Onlookers on both the north and south banks of the Forth Estuary were treated to a spectacular this weekend as one of the most remarkable marine operations ever undertaken on the river unfolded before their eyes.

In an operation spanning two days, Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit – at 382 metres long and 124 metres wide, the largest construction vessel in the world – transferred its huge cargo of a topside drilling platform onto the 200 metre long cargo barge, the Iron Lady, on Saturday. The following morning the Pioneering Spirit, which was specifically designed for the single-lift installation and removal of large offshore platforms, separated from the Iron Lady and the cargo barge was towed clear. The Pioneering Spirit then set off once more for the North Sea.

With its cargo safely secured to its deck, the Iron Lady was then towed westwards along the River Forth by Forth Ports’ tugs, the Craigleith, Inchcolm and Fidra in a carefully planned operation to ensure the structure had sufficient clearance to transit below the iconic Forth Bridge, then the Forth Road Bridge and finally under the Queensferry Crossing before berthing alongside at the Port of Rosyth. It is scheduled to remain moored at the Port of Rosyth for around six weeks before being towed back east along the river to the Energy Park Fife in Methil where its cargo will be unloaded for decommissioning.

Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports, said:

“It was a truly spectacular sight to see this huge vessel offloading its cargo within our deep water on the River Forth. Watching the Iron Lady towed safely into the Port of Rosyth by our tugs against the backdrop of all three Forth crossings was a bit special too.

“However, we can expect to see sights like these more and more frequently as oil and gas decommissioning projects from the North Sea and elsewhere gather momentum. The Forth Estuary’s deep and sheltered water, alongside the decommissioning facilities on both the River Forth and River Tay, make this an ideal location for operations like this weekend’s.”

Ends                                                                                                               11^th April, 2021

Local people on both sides of the Forth Estuary between Kirkcaldy and Largo Bay on the north shore and Aberlady and Gullane Bay on the south bank are expected to be treated to the sight of a major marine operation taking place in the river commencing on Saturday evening (10^th April) and completing on Sunday (11^th April) – subject to weather conditions.

Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, the largest construction vessel in the world, is scheduled to transfer its cargo of a topside drilling platform to the 200 metre long cargo barge, Iron Lady, on Saturday evening. The Pioneering Spirit is 382 metres long and 124 metres wide and was specifically designed for the single-lift installation and removal of large offshore platforms. The vessel has a lift capacity of 48,000 tonnes.

The following morning, the Iron Lady and its cargo will disengage from the Pioneering Spirit and will be towed by Forth Ports’ tugs, the Craigleith, Inchcolm and Fidra, under all three Forth crossings to the Port of Rosyth. The Iron Lady will be moored at the Port of Rosyth for approximately six weeks, after which it is scheduled depart for the Energy Park Fife in Methil where its cargo will be unloaded prior to its decommissioning.

Please note that this operation and all timings are subject to weather conditions and, should poor weather prevent the operation taking place, it will be rescheduled for the next appropriate day.

Ends                                                                                                               9^th April, 2021

A wildlife area created in 2014 by The Port of Tilbury, as part of the development of London Distribution Park, has seen a rise in key insect and invertebrate species according to a new monitoring study.

The habitat site, which in 2019 was recognised as of national importance for insects and other invertebrates, was created seven years ago by spreading chalk slurry over an area equivalent to six football pitches on the bare surface of a former landfill, and then placing ‘dunes’ (made from waste fly ash) and chalk bunds on the top. It was then left to develop.

Some of the interesting insects and invertebrates found by the latest study, which was conducted by one of the foremost invertebrate surveyors in Britain in conjunction with ecology experts Bioscan, include striking species such as:

• the Bombardier Beetle Brachinus crepitans, a beetle with a secret weapon: its rear end acts a chemical reactor and creates explosions to defend itself and ward off predators;
• the Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes, which sports large pollen baskets on the hind legs, akin to a costume of fluffy yellow pantaloons; and
• the Six-belted Clearwing Bembecia ichneumoniformis, a day-flying moth which resembles a wasp as an act of protective mimicry;

All of these are nationally scarce species which favour this particular area of South Essex. The Wildlife site sounds its own success, from different insect densities and activity levels the buzzing can sometimes be amplified to an over-powering hum.

