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Maritime

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  • In 2015, a total of 12,242 trading vessels (of 100 gross tonnes or more) arrived in Irish ports.

  • In total, 50.7 million tonnes of goods were handled by Irish ports, of which, 33.6 million tonnes of goods were unloaded and 17.0 million tonnes were loaded.

  • Dublin port was the busiest port, handling more than two-fifths (43.8%) of all goods in 2015.

  • In 2015, the busiest ferry route was the Dublin - Holyhead route, which accounted for 63.4% of all passengers on scheduled ferry services.

Goods receivedGoods forwardedTotal goods
20092912.841.8
201030.714.445.1
201129.815.245.1
201231.216.547.6
201331.415.346.7
201429.118.447.5
201533.61750.7
Table 9.1 Total tonnage of goods handled by Irish ports, 2009 - 2015
   '000
 2009201020112012201320142015
 
Total goods handled 41,83645,07145,07847,64946,72247,48350,666
     
Goods received28,99830,71229,83831,19131,40329,08333,638
     
Goods forwarded12,83914,35915,24016,45815,31918,40017,028
        
Source: CSO
Table 9.2 Tonnage of goods handled by Irish ports classified by region of trade, 2009-2015
         '000
Region of trade2009201020112012201320142015
      
Goods handled     
Foreign trade     
Great Britain & Northern Ireland16,95718,00219,27916,95417,02817,41819,721
Other E.U.14,26714,94814,11115,90315,94415,49516,370
Non-E.U.2,7493,3552,0491,5792,7692,3633,622
Other ports5,9137,0287,5558,9958,1679,2838,617
Coastal trade1,9501,7382,0854,2182,8142,9242,336
Total goods handled41,83645,07145,07847,64946,72247,48350,666
      
Goods received     
Foreign trade     
Great Britain & Northern Ireland11,22511,56412,3029,7579,9639,71711,166
Other E.U.9,4179,5768,2569,73610,1959,16010,552
Non-E.U.2,0532,5871,5391,2392,4142,0443,120
Other ports5,3586,1316,8178,4597,4796,8667,738
Coastal trade9458529242,0001,3521,2961,062
Total goods received28,99830,71229,83831,19131,40329,08333,638
      
Goods forwarded     
Foreign trade     
Great Britain & Northern Ireland5,7326,4386,9777,1977,0647,7018,555
Other E.U.4,8505,3715,8556,1675,7506,3345,818
Non E.U.696767510340354319502
Other ports5558977385366882,418879
Coastal trade1,0058861,1602,2181,4631,6281,274
Total goods forwarded12,83914,35915,24016,45815,31918,40017,028
          
Source: CSO

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Table 9.3 Number of arrivals to Irish ports and gross tonnage of vessels classified by type of vessel and port, 2015
                     
PortVessel type Total
Liquid bulk Dry bulk Container Specialised General Passenger 
NumberGrossNumberGrossNumberGrossNumberGrossNumberGrossNumberGrossNumberGross
tonnagetonnagetonnagetonnagetonnagetonnagetonnage
 '000  '000  '000  '000  '000  '000  '000
 
Arklow Port-- -- -- -- -- -- --
Bantry Bay14592----------14592
Castletownbere--1438--14----1542
Cork3304,415278002181,7841425,0173671,097905,6741,17418,787
Drogheda235859108----302815--384980
Dublin4543,658741,3208856,840552,2405,545146,396934,3537,106164,806
Dundalk-- -- -- -- 3984 -- 3984
Dun Laoghaire-- -- -- -- -- -- --
Galway10636051133--------157493
Greenore--57465----61270--118735
Killybegs122241----44280926656588
Kilrush--------------
Kinsale--717--------717
New Ross--94239--------94239
Rosslare--------1,69533,460--1,69533,460
Shannon Foynes Port1008961895,245--2104702,234--7618,385
Sligo--1325--------1325
Tralee Fenit--------21191--21191
Waterford14--101793--3241,093112024372,092
Wicklow--13----95172--96175
Youghal--------5548--5548
                     
Total1,0299,9865888,4331,2049,4172007,2719,018186,14020310,49412,242231,741
                     
Source: CSO

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Table 9.4 Number of arrivals to Irish ports and gross tonnage of vessels by type of vessel, 2005 - 2015
                     
Year Vessel type Total
Liquid bulk Dry bulk Container Specialised General Passenger 
NumberGross tonnage '000 NumberGross tonnage '000 NumberGross tonnage '000 NumberGross tonnage '000 NumberGross tonnage '000 NumberGross tonnage '000 NumberGross tonnage '000
                     
                     
20051,97810,466 1,3339,262 2,61812,768 3817,997 9,919175,180 2024,254 16,431219,926
                     
20061,94911,756 1,2659,269 2,65813,816 3067,524 9,722175,385 1424,508 16,042222,257
                     
20071,71312,448 1,2129,156 2,79514,876 3088,623 9,934176,863 1234,361 16,085226,326
                     
20081,58912,754 1,46513,756 2,24313,642 2436,250 8,992175,496 1977,133 14,729229,031
                     
20091,34410,361 1,0687,033 1,98613,378 1213,961 8,512178,981 1927,469 13,223221,183
                     
20101,34911,062 1,1438,255 1,67812,253 853,449 8,813187,863 2437,395 13,311230,276
                     
20111,13810,456 1,0889,519 1,41810,190 1053,691 8,012180,121 2989,819 12,059223,795
                     
