2.3 Issues for consideration

2.3 Issues for consideration

National Ports Policy is designed to ensure that the ports sector is capable of responding to these global trends. For ports that have a limited future in commercial shipping over the medium to long term, a development framework that best suits their individual circumstances is required.

The core objective of National Ports Policy is to facilitate a competitive and effective market for maritime transport services. Since we are an island nation, it is critically important that our international maritime gateways be fit for purpose. The longterm international trend in ports and shipping is to consolidate resources in order to achieve optimum efficiencies of scale. This has knock-on effects in terms of vessel size, the depth of water required at ports and the type and scale of port hinterland transport connections.

The ports differ greatly in current capability and future potential. This policy recognises the role played by all our ports, while acknowledging the differences between them.

National Ports Policy therefore categorises those ports that handle commercial freight into:

These trends are not new and have over the years led to gradual consolidation among Irish commercial ports. Commercial shipping no longer uses ports such as Arklow and Westport, which were once busy commercial ports. The economic downturn has accelerated this process; port traffic has increasingly gravitated towards the larger ports in recent years to avail of capacity and economies of scale, in particular ship size. These trends in both a global and Irish context are highlighted in Tables 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 below. These trends present obvious opportunities for development at some ports and challenges for others.

Ports of National Significance (Tier 1) Dublin Port Company, the Port of Cork Company and Shannon Foynes Port Company

Ports of National Significance (Tier 2) The Port of Waterford Company and Rosslare Europort

Ports of Regional Significance Drogheda Port Company, Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, Galway Harbour Company, New Ross Port Company, Wicklow Port Company and all other ports that handle commercial freight

Sections 2.5–2.7 deal with this categorisation and the individual port companies in greater detail.

Table 2.1: Decline in tonnage handled at selected Irish ports

Port	1998	2011	Decrease
Dún Laoghaire	240,000	12,000	-95%
	1,020,000	357,000
Drogheda	958,000	489,000	-49%
	158,000	99,000
Galway	599,000	554,000	-7%

(CSO, 1998–2011)

Table 2.2: Average gross tonnage of vessels calling at Irish ports

	1998	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Average Gross Tonnage	1,057	1,407	1,554	1,672	1,733	1,855

(CSO, 1998–2011)

Table 2.3: Long-term global trends in the cellular container ship fleet

	1987	1997	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Average Vessel Size (TEU)	1,155	1,581	2,417	2,516	2,618	2,742	2,893

(UNCTAD, 2011)