Previous surveys undertaken in 2018 found that the new habitats created at Mucking already supported a proportionally higher number of rare and scarce invertebrate species than had been found at the LDP site prior to development, and the most recent report concluded that the new habitat “continues to support a remarkable richness and abundance of invertebrates and is habitat of very high conservation importance for invertebrates”.

 Commenting on the results, John Speakman, Snr Asset Manager for Property at Port of Tilbury, said: “Port of Tilbury takes its responsibilities as a developer seriously. This is further confirmed through the results of this study clearly showing that, working with our advisers at Bioscan, this habitat, is now an important nature area for creatures.

 In an area that is predominately industrial, it is pleasing to see this ‘urban meadow’ thriving. Through our partnership with landowners and ecology experts, we have collectively delivered on our environmental objectives when we developed the London Distribution Park.”

 Dominic Woodfield, Managing Director at Bioscan UK Limited, said:

“One of the best parts of my job is seeing habitat creation theory become practice, and the LDP compensation area at Mucking landfill is a fantastic example of how nature will thrive if you give it the right building blocks and the time to do so. From the very beginning, the Port of Tilbury have been fully invested in seeing this project achieve fruition, and the success shown by the invertebrate monitoring is just reward for their commitment to corporate responsibility.”

Ecologists will monitor the site again in five years, with the scheduled intervals between monitoring becoming longer as the habitats become established. However, with the positive trajectory set thus far, expectations are for the discovery of more exciting finds by our surveyors in 2025. as the initial study has been so successful the report recommends creating additional invertebrate habitats at Mucking – a scheme that is now well underway to offset the impacts from the Tilbury 2 development on the site of the former Tilbury Power Station.

Bioscan UK Limited designed the wildlife area on behalf of the Port of Tilbury.

 Ends                                                                                                   30 March 2021

The two ports which make up Thames Freeport received more new enquiries from businesses looking to relocate to the site this month than at any point in the last decade, following the shortlisting of the bid by the Government on 3 March.

After declaring that Thames Freeport is “open-for-business” to fast forward the economic recovery from the pandemic, enquiries at London Gateway and the Port of Tilbury have ranged from fresh space for industrial processes, manufacturing and logistics centres to electrification hubs, innovation incubators and support services as businesses look to utilise the development-ready, low tax and pro-trade platform.

Thames Freeport is a digitally linked economic zone connecting Ford’s world-class Dagenham engine plant, the global ports at London Gateway and Tilbury, and many communities in urgent need of ‘levelling-up’.  Businesses looking to expand are being urged to take advantage of the tax benefits of relocating to the Freeport and being part of a customs zone, which will enable the businesses to continue to have low friction trade processes with the EU and global markets.  The Freeport will be a centre of excellence for the country as we electrify, automate and digitise our future.

Government freeport policy objectives are to establish national hubs for global trade and investment; regenerate and levelling up areas of need; and create hotbeds of innovation.

Alan Shaoul, Chief Financial Officer at DP World in the UK (owner of the port and logistics park, London Gateway), commented: “We have seen a surge of interest in the last four weeks from businesses who want to understand more about the benefits of locating or expanding at Thames Freeport as the economy continues to recover briskly from the pandemic.

“Our London Gateway site alone has almost 10m square feet of land that has planning consent.  This oven-ready land means that we have the capacity to expand our operational area, and therefore attract new foreign direct investment, within months not years.”

“We’ve made an early commitment across the Thames Freeport sites backed by substantial investment to ensure our facilities and development areas are ripe for fresh business growth opportunities,” commented Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports (owner of the Port of Tilbury and Tilbury2).

He added: “Our sites provide first-class global and domestic connections for businesses looking to site their activities at the heart of Europe’s biggest consumer market and a resurgent industrial cluster to develop low carbon logistics solutions.”

Over the coming months and ahead of the awarding of a licence to operate in Q4 2021, the Thames Freeport partnership will be working with the Government, Thurrock Council, Barking and Dagenham Council, the South East LEP, the Thames Estuary Growth Board, the Port of London Authority and other partners to work up an outline business case for a range of activities to be delivered in the first five years of operation and beyond. These range from multi-million pound

infrastructure improvements and a range of programmes covering innovation, skills development, digital connectivity, low carbon solutions and the hydrogen economy.

See the Thames Freeport website / Twitter / LinkedIn pages for more information.

Major building work is underway at the UK’s largest grain terminal at the Port of Tilbury following a fire* in 2020 which damaged its grain silos.

