tangible example of how Dublin Port Company is continuing to act on this commitment. The completion of the Alexandra Quay Container Terminal gives Dublin Port additional container handling capacity and more modern port infrastructure that will benefit not only the port, but its customers and the wider economy in the immediate future and for years to come."

The annual 'Follow The Fleet' Schools Eassy Competition is open to all schools that are registered to take part in the Follow the Fleet project. The 2010/2011 competition is running an essay competition centred around three key themes: Maritime History, Maritime Trading In Ireland –Life of a Container and Maritime Technology and the Master Mariner.

Schools can register details by logging on the webite where a username and password will be provided. All details with essay guidelines, entry forms and competition details and rules are available on www.imdo.ie/followthefleet/news.asp

The latest figures announced by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) has revealed that the volume of goods passing through Irish ports increased across all the main shipping segments during the 3rd quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

Exports of container were up 12%, roll-on/roll-off volumes on Ireland – UK routes is up 3%, dry bulk volumes up 40%, and liquid bulk up 19%.

Containersized traffic shipped through ROI ports recorded a quarter-on-quarter volume growth for the 3rd quarter 2010 up 4% to 218,377 twenty equivalent units (TEU). This was primarily as a result of strong export demand, which rose by 12% in the last quarter.

This sector is characterized by export traffic to USA and Asia largely influenced by the multinational chemical and pharmaceutical industries and also established indigenous Irish exporting companies. The other factor contributing to the aggregate rise was the increase in container imports during this period. This was also the first quarter-on-quarter growth in import volumes since the beginning of 2009.

Roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) traffic to the UK from ROI ports continued to make a steady recovery up 3% for the 3rd quarter which is consistent with overall figures for the 9 months from Jan – Sept period which is up 3%, to 568,833 units. The ro/ro segment is largely weighted towards services to and from the UK which remains our largest trading partner.

In the dry bulk trade, traffic through all Irish Ports continued to recover some of the large volume losses experienced in 2009 and is up 40% for the 3rd quarter compared to the same period last year and 26% for the first 9 months of 2010. Part of the rise is attributed to strong global demand for ore and mineral products such as alumina, while domestic demand in the agricultural sector experienced a rise in imports of grains, feeds and fertilizers. While the overall picture is positive; the main volume gains are distributed to the larger ports with some of the smaller regional ports still in negative territory.

Break bulk volumes of construction related products fell again in the third quarter, bringing the total decline for the third quarter to -10%. Between 2008 and 2010 over 700,000 tonnes of break bulk commodities have been lost from the market. Importantly the fall off in volumes has not slowed in 2010 with an average quarterly drop of 10%.

Liquid bulk volume rose in Q3 by 19% year-on-year. However overall volumes for the first 9 months of the year remain unchanged.

The outlook for the remainder of the year suggests that some volume recovery in the main market segments will be achieved this year. However the total volume in many segments are still running at 35% less than 2007 volumes. Many shipping operators also comment that while export volumes have remained resilient over this period, there are few new companies emerging in the export market. Otherwise there are concerns about the impact of austerity measures in the Euro zone and at home.

Source: Glenn Murphy, Director of the IMDO. For more about the IMDO logon here.