Irish Shipping Suffers As Economic Woes Bite

The volume of shipping and port traffic through the Republic of Ireland declined in the first quarter of 2012.
This is according to the latest figures released by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) at the European Shortsea Conference, being held in Dublin today.
   Q1 data indicates that only one of the five principal freight segments – liquid bulk – saw any growth over the first three months, compared with the same period last year.

The volume of shipping and port traffic through the Republic of Ireland declined in the first quarter of 2012.
This is according to the latest figures released by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) at the European Shortsea Conference, being held in Dublin today.
   Q1 data indicates that only one of the five principal freight segments – liquid bulk – saw any growth over the first three months, compared with the same period last year.
IMDO Director Glenn Murphy said container traffic had declined by 1%, although exports rose 1%, as weakened economic trading conditions prevailed internationally, in particular in Europe.
Containerised imports fell 2% in Q1– the 17th consecutive quarter of declining volumes.
Murphy said this had led to shipping and logistics firms strategically importing more empty containers to address the reduction of laden container imports into Ireland in recent years.
 Ro-ro traffic – the majority of which is destined for the UK – also declined, by 3%.
Murphy said: “This decline in traffic is clearly reflected in the continued uncertainly in the UK as their economy shrank in the first quarter, sliding into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s.”
He added that a considerable amount of ro-ro traffic was destined for the supermarket and FMCG sectors, both domestically and cross-Channel – sectors which, particularly in the UK, have reported significant downturns in sales in 2012 so far.
  Murphy said: “The Irish ports and shipping sector is heavily influenced by events globally. As the stability of the European economy remains fragile, uncertainty for Irish consumers and businesses will inevitably persist, which will be clearly reflected in freight volumes passing through Irish ports.
“Exports in the short-term will continue to drive economic growth, which has been aided by favourable exchange rates in recent months.
“The port of Rotterdam, which is Ireland’s main deepsea connection to countries outside Europe, is optimistic that volumes will show a mod