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Displaying items by tag: BREXIT fallout

Traffic from lorry freight on ferries with British ports dropped 22 per cent last year due to new post-Brexit checks on EU-UK trade, a report from the Irish Maritime Development Office has found.

The Government agency that promotes Irish shipping services said that a combination of a rebound in demand in port traffic as Covid-19 restrictions were eased and new post-Brexit border controls led to a year of “significant change” in roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) lorry freight traffic.

Traffic on direct routes between Irish ports and mainland Europe rose 94 per cent last year, driven largely by reduced use of the “landbridge” route across Britain with continental Europe.

New border checks on trade between Ireland and Britain as Brexit came into effect led to “unprecedented increases” in ro-ro and container shipping volumes on direct routes with Europe.

The post-Brexit border controls on Irish-British trade through ports in the Republic led to the redirection of Northern Irish traffic from ports in the Republic to Belfast, Larne and Warrenpoint.

For further reading, The Irish Times has more in addition the report from the IMDO website can be downloaded here. 

Published in Ferry

An Oireachtas Committee will hear the Irish Road Haulage Association calling for a single entity to take charge of the free movement of traffic from ports ahead of Brexit.

Its President, Eugene Drennan, reports RTE News, is due before the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications Networks later today.

He will warn politicians that even if a Brexit deal is reached, hauliers are facing "catastrophic consequences" due to delays and obstructions at ports and airports.

Drivers will face checks from Revenue, the Department of Agriculture, the Health Service Executive and An Garda Síochána.

Mr Drennan is also requesting that the Road Safety Authority and Department of Transport take a more lenient approach to licensed hauliers, to ease some of the pressure they will be under.

Published in Irish Ports

#ShippingReview - Jehan Ashmore reviews the shipping scene over the last fortnight.

Following the momentous decision of the British electorate to vote 'Leave' from the EU, the Irish Minister for the Marine issued a statement in which he said “The UK exit vote also raises complex issues for the fisheries sector. Of course, the most immediate concerns for agri-food exporters centre on exchange rates”.

It was earlier this month that the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne visited Warrenpoint Port and local MP's in advance of the EU Referendum. The Co. Down port is where Cronus Logistics has taken over operations of Irish Sea container feeder services.

European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) have launched a roadmap to cut out red-tape on maritime transport following the debate and implementation of the Reporting Formalities Directive (RFD).

Lo-Lo operator, Samskip launch track and trace capability for its 45ft refrigerated container fleet. Over time, the entire reefer fleet is expected to feature the track & trace capability.

RMS St. Helena having made a historic once-off visit to the Pool of London, bid farewell from Tilbury, on her final ever voyage from the UK, bound ultimately for St. Helena, some 4,500 miles away.

Rival flotilla’s on the Thames clashed over the EU Common Fisheries Policy. This led to Sir Bob Geldoff’s of the Remain camp trade insults with Nigel Farage, UKIP leader of the opposing Leave campaign.

Training vessel Empire State VI included a call to Dublin Port as part of the annual State University of New York’s sea-term. This is one of the requirements for cadets to earn a U.S. Coast Guard license.

Published in Ports & Shipping

Galway Port & Harbour

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city and port is located on the northeast side of the bay. The bay is about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and from 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) to 30 kilometres (19 miles) in breadth.

The Aran Islands are to the west across the entrance and there are numerous small islands within the bay.

Galway Port FAQs

Galway was founded in the 13th century by the de Burgo family, and became an important seaport with sailing ships bearing wine imports and exports of fish, hides and wool.

Not as old as previously thought. Galway bay was once a series of lagoons, known as Loch Lurgan, plied by people in log canoes. Ancient tree stumps exposed by storms in 2010 have been dated back about 7,500 years.

It is about 660,000 tonnes as it is a tidal port.

Capt Brian Sheridan, who succeeded his late father, Capt Frank Sheridan

The dock gates open approximately two hours before high water and close at high water subject to ship movements on each tide.

The typical ship sizes are in the region of 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes

Turbines for about 14 wind projects have been imported in recent years, but the tonnage of these cargoes is light. A European industry report calculates that each turbine generates €10 million in locally generated revenue during construction and logistics/transport.

Yes, Iceland has selected Galway as European landing location for international telecommunications cables. Farice, a company wholly owned by the Icelandic Government, currently owns and operates two submarine cables linking Iceland to Northern Europe.

It is "very much a live project", Harbourmaster Capt Sheridan says, and the Port of Galway board is "awaiting the outcome of a Bord Pleanála determination", he says.

90% of the scrap steel is exported to Spain with the balance being shipped to Portugal. Since the pandemic, scrap steel is shipped to the Liverpool where it is either transhipped to larger ships bound for China.

It might look like silage, but in fact, its bales domestic and municipal waste, exported to Denmark where the waste is incinerated, and the heat is used in district heating of homes and schools. It is called RDF or Refuse Derived Fuel and has been exported out of Galway since 2013.

The new ferry is arriving at Galway Bay onboard the cargo ship SVENJA. The vessel is currently on passage to Belem, Brazil before making her way across the Atlantic to Galway.

Two Volvo round world races have selected Galway for the prestigious yacht race route. Some 10,000 people welcomed the boats in during its first stopover in 2009, when a festival was marked by stunning weather. It was also selected for the race finish in 2012. The Volvo has changed its name and is now known as the "Ocean Race". Capt Sheridan says that once port expansion and the re-urbanisation of the docklands is complete, the port will welcome the "ocean race, Clipper race, Tall Ships race, Small Ships Regatta and maybe the America's Cup right into the city centre...".

The pandemic was the reason why Seafest did not go ahead in Cork in 2020. Galway will welcome Seafest back after it calls to Waterford and Limerick, thus having been to all the Port cities.

© Afloat 2020