Iveco Daily FC fp ad.indd - Export & Freight

62shipping newsPraise for Stena Line Staff after CollisionPassengers have been praising Stena Line staff for their prompt responsefollowing the recent collision involving a cargo ship and a passenger ferry inBelfast Lough about a mile and a half off the coast at Carrickfergus.Police, who are assisting theMaritime and Coastguardagency in an investigation intothe collision, arrested the Polishcaptain of the Union Moon whichsuffered substantial damage.Fifty-five year old Miroslaw Pozniaklater appeared in a Bangor courtwhere he was charged with excessalcohol while in charge of his ship.He pleaded guilty to the chargeand was remanded in custody.The Stena Line ferry was on its wayfrom Birkenhead to Belfast, carrying51 passengers and 47 crew, whenthe incident happened, but no oneboard either vessel was injured.In a brief statement Stena Line said:“We can confirm that a collisionoccurred on Wednesday eveningMarch 7 involving the Stena Feroniaferry on its approach to Belfast anda cargo vessel Union Moon. TheFeronia, which left Birkenhead atapproximately 11.45 on Wednesdaymorning, was able to continue itsjourney and berth in Belfast shortlyafter the incident occurred. Detailsregarding the nature of the incidentare as yet unconfirmed, but weare cooperating with the relevantmaritime authorities as part of theirinvestigation into what happened.”One passenger said that while itwas ‘a very frightening experience,’the Stena Line crew deservedpraise for the way in which theylooked after everyone on board.Another spoke about hearing ahuge thump before the emergencyalarms went off. He said therethen was an announcementfrom the captain that there hadbeen an incident and they werepreparing the lifeboats; everyone,he said, donned life jackets.A female passenger said she wasin her cabin when the collisionhappened. “All the sirens soundedand we went downstairs where wewere issued with life jackets andtold to prepare to get off. I wasscared, but the staff were great,very good. They put us all at ease.”It later transpired that the damageto the Stena Line ferry was abovethe water line, enabling the vessel tosafely make its way to the terminal.The investigation into the collisionis expected to take some time.Belfast Harbour Reports Record TonnagesBelfast Harbour has reported that tonnages handled by the Port during 2011 rose by7% to a record 17.644m tonnes, an increase driven by strong performances in the BreakBulk and Roll On / Roll Off sectors, as well as rises in Dry Bulk tonnages.Break Bulk products jumped 23%to 332,000 tonnes. In particular,steel and steel coil traffic doubled in2011 compared with 2010 reflectingimproved activity in NorthernIreland’s engineering manufacturingsector, while the number of freightvehicles using the Port rose by 14%.Dry Bulk, which includes items suchas aggregates and agri-food relatedproducts, exceeded four milliontonnes for the first time in thePort’s history. There was a recordyear for stone exports, up 13%to one million tonnes, reflectingongoing road maintenance andconstruction projects in GreatBritain and Europe. Other notableperformers in the sector includedscrap metal (up 8%) and salt (up82%), driven by the cold winterin 2010/11 and expectations ofsimilar conditions this year.Commenting on the figures, RoyAdair, Belfast Harbour’s CEO,said: “This is evidently a verypositive set of figures for BelfastHarbour, bringing Port tonnagesabove the 17m mark for the firsttime since the onset of the globaleconomic downturn in 2007.“While there are signs of increasedactivity in some sectors, the Harbouris not complacent about futuregrowth. The Board will continueto pursue a policy of investing incapital projects to support emergingindustries such as renewable energyand to future-proof the demandfor new growth at the Harbourthrough land reclamation.“Belfast has established itself as themost modern and efficient port onthe island and a leader in the UK’srenewable energy market becauseit has sought to invest to diversify.That long-term approach hasdelivered these record trade figures,but the corollary is that success infuture years is related strongly tothe level and quality of investmentwhich the Harbour makes today.“Projects such as the Harbour’sdevelopment of a new £50mterminal for DONG Energy havesignificantly raised the Port’sprofile, and we are progressinga number of UK and overseasbasedbusiness leads, particularlyfrom the renewable sector.“It is important that theHarbour continues to invest toaccommodate and win theseland hungry, capital intensiveinitiatives for Northern Ireland.”Belfast has also benefitted from thedevelopment of new terminals onboth sides of the Irish Sea servicingthe Belfast to Loch Ryan route andthe introduction of new vesselsby Stena. This, linked with therationalisation of ferry services in theIrish Sea, resulted in a 14% increasein the number of freight vehicles(357,000) using the Port and athird consecutive year of increasingcontainer traffic (Load On / LoadOff) – up 2% to 129,000 boxes.Mr. Adair added: “While tonnageshandled at the port suggest thatbusiness confidence improvedslightly across the board during2011, it has been very sectordependent. The latest UK GDPfigures have confirmed thatthe outlook continues to bedifficult. Consequently, growthopportunities in traditionaltrades through the Harbour arelikely to remain subdued.”While 2011 was a record yearoverall, not every trade grew. Thelocal construction industry continuedto decline with timber importsfalling for the sixth-year running(down 21% on the year) whileliquid bulk tonnages fell by 16%as high commodity prices and awarm winter suppressed demand.Meanwhile, passenger numberspassing through Belfastremained static at c.1.26mcompared to c.1.3m in 2010.Exports through Dublin Port increase by 2.8%Dublin Port Company report that total throughput in 2011 was broadly in line with 2010, down by only 0.1% to28.1m tonnes; within this, however, exports continued to grow and were up 2.8% in the year at 11.5m tonnes.Unitised trade now accounts for 81%of Dublin Port’s business. During2011, Ro-Ro freight volumes werevirtually unchanged at 725,000units. In contrast, Lo-Lo volumesfell by 5.1% to 526,000 TEU.Ferry passenger numbers fell by5.6% to 1.7m. This follows a recordyear in 2010 when numbers wereboosted by the impact of weatherand ash clouds. Compared to 2009,passenger numbers were up 11.1%.With 1.7m ferry passengers movingthrough the port, Dublin Port isbehind only Dublin Airport and CorkAirport as a national tourism gateway.The cruise liner side of Dublin Port’sbusiness saw a 7.5% increase incruise passengers. During 2011, 87cruise ships brought over 135,000passengers and crew to Dublin.Comments Eamonn O’Reilly,Dublin Port Company’s ChiefExecutive: “Trade levels at DublinPort were steady in 2011 whichis a robust performance given thelarge (6.1%) increase in the port’svolumes in the previous year.“Whereas export volumes havecontinued to grow and are now0.5m tonnes higher than they werein 2007, the poor performanceof the domestic economy hasresulted in a continued decline inimports. These are now 3.4m tonneslower than they were in 2007.“Notwithstanding the poorperformance of the economy weare continuing to plan for the futureand will shortly be launching ourMasterplan 2012 to 2040. Dublinremains the largest and mostimportant port on the island and ourMasterplan is intended to ensurewe continue to provide vital portcapacity particularly as the economyreturns to growth in coming years.“With all the difficulties in theeconomy we are still only 9% behindwhere we were at the peak in 2007and we believe that any pick-upin domestic demand will quicklytranslate into growth in importvolumes. The Masterplan will ensurewe stay ahead of future growth indemand for decades to come”.At A Glance• Total throughput – 28.1mtonnes, down 0.1%• Exports – 11.5m tonnes up 2.8%• Imports – 16.6m tonnesdown 2.0%• Bulk Liquid – 3.6mtonnes, down 4.7%• Bulk Solid – 1.6mtonnes, up 10.8%Shipping News 3pgs.indd 62 19/03/2012 16:59