Operations are underway in Cork Harbour this weekend to lift two large container cranes onto a specialised transport vessel destined for the port of Hull in the UK.

The two ship-to-shore cranes were manufactured by German company Liebherr, the latest in a series of cranes built in the former Verolme Dockyard in Rushbrooke.

The cranes were commissioned by the Associated British Ports (ABP) for an expansion of the port in Hull.

Last year two major operations occurred at the harbour to move large cranes onto vessels for export.

In March, three ship-to-shore cranes were loaded onto the Albatross heavy-lift vessel destined for Puerto Rico.

In September, another heavy lift vessel arrived to take on board two 30-metre-high gantry cranes destined for Murmansk in Russia.

This weekend, the heavy lift vessel Lagos is alongside the Dockyard to transport the two new cranes bound for the east coast of the UK once they are secured.

The Lagos will lift the two cranes onto the ship directly. This is a new approach, ship cranes lifting huge container cranes and hasn't been done in Cork Harbour before. 

On previous occasions, rails were built to run the cranes onto the vessel.