CORKONIANS LIKE TO impress the importance of the city and county in the national scheme of things. When it comes to the port of Cork, they are not wrong.

Did you know, for example, that a giant ship berths at the mega port every week carrying a full week’s supply of bananas for the country? That is four and a quarter million bananas, every week.

That fun fact is just one insight into the working port of Cork, which is the world’s second largest natural deep water harbour, which comes out in a new TV3 series called Cork Megaport, starting tonight. The series delves deep into the bowels of the ships and shipyards that handle tons of produce every single day.

cruise ship Cobh cruise ship Cobh

Other figures with which to impress:

• Over 26,000 cars are imported yearly through the port
• 60 cruise liners stop off in Cork port every year, delivering 100,000 passengers
• Cobh, which is in Cork harbour, is Ireland’s only dedicated cruise berth and can accommodate cruise liners of 360m in length (see pic above)
• In 2013, the port handled 9.1 million tonnes of traffic
• It has sister ports in Shenzhen and Miami.

The port operates 24/7, 365 days a year. Here’s a little sneak preview of how expansive the operation is:

Cork: Mega Port, produced by Goldhawk Media, begins tonight on TV3 at 9pm.

Who gets to keep goods salvaged from ships?>

In pics: The aftermath of the Titanic tragedy>

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