Date: 17 Novemver 2004
Short Sea Shipping – A Strategy Where Everybody Wins. Marine Minister, Mr. Pat 'the Cope' Gallagher T.D., called on Irish industry to grasp the opportunities offered by maritime transport with both hands in his keynote opening address at the seminar "Motorways of the Sea - Opportunities and Challenges for Ireland". The event was aimed at promoting and developing short sea shipping as an ecologically friendly and cost-effective means of moving freight.
Speaking at the seminar, Minister Gallagher referred to the European Commission's White Paper on Maritime Transport Policy 2010, which introduced the "motorways of the sea" concept. The Minister said, "This concept emphasises the vital importance of short sea shipping for Europe and in particular for island economies such as our own with 99% of our trade by volume going by sea. It is clear that increasing short sea shipping links between Member States and making them more efficient is in all our interests."
The seminar, which was held at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, focussed on a number of key opportunities, including the challenge to maintain competitiveness, expand services and develop new trade corridors for Irish industry. It also aimed to assist Irish companies in their application for financial assistance in developing short-sea shipping networks, which is available under the EU's Marco Polo Programme, aimed at bringing about a 'modal shift' in transportation, away from potentially congested road systems, onto rail, short sea shipping and inland waterways.
The seminar was organised by the Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO) of the Marine Institute, which has championed the Irish shipping sector, through a successful campaign for an Irish Tonnage tax regime, a focussed business development programme and strategic marketing programme.
"Development of short sea shipping networks around Ireland is a strategy where everybody wins," said Glenn Murphy, Director of the IMDO. "In 2003 goods to the value of over €130 billion moved through our ports and our maritime supply chains, the majority of this trade moved by short sea shipping connecting Ireland with its international markets in Europe and beyond. Our focus is to ensure that our shipping networks remain, lean, agile but above all competitive going forward."
Speakers at the seminar included Mr. Mark Major of the EU's DG TREN, Colm Walsh of the Irish International Freight Forwarders Association, Antonio Raimo, External Relations Manager of the Grimaldi group, Christoper Leathers, a shipping consultant, and Dr. John Mangan and Dr Kevin Hannigan Co-Authors of the IMDO Inter European Trade Corridors report which was also launched at the seminar by Minister Gallagher,
ENDS.
For further information please contact:
Dr John Joyce, Communications Manager, Marine Institute: 087 2250871
email: john.joyce@marine.ie
Notes to Editor
The Irish short sea shipping sector is the largest segment of the Irish shipping industry, employing over 4,500 people. It has continued to expand in recent years in line with the growth and expansion of the Irish economy. The Marco Polo Programme follows in the wake of the Amsterdam Agreement on European Motorways of the Sea and the declaration by the European Council at Gothenburg in June 2001 that shifting the balance between the transport modes is the heart of a sustainable transport development strategy. According to the European Commission "If no decisive action is taken, total road freight transport in Europe is set to grow by about 50% by 2010." This equates to a growth of international road freight of about 12 billion tonne-kilometres per year.
The Marco Polo programme has a budget of €740 million for 2007 – 2013 to support new actions such as motorways of the sea. The Commission estimates that every €1 spent in grants by Marco Polo will generate €6 in environmental benefits.