2013 Press Releases

UCC links with Dalian University

28 Mar 2013

UCC and Dalian University of Technology (DUT) China have signed a memorandum of understanding across a range of projects, initially in environmental sciences, coastal management and maritime engineering.

Further cooperation in areas such as food science and technology is envisaged in the future. “UCC is delighted to be collaborating with Dalian University of Technology in a range of areas of mutual interest. Dalian University of Technology is a very prestigious university in China and this MoU is a very tangible way for us to engage and build a strong relationship for the future”, said Dr Michael Murphy, President of UCC, at the signing of the agreement between UCC and DUT.

“We are very excited to be working together with University College Cork in the areas of environmental research of global significance and the science of sustainability”, said Dr Liu Tingting on behalf of Dalian University of Technology.

In a related development, the worldwide shipping industry received a huge boost following the announcement that Irish-owned CEMS-Dalian Industry Company Ltd (CEMS-D) is to develop an environmentally safe centre for ship dismantling and recycling. The new facility is to be opened in Zhuanghe near Dalian, which is one of the busiest ports in the world, located north-east of Beijing.

A delegation from Dalian, including city officials and industrialists, came to Ireland recently to meet with government ministers and senior level government officials as well as leading academics in environmental science and maritime engineering. All manner of ship dismantling waste, including hazardous materials, will be recycled or disposed of to the highest standards of environmental safety.

“We have formed a strategic alliance with a private Chinese company to design, develop and operate a state of the art ship dismantling and recycling facility with the latest technology”, explained John Cronin, Founder and Chairman, CEMS-D.  “We aim to make this facility a global centre of excellence for ship dismantling and recycling and have received excellent support from the local and national Chinese governments”. 

Shipping experts predict that 3.3% of the world’s 89,000 vessel shipping fleet (about 3,000 vessels) should be scrapped or recycled each year.  It has been projected that by 2014, 32 million tonnes should be scrapped annually. However only 1,000 ships a year are currently being dismantled and it is a very costly and slow exercise. This has resulted in a backlog of ships for dismantling, and an opportunity that CEMS-D has identified in the market. For example, in the USA, a large number of ships from the Suisun Bay National Defence Reserve Fleet will soon be sent for dismantling. Also, the ageing tanker fleets of multinational petroleum companies are being made obsolete under forthcoming maritime legislation.  With ten of the top twenty busiest ports in the world, China has very significant demand for ship dismantling and recycling expertise. 

Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food, Mr Simon Coveney, T.D. welcomed the delegation to Agriculture House, Dublin on Thursday, 21 March and Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr Phil Hogan, T.D. met with the CEMS-D delegation in Cork on Friday, 22 March 2013. The group also visted the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at UCC and the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC) in Ringaskiddy, Cork, and were welcomed to the city by the Lord Mayor Mr John Buttimer.

University College Cork

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