28-04-2025
Inside Dublin Port: The numbers and the goods
The importance of Dublin Port can be seen every single day.
Nearly 60% of everything in Irish homes, supermarkets and shopping centres passes through it.
"All the clothing, the sports equipment, the electronics equipment, the food stuff, the fresh flowers, the daily sandwiches, the oil that we all need for our heating systems, the petrol in our car, the construction materials ... it's a really long list," explains Captain Michael McKenna, the harbour master, who oversees shipping movements at the port.
As the largest freight and passenger port in Ireland, it sees around €165 billion of trade flowing through each year.
The port spans across 640 acres along the Liffey, between Dublin City and Dublin Bay.
"Dublin Port is critical for Ireland, and as an island nation. Almost 90% of the goods coming into the island come in and out through our ports, and almost two-thirds of that comes in through Dublin Port," said Mr McKenna.
Around 7,000 ships enter Dublin Port each year, with 2,000 requiring local pilots due to the harbour's complexities.
Operations run day and night, with about 45 ship movements every 24 hours, managed by a Vessel Traffic Service, which is the shipping equivalent of air traffic control.
Danielle Hayes monitors marine traffic and ensures ships can safely navigate the narrow channels.
"So, the pilot on board and the captain will control the ship, but I need to control the space. So, we've got this narrow channel where the ships have to navigate inside, within these buoys. In my 12-hour shift, maybe 25 ship movements would be manoeuvring within this narrow channel," said Ms Hayes.
Ships like the Delphine, carrying up to 8,000 lane metres, arrive regularly, loaded with goods for distribution across Ireland.
Cormac Kennedy, Head of Commercial at Dublin Port Company, describes how "8,000 lane metres" means that "8 kilometres of traffic can fit on board this ship.
"So, when you think about it, we need the space to put that 8 kilometres of traffic onto the ship, but also 8 kilometres of space on the quay wall to take it off that ship.
"So that means several hundred trailers are on that ship at any one time when they arrive in Dublin, then they're unloaded off that ship and then sent off to the various customers that are waiting for their product."
He said he still finds it amazing when goods arrive at his door.
"Even with all the knowledge we have, on how the port operates, it's still amazing that it actually gets there - considering all the complications and all of the detail that has to go into getting it just to your doorstep."
Dublin Port also handles 81% of Ireland's energy imports, mainly fossil fuels coming from the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
Dublin Port's 2040 Masterplan focuses on optimising the existing land for trade and better connecting the port with the city, including a 16-kilometre greenway stretching along the coast.
"It's critical that we remain here and the city and the port are here beside each other because of each other. That's how trade built up over the years," said Mr McKenna.
