2019 Irish Enterprise Awards

EU BUSINESS NEWS / 2019 Irish Enterprise Awards 25 , Shannon Foynes Port Company Best Sea Freight Trade Infrastructure Facility 2019 Jan19472 Contact Details Company: Shannon Foynes Port Company Name: Seán McGowan | Address: Mill House, Foynes, Co Limerick., Ireland | Telephone Number: +3536973100 Web Address: www.sfpc.ie Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC) is Ireland’s second largest port operation and has statutory jurisdiction over all marine activities on a 500km2 area on the Shannon Estuary, stretching fromKerry and Loop Heads to Limerick City. We profile the firm to find out more about the range of solutions it has to offer. Established in 2000, SFPC’s customer base extends now across many sectors including the industri- al, energy, agricultural, recyclable and renewable sectors to name some. Consequently, it facilitates a diverse trade mix in the dry bulk, liquid bulk and break-bulk categories. Importantly the company not only facilitates the movement of trade within its port estate and harbour but is developing as a large-scale distribution and industrial hub. In recent years, the port has proven to be an attractive location for large scale infrastructural and in- dustrial investment, for example 290m is projected to be invested by the Port and its customers for the period from 2015 to 2019. Over the years, SFPC has focused on meeting its clients’ needs to ensure its ongoing success. This focus combined with the firm’s natural sheltered deep-water estuary with depths in excess of 18meters plus a large landmass with multimodal connections has propelled the port to be the second biggest in Ireland and growing quickly. As a Ten T port, SFPC supports large-scale capital-intensive industry and daily handle ships in excess of 200,000DWT. In 2018 SFPC managed over 12 million tonnes of goods, and as a result it is now the largest dry bulk port in Ireland. Seeking to enhance this success, the firm is constantly enhancing its service offering so that clients know they are receiving only the best possible support and service when they work with SFPC. Looking ahead, SFPC has undertaken the preparation of a masterplan in order to promote and support the provision of port infrastructure and services in the Shannon Estuary over the next 30 years. The masterplan looks specifically at growth and expansion options and consider- ation of non-core assets at its facilities at the Foynes Port and Limerick Docks. To achieve its goals, SFPC needs to be able to adapt to the continuous fluctuating business environment that exists and needs to be able to positively respond to potential investment opportunities in the region. It then needs to ensure that the Port of Foynes and Limerick Docks will be ready and able to handle larger trade volumes efficiently and competitively when the opportunities arise and in doing so realise the economic potential of the natural resource that is the Shannon Estuary. The masterplan is part of a bigger picture for the Shannon Estuary as SFPC develops its vision for the future and focusses on the positive promotion of the Port as a strategic economic driver for the Mid-West Region. Ultimately, the future looks bright for SFPC, with growth strong and the firm seeking to enhance its solutions to better support its valued clients over the years to come. One area and project of huge interest to the company is the environment, and as such one of its core tenants is to manage and improve it and the future for all. SFPC is trying to facilitate the move away from the fossil fuels to a longer term, cost effective green initiatives and solutions. The area of long-term renewables, combined with green energy, is a program that the firm will continue to work on and develop in the coming years, with SFPC seeking to make an immediate positive impact that will have a long-term impact on the future.