Ringaskiddy to host largest container to ever berth at an Irish Port

By Anthea Ryan

TODAY, the MV Northern Dedication will dock at Port of Cork's deepwater berth in Ringaskiddy – with approximately 42,121 tonnes of fresh fruit. The ship is the largest container ship to ever berth at any Irish Port. It will dock with 75 containers of fresh fruit, predominately Fyffes bananas.
Despite the size of the vessel, the discharge operation will just take to six-eight hours. Vessels of this size are common around the globe nowadays and as the Port of Cork begins their expansion phase in Ringaskiddy, more of these size vessels are to be expected.

Port of Cork commercial manager, Captain Michael McCarthy said: ‘There are very little restrictions at Ringaskiddy Deepwater Berth, so when it comes to handling a vessel of this size, the port is more than capable. In the future we would hope to see more of these size vessels calling, as our port expands to meet the needs of our own customers and the needs of the global shipping community.’
 
‘This service from Central America to Cork commenced in 2013 and to date it has proven very successful. Bringing mainly Fyffes bananas to Ireland from South America, this service is vitally important for the domestic grocery industry,’ he added.
 
In 2015, total container volumes through both Tivoli and Ringaskiddy container terminals in the Port of Cork grew by 8% compared to 2014.