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52shipping newsMinister energised by Harbour VisitCharles Hendry MP, Minister of State at the Dept. of Energy and Climate Change, was inBelfast recently to meet key players from Northern Ireland’s emerging renewables sector.The visit included aroundtable meeting atBelfast Harbour with leadingfigures from business andacademia to discuss barriers toinvestment and green skills.The Minister also touredconstruction work at BelfastHarbour’s new 50-acre, £50mD1 Offshore Wind Terminal.The Minister called it an “anoutstanding facility whichwill help attract investmentand a fast roll-out of theoffshore wind programme.”The Minister also visited Harland& Wolff and met DETI MinisterArlene Foster, primarily todiscuss the Electricity MarketReform (EMR) programme.in brief‘Deal Seaways’is SecondVessel OnDover-CalaisRouteDFDS Seaways and LD Lines haverevealed the second vessel to sailon the new Dover-Calais routewill be named the Deal Seaways.The new vessel will bring thetotal number of daily sailingsout of Dover to Calais to 10.The second vessel has beenchartered from BrittanyFerries, and was previouslyknown as the Barfleur beforebeing renamed ahead of herlaunch at the end of April.Chris Newey, passenger directorfor the English Channel at DFDSSeaways, said: “We have beenreally pleased with the uptake ofthe new route between Dover-Calais, and are delighted to beable to respond to demand withthe launch of the second vessel,therefore doubling the numberof crossings. We’re confidentour customers will benefitfrom the flexibility of sailingtimes, as well as still having theoption to travel to Dunkirk.”Irish Ports see pace of volume growth levelling offThe pace of the volume recovery that began in 2010 for the Irish Ports andShipping sector slowed last year with only one of the five principle cargosegments seeing any growth, according to the latest annual edition of theIrish Maritime Transport Economist, which was released at an industrybriefing in Dublin by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO).The analysis highlights thatonly dry bulk volumes increasedby 5% year on year, while unitisedtraffic on the main Roll-on/Roll-off routes were flat with nogrowth in 2011, and the Lift-on/Lift-off container sector enduredits 4th consecutive decline, downby3%. Elsewhere oil tankervolumes declined 2% and breakbulk fell by 3% to the year end.The Irish ports and shippingsectors were confronted witha year of two distinct halves: 6months of growth followed by6 months of weaker demand.After a solid first quarter Irelandwitnessed clear evidence ofshipping volume demand coolingover the remaining quarters.Shipping volume growth almosthalved in the second quarterbefore turning flat to negativeover the remaining quarter tothe year end as the expectationabout the pace of the globalrecovery, and also Europeansovereign debt issues, remained.“The latest report again showsa strong correlation betweendevelopments in the real economyand the changing pattern ofmaritime traffic over the courseof last year.” said IMDO DirectorMr. Glenn Murphy. “We areoptimistic, that despite theslowdown in the pace of therecovery last year, that mostof the heavy volume losseshave already been sustained,however the scope for growththis year remains limited andcontingent on improved demandconditions in global markets.”The report does note thatexports of container traffic tokey overseas markets in theUS and Asia increased by 5%,driven by the performance ofthe chemical, pharmaceuticaland food & drink sectors, inparticular dairy and meat exports.Traffic volume demand to andfrom the UK remained flat.Providing the foreword to thisyear’s report, the Minister forTransport, Tourism and Sport,Leo Varadkar TD, commented:“The efficient transport of goodsinto and out of the country iscrucially important and supportingthis is a key function of myPictured with the Minister (centre)at Belfast Harbour Office are (L-R)Roy Adair, CEO Belfast Harbour,Charles Jordan, Project Manager,ScottishPower Renewables, KeithAnderson, CEO, ScottishPowerRenewables and ChristianSkakkebaek, VP, DONG UKDepartment. The developmentof a new ports policy will be ofinterest to those in the maritimetransport sector. The existing portspolicy is in need of a substantialoverhaul. It is largely focused oncorporate governance, it treatseach of our nine port companiesas though they were the samesize and had the same role toplay, and advocates a laissez faireapproach by Government. It ismy intention that, in the comingmonths, a new ports policy willbe published and put in place”.The report concluded that theoutlook for 2012 is for limitedgrowth across the principalcargo sectors. Container importsfrom overseas markets recordedtheir 20thconsecutive quarter ofnegative growth, which continuesto provide logistical challengesfor shipping lines seeking suitablecontainer capacity to meet exportdemands. The continued rise ofbunker/fuel prices which havegrown by 40% over the past12 months remains a constantchallenge for owners andoperators in all market segments.Shipping News 3pgs.indd 52 09/05/2012 12:19