#dublinport - In Dublin Port today it was announced that CLdN, the Luxembourg-based short-sea Ro-Ro shipping company and owner of the “Brexit Buster” MV Celine, has added its newly built ship “MV Laureline” onto its direct Ro-Ro freight service from Dublin Port to the Continental European ports of Zeebrugge and Rotterdam.

After MV Celine, the MV Laureline is now the second biggest freight ferry to service Dublin Port. Having arrived on a maiden call overnight (from Zeebrugge), the 50,000grt newbuild is expected to depart Dublin Port today, Friday (29th March) and return to the Belgium port.

The move will see CLdN’s service increase in total capacity by 20%, bringing the total possible number of direct sailings weekly offered by CLdN between Dublin Port and Continental Europe to seven. Operating out of Alexandra Basin, CLdN accounts for 40% of all units moved between Dublin Port and Continental Europe.

Departing Dublin Port on the original “Brexit Day” of March 29th, the ship offers additional capacity to customers needing direct shipping routes between Dublin and Continental Europe and is the latest addition to the CLdN fleet. Built in Ulsan, South Korea, the MV Laureline is the third new ship generation in the CLdN fleet to enter service in Dublin Port, following the MV Mazarine in 2010 and the MV Celine in 2018 (see story), both of which were christened in Dublin.

Dublin Port’s Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) Project broke ground in 2016 and has already delivered the first of new berths in time to accommodate expanding freight services on the next generation of super ferries. Ships such as MV Celine and MV Laureline would not be able to call to Dublin had the ABR Project not already commenced. The remainder of the works to redevelop two kilometres of existing berths in Alexandra Basin and deepen the approach channel to Dublin Port is due for completion in 2023.

Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Dublin Port Company, said:

“The arrival of Laureline at Dublin Port is further evidence of the shipping industry responding to market demand with Brexit upon us. It is a vote of confidence by CLdN in expanding its Dublin service so soon after the introduction of Celine and is mirrored by other significant customer investments such as Irish Ferries’ new ship W.B. Yeats servicing both freight and passenger demand between Dublin and Cherbourg.

We anticipate that demand for direct services between Dublin Port and Continental Europe will increase further after Brexit. As it stands, two and half times more goods already move on direct routes from Dublin than via the UK landbridge. We’re increasingly seeing cargo such as fast-moving consumer goods, temperature-controlled foodstuffs and goods previously distributed from UK distribution centres moving on direct services such as these.

The combination of Brexit and the huge growth in cargo volumes in Dublin Port (36% in six years) is an enormous challenge.  However, the ambitious port development programme we commenced with the ABR Project is enabling us to meet this challenge.  Looking forward, we will continue to expand capacity in Dublin Port guided by Masterplan 2040 with €1 billion to be invested in the next ten years alone.”

A representative of CLdN, said:

“As a company we have taken a long-term view on Dublin Port and invested accordingly. Our next generation of Ro-Ro vessels, MV Celine and now MV Laureline, are testament to that commitment. Since entering the Dublin market mid-recession in 2009, we have grown our direct services from Dublin Port to some seven weekly calls to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. We believe we are ideally positioned to develop this trade further as a direct alternative to the UK landbridge. Customers want certainty on consignments that can travel on direct routes, even if that means a slower journey time, and our newest addition Laureline is now in place to meet growing demand.”  

CLdN currently operates 27 Ro-Ro vessels, offering more than 130 weekly sailings between the ports of Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, London, Killingholme, Dublin, Gothenburg, Esbjerg, Hirtshals, Santander, Porto, Flushing and Dagenham.

The Dublin Port Company has approved for the railway extension of the existing track tramway on Alexandra Road in order to serve one of the port's Lo-Lo container terminals, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The new extension is to directly connect rail-freight trains to the Common User Container Terminal at Alexandra Quay East. The extension will make a right turn off the Alexandra Road immediately after the Tara Mines zinc unloading facility and then along the quayside to the terminal, close to Ocean Pier.

Currently there are three weekly rail-freight trains running between Ballina, Co. Mayo and Dublin port, where the containers are required to be loaded and unloaded on Alexandra Road. From this location they are transferred by road to the terminal. When the new rail-tramway is completed in April, this will reduce costs by eliminating the transfer.