The Tilbury Grain terminal has been in operation for over 50 years and is a key strategic facility in the South East of the UK for the grain import and export markets handling over 2million tonnes of product from around the world. Grain is a key commodity in the UK food supply chain for a number of uses, most notably within the flour milling and bakery industries.

Demolition of the damaged concrete silos is underway and, at the same time, construction of phase one of metal silos is underway with the first three new silos having been constructed. The new silos, both phase one and phase two which will see the reconstruction of the concrete silos, will come online in stages. Phase one is expected to return 20,000 metric tonnes of capacity in early 2022 and the remaining 34,000 m/t of storage will be restored in 2023. These will all be constructed to the highest health and safety standards and will be industry leading.

Peter Ward, Commercial Director at The Port of Tilbury said: “The grain terminal is a vital asset at The Port of Tilbury and plays a major role in supplying businesses with the grain needed to support their brands. Following the fire last summer, we worked hard to ensure there was limited interruption to customer service and now with the new silos being constructed, we can be confident that the new facility will set the highest industry standards for silo construction. In the meantime, we want to extend our thanks to our customer base for the loyalty and support they have shown us through what has been a difficult period.” 

During these works there will be no interruption to customer service as the terminal remains fully open for import and exports and once complete, the terminal will be restored to its full storage capacity of 135,000 m/t and continue to benefit from the full multimodal services at the port including river barge transportation into central London.

The Tilbury Grain terminal is the key strategic facility in the South East of the UK for the grain import and export markets handling grain from around the world supporting the flour and ingredient market for the southeast, London and up to the Midlands. Its riverside berths have space to host post-panamax vessels – greater than 40,000 tonnes – but can also handle a range of coaster vessels on its inner, outer and coaster berths.

The terminal also operates a monthly coastal shipping service from Tilbury to its sister port in Kirkcaldy, Scotland for Carr’s Milling. The terminal regularly handles cargoes from in and out of the UK and to countries across the world from the USA and Canada to France, Thailand and Australia.

*The fire at the grain terminal was in July 2020 and damaged the silo tower and some other equipment. Investigations are still continuing into the cause of this fire. No one was injured.

25 March 2021                               -ends-

The Port of Grangemouth has completed and opened a multimillion-pound rail freight hub with the arrival DRS’s Aberdeen freight train service. [see images attached with this release].

The new rail freight hub at Scotland’s largest port, saw an investment of £3million and with this increased capacity, it further secures its position as the key strategic freight and export/import hub for Scotland with a direct link to the port’s busy container terminal.

The new dual rail siding of 775 metres – previously 200 metres – can handle the longest freight trains on the UK network and is the first rail freight terminal to offer this and provide enhanced container / domestic intermodal options. This is of particular benefit for customers in the food, drink and perishables sectors across the Scottish freight community.

Commenting on the opening, Derek Knox, Senior Port Manager at The Port of Grangemouth said: “The opening of our new freight rail hub comes at an important time for the freight market as businesses are seeking flexible, resilient, and greener supply chain solutions. At the Port of Grangemouth we have the unrivalled position of being truly interconnected for sea to rail and rail to sea, with the added flexibility of direct road access into Central Scotland and beyond.

 We have invested over £30million in infrastructure and equipment over the past five years at the port and this new rail offering combined with our established port operations and streamlined customs processes creates a unique solution for our existing and future customers.” 

 Chris Connelly, Deputy CEO and Rail Director of NTS which operates Direct Rail Services, said: “This is fantastic news and this investment demonstrates the vital role rail freight plays in our economy and its importance in ensuring goods reach supermarkets quickly and reliably. Rail freight reduces carbon emissions by 76 per cent compared to road and this new siding will allow even longer, heavier trains, further increasing their environmental credentials and meaning fewer lorries on our roads.”

The Port of Grangemouth has on-site distribution warehouses with cross docking possibilities and is within a few miles of the main supermarket distribution centres within Central Scotland.  Grangemouth’s key strategic location in Scotland allows customers to take advantage of the excellent road, rail and shipping network that the port offers. Existing services link Grangemouth and its sister port in Tilbury on the Thames with a connection through Daventry.

11 March 2021                                               -Ends-

Thames Freeport today announced that it was open to do business with new customers, hours after the Government announced that it would be one of eight new freeports in England.

