Ports News Round Up

June 6th, 2017 by JCB
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Port of Grangemouth celebrates Golden Anniversary 

Scotland’s largest port, Grangemouth, is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the first container vessel to call at the port and the UK. The Sea-land freight service, transporting mostly Scotch whisky for onward travel to the USA, called into the port on the Saturday 7^th May 1966 as part of the Europe
and American shipping route.

Sea-land launched the transatlantic container ship route in April 1966 with four ships in service, each carrying 226 containers with cargoes of cameras, safety razors and pre-fab housing complements. The weekly route was the first transatlantic ship carrying only containers and called at Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Baltimore, Maryland, in the US, then Rotterdam, Bremen and Grangemouth. Grangemouth was the only UK port in the rotation making Grangemouth (Scotland’s Container Terminal) the first port in the UK to handle goods in this way, with the subsequent development of containerisation changing the way in which world trade is undertaken.

Through investment over the past 50 years, the port has developed and is now Scotland’s largest container port. The terminal has handled in excess of three million containers over that time and today handles more than £6 billion worth of goods each year, including spirits, food, steel plate, timber and paper, as well as equipment for the oil and gas industry.

Of the golden anniversary, Charles Hammond, Group CEO of Forth Ports commented,’We are excited about reaching this significant milestone in the history of the port. Over the past 50 years the port has changed and adapted to the changing needs of our customers and we are now Scotland’s largest container port and make a major contribution to the economy of Scotland. We look forward to continuing to play our part for Scotland in the next 50 years.’

Media permission by Debbie Johnston, Spreng Thompson

Port of Tilbury set for expansion following major land acquisition

Forth Ports confirms that it has entered into an agreement to purchase 152 acres of land, including a further deep water jetty, close to the east of the Port of Tilbury in Essex. The acquisition price is not being disclosed, though it is expected
that at least £100m will be invested
in infrastructure and facilities on
the land.

The land purchased is part of the former RWE-owned Tilbury Power Station, which closed in 2013 and
is currently being decommissioned.
The port has taken ownership of part of the 152 acre site, with the remainder to be handed over following the completion
of demolition.

This land acquisition brings the total port acreage to 1100, and Forth Ports intends to use this land to extend their current operations with the creation of a new port, to meet the needs of customers and market demands. It is the intention of Forth Ports for the new port facility to be connected to the national rail and road networks. The port will lodge
the relevant planning applications
in due course.

Charles Hammond, Chief Executive of Forth Ports, said: ‘This is a significant land acquisition for the Port of Tilbury. As London’s major port, it is a key resource for companies who need to access London and the South East of England. We are acquiring this additional land to extend the port in response to increasing demand from customers who are seeking additional capacity within the port.’

‘We have an ambitious growth plan for the Port of Tilbury and this land deal will complement our other development projects at the port including the growth of London Distribution Park and the opening
this year of the UK’s largest port-based chill store, operated by our partners NFT.’

Steve Boughton, Head of Business Development UK for RWE, said:

‘RWE has a proud connection with the Tilbury Power Station site, having generated electricity there for millions of homes for over 46 years. Following its closure in 2013, we are delighted to have sold part of the site to the Port of Tilbury, which we believe offers a fantastic opportunity for businesses and employment in the local area and beyond. We will continue to work closely with the port over the coming months while demolition of some buildings takes place. We wish the port every success for its future plans.’

The Port of London Authority Chief Executive, Robin Mortimer, said: ‘This is a really important development. The former power station site offers a fantastic deep water berth and the land is ideal for the port centric logistics in which Tilbury specialises. It is all part of a picture of growing trade on the Thames, which we are actively supporting through the Thames Vision project.’

Media permission by Debbie Johnston, Spreng Thompson 

Thamesport Medway

The Armitt Group, a respected UK shipping agent and specialist logistics company, has signed a heads of terms agreement to build a 120,000 ft² multimodal terminal at London Thamesport. Freight could start moving through the new facility as early as autumn this year.

The long-term agreement was
signed by The Armitt Group and the port’s owners Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group.

Construction of the site and warehouse has already started and shipments are due to begin later this year. Armitt Multimodal Terminal South, as it will be known, is the first in a three stage investment by the Armitt Group to develop similar facilities in the Midlands and North of the UK within the next three years.

The company already offers vessel agency, chartering services and bunker supplies throughout the UK, including Thamesport.

Nicholas Marshall, Commercial Director at Armitt, said: ‘What we are bringing to Thamesport, through this agreement, is our expertise in breakbulk handling, which is why Hutchison finds us attractive as a partner. We see this deal as being the start of a very long-term successful relationship with Hutchison Ports.

‘We also see the deal as a great opportunity to open up a new
supply chain corridor to service European and Far Eastern markets, and it is a crucial link in our plans to develop a fully integrated supply chain across the UK. The investment also ensures we have access to an excellent deep water, rail-connected and uncongested facility that is important to the needs of our clients,’ he added.

Armitt also has plans to handle additional breakbulk cargo from the port and is currently in talks with Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group to secure an additional area to handle shipments of aggregates for consumption within the M25.

Apart from providing professional logistics services to the steel industry, Liverpool-based Armitt Group also provides shipbroking, chartering and vessel agency services nationwide. It has grown over the years to become a global supplier of marine fuels and lubricants and is one of the most successful and trusted logistics providers in the UK.

Thamesport was chosen by Armitt because of its deep-water berths as well as its excellent road and rail communication links to high population areas in the south east and unrivalled access along the corridor to the north west.

The port has, in the past, handled up to seven train loads of containers, each way, per day. Armitt is confident that, by attracting up to 50 deep sea handy size vessels and up to 100 short sea port calls a year to the facility, in time it can move up to two million tonnes of high quality steel products through its warehouse
per year.

New Berth – Port of Felixstowe

The Berth 9 Extension at the Port of Felixstowe, the Port of Britain, has been opened by Dr Therese Coffey MP. The 190-metre extension increases the port’s capability to work two of the world’s largest containerships simultaneously.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Coffey said: ‘I am delighted to formally open this latest extension of the Port of Felixstowe. An ever-increasing proportion of UK trade is moving on these huge container ships and UK ports need to provide the facilities they require. Felixstowe was the first port in the UK to handle these vessels and this latest development will help ensure UK exports reach overseas markets in the most efficient way possible.’

Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Felixstowe and Managing Director of HPH Europe division, added, ‘The Berth 9 Extension represents the latest phase of development at the Port of Felixstowe. Our programme of continued investment has ensured that the UK remains a destination for direct calls by the latest generation of mega-ships.’

The Port of Felixstowe has been visited by a number of high profile Members of Parliament. Robert
Goodwill visited when he was

the Shipping Minister to chair a Round Table seminar which discussed training and recruitment
in the ports sector. David Cameron,

when he was Prime Minister, visited the new development at Felixstowe and discussed about Europe.

Media permission by Paul Davey Port of Felixstowe