The rail-freight service to Dublin Port started operations in August 2009 and is run as a public private partnership between International Warehousing & Transport (IWT), Iarnrod Eireann and Dublin Port. IWT is the only train operator to the port, but it is believed that the Dublin Port Company has received a number of enquiries from other port users who are interested in using the new facility.

IWT are also agents for Tschudi Shipping and Tschudi Logistics on services to the Belgium, The Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea which use the Common User Container Terminal. The terminal is operated by the Burke Shipping Group through its subsidiary Portroe Stevedores. Other clients using the terminal are Cobelfret, C2C Lines, APL, Coastal Containers, Evergreen, Gracechurch and OOCL.

In addition to the terminal, the port operates two other container facilities at the Dublin Ferryport Terminal (DFT) and the Marine Terminals Ltd (MTL). According to figures released yesterday, Dublin Port recorded growth in Lo-Lo container volumes by 1.1% with an outturn of 554,259 TEU in 2010.

Dublin Port's position as the island's largest Lo-Lo (unitised) port was reinforced by the rail-freight services to Ballina. According to IWT the service on an annual basis saves up to 5.5m road kilometres and CO2 emissions are reduced by as much as 2,750 tonnes. In addition the service removes up to 10,000 trucks away from the roads.

The Common User Container Terminal is also a multi-model terminal, as Ro-Ro traffic started in 2009 with the installation of a new ramp at berth 36/37 at Ocean Pier, Alexandra Basin East. In 2010 the port recorded Ro-Ro freight units increase by 12.8% to 725,665 which is less than 1% down from the port's highest ever throughput.

Ro-Ro growth in 2010 was driven in part by the new CLdN /Cobelfret Ro-Ro services to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. CLdN's ro-ro Yasmine made a recent first-time visit to the port followed by the newest vessel of the Belgium owned fleet, Amandine (see photo) the last of six con-ro newbuilds, which too made an inaugural visit to the port. The 195-m vessel departed from the upgraded ramp at Ocean Pier yesterday bound for Rotterdam.

For further port traffic figures which showed an overall increase in the port's volumes of 6.1% in 2010, logon here

Normally the Pauline operates on other routes. She along with her sister Yasmine are the largest vessels in the Compagnie Luxemburgeoise de navigation SA (CLnd) / Cobelfret fleet. The vessels are of the Con-Ro design, also known as the 'HumberMax' vessels which have 5,632 lane metres capable of carrying 258 container trailers and 656 cars.

Apart from the Dublin debut of the Pauline which docked at Ocean Pier, the final vessel of the trio, Celestine (1996 / 23,986grt) was the first to arrive from Zeebrugge, docking at the ferryport berth 51A (also used daily by Stena Line vessels). Like the Pauline, the Opaline (2009 / 25,235grt) docked at Ocean Pier and is the newest and last of six newbuilds built from German yard of FGS Flensburg.

CLnD won the Short-Sea Shipping Company Award in 2010 at the Irish Exporter Awards in November and hosted by the Irish Exporter Association (IEA). The award was sponsored by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) which recognises the strategically important role of short sea shipping to our island economy.

There are four sailings operated by CLnD between Dublin Port and Rotterdam / Zeebrugge. From the Dutch port there are onward sailings linking Göteborg and Esbjerg while the Belgian route connects the UK ports of Killingholme, Purfleet and Ipswich.

The development of the Irish routes are part of the "Motorways of the Sea", an EU-wide programme to promote a modal shift of goods from congested roads to alternative sea transportation. In addition to the concept is the international trend in the use of larger and more efficient vessels.

In October 2009 CLnD /Cobelfret switched their Irish operations from Rosslare to Dublin Port. The transfer to Dublin allowed CLnD to introduce larger tonnage at the then newly upggraded No. 2 ro-ro linkspan at Ocean Pier, Alexandra Basin East.

CLdN ro-ro SA and CLdN ro-ro UK offer ro-ro connections from Belgium and the Netherlands to the UK, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark. Both divisions share a combined core fleet of 20 vessels. Some ships including the Pauline are registered and flagged from land-locked Luxembourg. The fleet operate on short sea ro-ro trade routes, occasionally supplemented by time chartered tonnage, which accommodate trailers, containers, vehicles and other rolling equipment.