The Port of Cleveland and Shannon Foynes Port Company, Ireland’s second-largest port operator, recently signed a strategic agreement to strengthen trade ties and encourage business and economic opportunities between the Great Lakes and Europe.
The partners hope to increase transatlantic commerce, attract new investment and offer American and European companies a faster, more efficient alternative to traditional coastal shipping routes.
“What makes this partnership especially powerful is the unique positioning of our two ports,” David Gutheil, Port of Cleveland interim president and CEO, said. “Together we provide access to two huge international markets that present enormous opportunity for business development. In signing this (memorandum), we want to explore every opportunity to strengthen that connection and drive business development on both sides of the Atlantic.”
The Port of Cleveland’s harbor moves more than 13 million metric tons of global cargo annually, supports more than 23,000 jobs and provides an economic benefit of more than $7.0 billion. The Cleveland-Europe Express reintroduced container service in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway.
Shannon Foynes Port Co. handles more than 11 million tons of solid and liquid cargo annually through the six terminals in the Shannon Estuary. It has a 61 percent share of the Irish bulk port market.