The shipping platform

Location: Cork is located on the River Lee, 15nm from the sea. It incorporates the areas of Cobh, Whitegate and Ringaskiddy. General overview: Cork is the principal port on the S coast of Ireland, being a natural, sheltered deepwater harbour and is favoured with an ideal location close to the main shipping lanes to northern Europe. The port has good cargo handling facilities. There are excellent road and rail connections between the port and the rest of Ireland, thus enabling speedy distribution of cargo. The port's main exports are; livestock, butter, milk powder, refined and residual petroleum products, urea, ammonia and wood chips. Main imports include; grain, feed stuffs, bananas, molasses, timber, fertilisers, magnesite, salt, manganese ore, coal, crude oil, reformer feedstock, gas, acids, manufactured fertilisers, cement, steel sheet and motor vehicles. Fully laden Panamax vessels can be handled at Ringaskiddy which is Ireland's only Freeport. Traffic figures: Approx 2,260 vessels, 8,800,000t of cargo handled annually, 147,500TEU, 52 cruise ships carrying over 100,000 passengers. Load line zone: North Atlantic Winter Seasonal Zone II, Winter Nov 1 to Mar 31, Summer Apr 1 to Oct 31. Max size: LOA 340m, draught 12.9m, 110,000DWT. Tankers up to 110,000DWT at Whitegate Refinery; other vessels 60,000DWT. Vessels using the berths at Tivoli and City Docks are restricted to max LOA 152m. Cruise vessels: Independence of the Seas and Queen Mary 2 have docked at Cobh. The governing dimensions for cruise liners are: Location LOA Depth Min Depth (m) at LW (m) (m) (Approach Channel) Ringaskiddy 340 13.4 11.2 (draught 12.5m) Cobh 340 9.1 11.2 Cork 152 8.8 5.2