Friday, August 1, 2014 - 09:43 by ce-press
The Port of Cork is carrying out a feasibility study as part of its cruise strategy into building a second dedicated cruise berth in Cobh to cater for the increase in vessels calling to Ireland and to facilitate the berthing alongside of the largest cruiseships.
The port authority plans to significantly increase the number of cruiseship visits to Cork in the next five years and wants to concentrate all berthing in Cobh, rather than have some liners docked at the cargo terminal in Ringaskiddy as the cruiselines have requested.
Port of Cork commercial manager Captain Michael McCarthy said: “We will be upgrading the current cruise berth from 2015 by installing additional bollards which will take the mooring ropes of the largest cruise vessels afloat”.
The longer-term solution is for the creation of an additional berth. “We’re fortunate that we have enough depth of water in Cobh to facilitate an additional berth and have the capacity to manoeuvre and swing these vessels free.” he explained.
The port has a target of 75 calls a year within the next five years. This year 54 calls are scheduled. Despite the number being slightly down on the 62 vessels in 2013, the vessels calling are larger and have higher passenger volumes. It is estimated that 108,000 passengers and 30,000 crew will visit the Cork region in 2014.
“We have two main objectives over the next five years, to grow the number of cruise calls and increase overnight stays. We are also aiming to handle the new Quantum-class vessels of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and to this affect we are committed to investing in upgrading the current cruise facilities in Cobh,” McCarthy said.
“These ultra-large and modern vessels carry almost 5,000 passengers and no other port in Ireland is capable of berthing vessels greater than 300m currently, giving Cork a greater advantage when attracting new calls.”. Bookings for the 2015 season so far include 17 vessels of 330m length or more indicating the trend towards larger vessels sailing in the Cruise Europe region.
“Even though the cost of upgrading the current facility in Cobh is very significant, the Port of Cork is committed to the cruise sector due to its considerable financial benefit to the local economy and the Munster region in general.” It is estimated that the cruiseliner business will inject E15m into the local economy this year.
Of this year’s calls, three are maiden visits including 3,500-passenger Royal Princess.
