The largest container ship to come to Ireland is to berth at the Port of Cork's Deepwater Berth in Ringaskiddy tomorrow.

It is part of a weekly scheduled call by the MV Northern Dedication container ship from Central America to Cork.

With an overall length of 230m and a deadweight tonnage of 42,121 tonnes, the ship is carrying over 75 containers of fresh fruit - predominately Fyffes bananas.

Each container carries in excess of 100,000 bananas. The ship will also offload containers of pineapples and melons in Cork.

As the Port of Cork begins their expansion phase, it is anticipated more vessels of this size will become regular visitors.

Port of Cork commercial manager, Captain Michael McCarthy, said: "There are very little restrictions at Ringaskiddy Deepwater Berth, so when it comes to handling a vessel of this size, the port is more than capable".

"In the future we would hope to see more of these size vessels calling, as our port expands to meet the needs of our own customers and the needs of the global shipping community".

In 2015, total container volumes through the Port of Cork grew by 8%, compared to 2014 figures.