Iconic Verolme cranes in Cork Harbour come down

TWO historic cranes which have loomed large over Cork Harbour for six decades are being dismantled.

The cranes were used for building ships at the Verolme Dockyard at Rushbrooke, which closed in 1984. 

They have been central to the skyline of Rushbrooke, west of Cobh and across the harbour from Monkstown for over 60 years.

Dutch company Verolme once employed more than 1,100 workers at the site and many ships were launched there including Irish Naval Vessel LÉ Eithne.

The site is now run by the Doyle Shipping Group which has confirmed that the iconic twin cranes will be dismantled fully within the next week due to concerns that they are dangerous.

A spokesperson said: "The reason for taking them down is that they are dangerous. They are no longer in use as they are nearly 60 years old. Neither of them has been used for quite a while – the last three years or so.

“We're are just afraid that parts will start coming off them. You can't use those types old cranes anymore because you can't get the parts for them.

“The first one is about halfway down at the moment and it should take another week or so for them to be fully dismantled.

“They were two old shipbuilding cranes but they are null and void now and they were deemed dangerous so we have to take them down,” they added.

Doyle Shipping Group provides shipping and maritime support services to a wide range of industries.

Two large container cranes manufactured by Germany company Liebherr were recently built at the Dockyard for the Associated British Ports for use at the port of Hull in the UK.

The cranes were loaded onto a specialise transport vehicle for the journey to the east coast of Britain.