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Dublin opens second off-port empty depot

[ June 13, 2022   //   ]

Dublin Port Company (DPC) is to develop a second empty container depot as part of the 22-hectare first stage development of Dublin Inland Port. Construction of the 3.2-hectare facility, 14 kilometres from Dublin Port off the M2, will be completed by year end.

When fully operational in early 2023, it will have a storage capacity of 4,000TEU and will be in addition to the existing 6,000 TEU facility which started operations at the start of this year. 

It is part of DPC’s Masterplan 2040 to maximise the use of existing port lands by relocating port-related, but non-core activities – including empty container storage – away from Dublin Port as unitised volumes grow back towards the peak volume levels of 2019.

DPC said that with a quarter of all containers moving through the port empty,  storage for mountains of slow-moving empty containers awaiting export can no longer be accommodated in the port itself.

All four remaining empty container depots will be redeveloped to provide more throughput capacity as Dublin Inland Port develops.

DPC chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly, said: “We expect to complete the Stage 1 development of Dublin Inland Port by the end of 2023 to provide capacity for all of the remaining port-related but non-core activities currently located in Dublin Port.

“Once this is done, we will develop capacity for the transit storage of laden containers and trailers at Dublin Inland Port. In addition to our efforts, other such facilities will need to be provided by private sector operators along the M1 and M7 corridors if Dublin Port is to continue to be able to handle future growth out to 2040.”

DPC head of property, Cormac Kennedy, added: “We expect to bring further sites to market this year and to complete the development of the first stage of Dublin Inland Port by the end of 2023.  This first stage development will see Dublin Port investing €50 million in Dublin and Ireland’s first inland port facility.

“We are at a tipping point on land capacity in Dublin Port as port volumes grow back towards the record levels of 2019 and as demand increases on unitised services with Continental Europe.  In addition, the loss of excessive land areas to State services has further constrained the port’s capacity to cater for growth post-Brexit.”

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