Plans to develop an offshore wind energy hub in Cork Harbour have been shelved as Doyle Shipping Group has pulled out of the scheme.

As reported on Afloat.ie just three months ago, the 15-hectare Cork Dockyard facility at Rushbrooke had been earmarked for redevelopment as an infrastructure hub for offshore renewable energy (ORE) projects.

But according to the Irish Examiner on Wednesday (8 May), the family-owned Doyle Shipping Group has withdrawn from any involvement in ORE.

And the Business Post says the Port of Cork has now been left with a €70 million funding gap for its development plans.

Planning permission for what would have been the Cork Dockyard Rejuvenation Project expires at the end of this year, piling further pressure on the Port of Cork Company as it seeks a commercial partner for the necessary investment.

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.

#Dispute - A Dublin Port stevedore, Doyle Shipping, whose case against Stena Line was back in court recently, where a ruling on costs was reserved.

Earlier this month as The Irish Times reported, Doyle won an injunction allowing it to continue to provide services to Stena Line ferries docking in Dublin Port. Stena told Doyle last August that it was terminating a contract, worth €4 million annually to the Irish company, to provide services to the ferry company in Dublin.

However, Doyle maintains that this is in breach of a verbal agreement negotiated between the pair for the provision of those services until 2022. So the High Court ordered that Doyle continue to do the work until the case itself is tried. That will happen next year, and Stena is contesting Doyle’s claim on several grounds.

For more, The Irish Times continues with the story here. 

#dispute - An injunction has been secured by Doyle Shipping Group allowing it continue to provide services to Stena Line’s ferries docking at Dublin Port.

According to The Irish Times, the order applies until the full hearing of proceedings over the purported termination of the contractual relationship between the companies.

DSG had operated a contract, worth some €4m annually, with Stena Line Limited to provide services to allow Stena’s ferries dock at Dublin port for more than 20 years.

The services include stevedoring, checking-in and out of passengers, loading and unloading freight and administration services.

The contract was renewed periodically but, on August 31st last, Stena informed DSG it was ending the agreement and gave DSG three months notice.

DSG, which provides services at all of Ireland’s major ports, claims the termination notice is in breach of an oral agreement negotiated with Stena in 2015 for provision of services at Dublin Port until 2022.

For more on the story click here.

#Burke2Doyle - Burke Shipping, the marine agency and logistical services company will be changing name to the Doyle Shipping Group (DSG) with effect as of next week, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The date for the name change is Monday, 7 December, which is just over a year ago to the day when Burke Shipping Group, the principal operating subsidiary of the Doyle Group, acquired Greenore Port, Co Louth in December, 2014. 

According to reports at the time, the port purchase price was understood to be in the region of €5 million, and the deal represented the first significant port to be entirely privately-owned in the republic. The port has since seen investment in new quayside upgrade to allow larger vessels to dock, notably Smart Tina, following extensive dredging works. 

The group headed by cousins Connor Doyle and Frank Doyle, also has operations across a broad spectrum of industries including, agri-feed, renewable energy, manufacturing and offshore oil.

Origins to the company date to 1886, when the cousin’s grandfather founded D.F. Doyle Stevedoring in Cork. More than a century later, the family-owned group has expanded with offices located in all the major Irish ports and a workforce of over 300 people.

The change will see the introduction of DSG corporate branding been rolled out across the group over the coming weeks. Also, the renaming coincides with the amalgamation of their Cork based companies into the group, including Cork Dockyard and Marine Transport Services.

Both these companies are located at Rushbrooke near Cobh, from were among the engineering activities of the 44-acre dockyard are ship-repairing, marine conversion and fabrication.

As for Marine Transport Services, they operate and hire tugs/workboats, a car ferry service trading as Cross River Ferries in the centre of Cork Harbour. In addition to running passenger boat tours from Cobh to Spike Island.