An Ireland's Gateway Superport on the Irish Sea has the potential to service many smaller Ports in the Region in both Europe, the UK and beyond. A Superport allows transglobal container ships, sailing mainly from China and the far East, to discharge cargo for regional transmission via smaller vessels. Dublin has capacity for small container vessels only due to inadequate berths and approach channel depth.

 

Finding a suitable site for a Deep-Water Superport off the East Coast of Ireland is challenging due to shallow seas. E Class Container ships have a draft of 16 metres and a length of 400 metres, so a site with sheltered quays and an approach channel of at least 16 metres depth is required.

 

Choice of East Coast sites is severely limited, particularly when multi-modal connectivity is factored in. Carlingford has insufficient channel approach depth and poor connectivity. Arklow has neither suitable inshore depth nor connectivity. Balbriggan has connectivity potential but insufficient inshore depth and is an unprotected site. Belfast Harbour and Dublin Bay have insufficient approach depth. Ref. gpsnauticalcharts.com

 

The Proposed Location of our Concept Deep-Water Container Port, is between the Rogerstown Estuary and Lambay Island in North County Dublin. It is close to the Dublin to Belfast road and rail links, which could be extended to serve the SuperPort. 

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The Superport is designed to accommodate Container Ships sailing directly from The Far East etc. It will allow direct links with other deep-water ports such as Zeebrugge without the necessity of trans-shipping goods on to smaller vessels, or through Britain, where custom delays and tariffs threaten. It will replace the existing commercial trade in Dublin Port which, operates at serious cost disadvantage due to shallow depth and other logistical inefficiencies. Cruise vessels will continue to dock in Dublin Port, in a vastly improved environment once commercial shipping and associated unsightly infrastructure are removed.

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The Dublin Port Company's Masterplan 2012 - 2040 identifies some of the problems of the existing Port. Its historic location, determines that it can only accommodate  small container ships which are becoming increasingly costly to operate. If Ireland is to trade competitively, it requires an East Coast deep-water, semi-automated, container port capable of accommodating the newer classes of container ship. Note: The Emma Maersk, an E Class container ship is 397 metres long with a draft of 16.02 metres.