Group 28

2022-09-24 10:42:26 By : Ms. Ivy Hu

It's been years in the planning and now the state of the art port facility is powering our local, regional and national economy

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The huge new container terminal has officially been opened at Ringaskiddy - marking the end of a decade or more of planning and construction and giving Cork Harbour the most modern deep water harbour handling facilities in the UK and Ireland.

The Cork Container Terminal (CCT) is being hailed as a game-changer for the Port of Cork Company and the global routes that have been steadily growing, especially in the post-Brexit era when Ireland has to have a more direct relationship with Europe and the rest of the world.

At €89m, it's the largest single investment in marine infrastructure of any Irish port over the last 100 years. The new terminal became operational in April 2022 and enables the port to deliver far greater volumes and efficiencies.

The scale of the facility can only really be seen from the air - it's one of the largest deep-water, multimodal berths in the world (13-meter depth and 360 meters in length) and the container vessels that can be facilitated in Ringaskiddy will be the largest that can be accommodated anywhere in Ireland.

When fully operational, on completion of the M28 road network, CCT will have the capacity to handle 330,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) of cargo. This is set to have significant economic benefits for Cork and the Munster region, as well as the national economy.

Earlier this year, PoCC hosted a competition with local primary schools to ‘Name the Cranes’. The winning names for the two giant 50m ship-to-shore Liebherr cranes, as chosen by Crosshaven Boys’ National School were ‘Mahain’ and ‘Binne’, inspired by the old Irish folklore story about two giants who lived in Cork harbour.

Representatives from Crosshaven Boys’ N.S. were invited to the official ribbon-cutting ceremony at CCT in recognition of their participation in this monumental milestone.

Minister Hildegarde Naughton with special responsibility for transport and logistics, said Cork was now ready to make a huge contribution to Ireland's trade.

“Maritime transport accounts for more than 90% of Ireland's international trade and the Port of Cork has played an integral role in keeping Ireland connected, as part of the global supply chain. The Cork Container Terminal is already strengthening Port of Cork’s position on a global scale and on completion of the M28 will welcome further increased capacity for international transport and trade," said the Minister.

"It is also important to acknowledge the Port’s success in completing the project despite the challenges brought about in recent years by Covid-19 and Brexit. I offer my warm congratulations to everyone involved. The Port of Cork and Dublin are the only ports in Ireland capable of servicing all six shipping modes – lift-on/lift-off, roll-on/roll-off, liquid bulk, dry bulk, break bulk and cruise.

"On that basis, the Ringaskiddy re-development will be beneficial not only to the Port, its customers and Cork, but to the entire country.”

At the launch, it was highlighted in an address by PoCC Chairperson, Michael Walsh, that CCT represents the first phase of an overall proposed development plan for the Port of Cork.

“CCT represents the biggest investment in port infrastructure in the history of the state. It will bring further efficiency to the port with major benefits to the local and national economy. By increasing the efficiency of infrastructure, the costs of trade will reduce, which in turn helps to reduce inflation and the cost of living. It will also bring value to exporters, and a boost to Irish business," he said.