Page 6 - COBH EDITION 17TH MAY DIGITAL VERSION

Clarification from the Port of Cork Company Concerning the Closure
of Cobh Deep Water Quay for Short periods During
Cruise Liner Visits

The Port of Cork Company has decided, for safety and port security reasons,
to close the Deepwater Quay in Cobh during the berthing of Cruise Vessels. This
operation, which mainly occurs in the early morning, takes up to 30 minutes. Once
completed the quay re-opens to the public and access resumes.
The Port of Cork Company (PoCC) is commercial semi-state company, operating all
six shipping modes. Over the last 5 years the cruise business has grown by over
30%. While this growth is hugely positive for both the Port and the region, it does
come with its challenges.
According to Brendan Keating, Port of Cork Chief Executive; ‘Cruise ship visits to
Cobh have steadily increased since the late 1980’s. The average size of cruise ship
visiting Cobh in the 1980’s and up until early 2000 was approximately 200 metres
in length and had passenger numbers in the region of 800 – 1000 on board. This
brought on average of 6-8 coaches onto the quayside to handle the shore excur-
sions.’

He continued: ‘This has changed greatly in the last 5 years and in 2019 the Port
of Cork will accommodate 104 vessel calls, with passenger numbers of more than
200,000.’

Many of the cruise liners that now call to the Port of Cork are up to 300 metres long
and have over 3,000 passengers on board. With this increased volume of cruise
passengers arriving, naturally the shore side logistics have also increased with any-
thing from 30 to 50 coaches often required to support the passenger excursions.

The shore logistics necessary to accommodate such cruise calls, which include,
coach arrivals and departures on the quay, passengers disembarking and boarding
coaches and the safe marshalling of pedestrians is all managed on a parking apron
of 100 x 20 metres. The biggest challenge for the Port of Cork at this time is quite
simply, safety for everyone.