20121,06011,386 1,1449,380 1,40311,976 1133,105 7,897182,102 1937,035 11,810224,983
                     
20131,0279,318 7738,519 1,26210,176 993,279 8,554169,090 2259,438 11,940209,821
                     
20149859,619 5857,071 1,2059,560 1214,080 9,125184,602 1838,082 12,204223,014
                     
20151,0299,986 5888,433 1,2049,417 2007,271 9,018186,140 20310,494 12,242231,741
                     
Source: CSO                

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Table 9.5 Total tonnage of goods handled by Irish ports classified by port and region of trade, 2015
      ‘000
PortRegion of tradeTotal
Great Britain &Other EUNon-EU1Other ports2Coastal trade
Northern Ireland
 
Total goods handled 
Arklow Port------
Bantry Bay43378 5321121,165
Castletownbere--44--44
Cork1,4993,0832,5491,5969829,709
Drogheda2149621031101,226
Dublin14,5076,20629166653522,205
Dundalk1350--1274
Dun Laoghaire------
Galway491266-382563
Greenore5132126236 634
Killybegs29 22235
Kilrush------
Kinsale-146--20
New Ross242243142285
Rosslare1,607457---2,064
Shannon Foynes Port1,1063,5594865,44327710,871
Sligo178---25
Tralee Fenit-5522032
Waterford1111,15914165211,497
Wicklow76563--134
Youghal45426-184
 
Total19,72116,3703,6228,6172,33650,666
       
1 Trade with ports in European countries that are not members of the E.U.
2 Trade with ports in Non-European countries
Source: CSO

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Table 9.6 Total tonnage of goods handled by Irish ports classified by port and category of traffic, 2015
      ‘000
PortCategory of trafficTotal
Liquid bulkDry bulkLift-on/lift-offRoll-on/roll-offBreak bulk &
other goods
 
Total goods handled      
Arklow Port------
Bantry Bay1,165----1,165
Castletownbere----4444
Cork5,9321,5971,991751439,709
Drogheda30826--3711,226
Dublin3,8491,8104,72411,7705122,205
Dundalk-70--474
Dun Laoghaire------
Galway40194--68563
Greenore-422--212634
Killybegs1 --3435
Kilrush------
Kinsale-20---20
New Ross5279--2285
Rosslare---2,06132,064
Shannon Foynes Port1,0459,669--15710,871
Sligo-9--1725
Tralee Fenit----3232
Waterford101,099268-1201,497
Wicklow-3--131134
Youghal----8484
 
Total12,43815,8666,98313,9071,47250,666
       
Source: CSO

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Table 9.7 Details of roll-on/roll-off traffic handled by Irish ports, 2005-2015
            
YearPassenger cars, motorcycles and accompanying trailers/caravans  Passenger buses Trade vehicles1 Freight vehicles/trailers2
Number Number NumberTonnes '000 Loaded Empty
   NumberTonnes '000 Number
            
2005839,160 28,773 237,595348 684,36911,424 122,783
2006792,365 57,165 235,783329 720,28311,525 144,238
2007820,208 68,347 248,020347 768,86312,149 151,022
2008759,139 59,763 166,209257 742,91211,823 133,166
2009779,237 57,555 52,17877 781,03710,854 96,375
2010796,127 60,532 108,810158 742,37712,099 111,319
2011776,443 59,761 101,586148 747,52811,914 100,220
2012740,835 12,971 94,484120 833,79111,485 94,741
2013752,240 13,685 100,104109 882,78112,036 103,896
2014774,438 13,946 131,779140 942,37612,965 104,169
2015782,530 14,468 175,295187 994,95713,719 107,501
            
1 Vehicles imported or exported
2 Includes data on (a) road goods vehicles and accompanying trailers (b) unaccompanied road goods trailers and semi-trailers and (c) unaccompanied caravans and other road, agricultural and industrial trailers
Source: CSO

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Table 9.8 Number of cruise ships and passengers by port, 2015
  
PortsNumber of cruise ships Number of passengers
    
Bantry1 172
Cork57 102,217
Dublin93 101,400
Dún Laoghaire8 12,830
Galway5 2,326
Killybegs9 5,975
Shannon Foynes2 1,421
Waterford18 15,531
    
Total193 241,872
    
Source: CSO  

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Table 9.9 Number of cruise ships by month of arrival and passengers, 2015
  
MonthNumber of cruise ships Number of passengers
    
January- -
February- -
March1 530
April4 4,475
May49 60,268
June45 43,985
July36 54,461
August35 52,333
September16 21,376
October3 2,016
November1 522
December3 1,906
    
Total193 241,872
    
Source: CSO

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Table 9.10 Passengers on scheduled international ferry services disembarking/embarking classified by port and route, 2015
'000
PortCountryTotal
Great Britain France Other1
FishguardHolyheadLiverpool CherbourgRoscoff 
 
Disembarking    
Cork--- -42 -42
Dublin-85326 0- 1881
Dun Laoghaire--- -- --
Rosslare300-- 10331 -435
Total disembarking30085326 10473 11,358
          
Embarking         
Cork--- -42 -42
Dublin-89124 0- 1916
Dun Laoghaire--- -- --
Rosslare296-- 10335 -434
Total embarking29689124 10377 11,392
          
All Passengers         
Cork--- -84 -84
Dublin-1,74449 0- 31,797
Dun Laoghaire--- -- --
Rosslare597-- 20666 -869
          
Total passengers5971,74449 207150 32,750
          
1 Not precluding British and French ports 
Source: CSO        

                                         

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