Thames Freeport is a digitally linked economic zone connecting Ford’s world-class Dagenham engine plant, the global ports at London Gateway and Tilbury, and many communities in urgent need of ‘levelling-up’. Businesses looking to expand are being urged to take advantage of the tax benefits of relocating to the Freeport and being part of a customs zone, which makes it easier and cheaper to move goods into and out of the country.

The other benefits of Thames Freeport include:

• £5.1 billion additional GVA
• Over £4.5 billion in new public and private investment
• 25,000+ new jobs with many more across supply chains, with significant investment in training and skills
• 1,700 acres of development land – much with planning consent
• £400 million port investment into some of the most deprived areas
• 20% of the UK’s most deprived communities are in London and the South East
• Freeports are in our DNA – DP World began as a free trade zone in Jebel Ali, while Tilbury was a freeport until 2012.

Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports (owner of the Port of Tilbury), said: “This is fantastic news and we are ready to hit the ground running. The freeport builds upon the successful completion of our new port, Tilbury2 and provides the platform for further expansion. The freeport policy’s special economic measures will turbocharge the best of the private sector, attracting value add manufacturing activity to the ports, the Thames Estuary and the wider South East, alongside supporting key infrastructure projects in the coming years. The Thames Freeport will be that catalyst to level up the left behind communities along the estuary.”

Dr Graham Hoare OBE, Chairman and Executive Director, Business Transformation, Ford of Britain, added: “The Thames Freeport will be a new centre of excellence for the country as we electrify, automate and digitise our future. The freeport provides Ford with a great opportunity as a test bed for a variety of customer-focused mobility technologies and other business opportunities at Ford Dagenham in the future.”

Alan Shaoul, Chief Financial Officer at DP World in the UK (owner of the port and logistics park, London Gateway), commented: “We are open for business and would urge anyone looking to expand to get in touch to find out more about the benefits of locating at Thames Freeport. Our London Gateway site alone has almost 10m square feet of land that has planning consent, and the capacity to expand materially its operational area and therefore attract new foreign direct investment within the lifetime of this parliament.”

Working with the Port of London Authority, Thurrock Council, Barking and Dagenham Council, the South East LEP, the Thames Estuary Growth Board and other key stakeholders we will continue to develop key Thames Freeport programmes, including the proposed hydrogen fuel production, storage and fuelling project.

See the Thames Freeport website / Twitter / LinkedIn pages for more information.

-ends-

Contact details:

For more information about the Thames Freeport bid, contact John Stevenson on john@ti-communications.co.uk or 07824 621756

As part of Scottish Apprentice Week, we talk to one of our Year 1 Electrical Engineering Modern Apprentices at the Port of Dundee, Connor Deuchars about his journey so far:

What made you decide to take on an apprenticeship?

I decided to take on this Electrical Engineering apprenticeship because I feel it is a really good ‘hands on’ opportunity to develop skills in my chosen career path.

How did you go about finding your apprenticeship?

A family member informed me there was a position available and I approached the Port and asked for a tour around before applying for the position online via the Forth Ports website.

What was the recruitment process like?

The recruitment process was very good.  I was given a good tour around the port and got a good understanding of what was going to be involved with the apprenticeship. I then had to submit my CV and go through various online aptitude tests.

I then had an online interview – it was a bit different from your usual interview but the interviewers made it seem a lot more normal like it was a face-to-face interview. They gave me information on what the apprenticeship involves such as pay, holidays, what to expect from the job and they asked a few questions about me.

As part of the online interview I had to do a ‘show and tell’ so I showed something I made in college. I explained the process on how it was made, what was needed to carry the task out then reflected on what I could have done better to gain more knowledge and understanding on how to improve next time.

I then got down to the final two candidates and we both had a face-to-face informal walk around the Port.

Overall the virtual recruitment process was very good, safe and easy to follow.

How is your modern apprenticeship structured?  

The apprenticeship is 4 years long and I am on block release which is 4 weeks at college then 4 weeks in the workplace.

What is your day to day job like?

I get to work about 07:45 and get changed into my PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). I get to the workshop for 08:00 and have a morning meeting with the department about the jobs for the day. We then carry out the jobs we have been given until a break at 10:00. We then carry on with the job we were on before break until 12:00 then have our lunch then carry out jobs until 5:00. There are a big range of jobs we carry out such as installation jobs, repairs, breakdowns and maintenance.

Is this an area of work you’ve always wanted to go into?

Yes I have always wanted to be in the electrical engineering area of work from a young age because my uncle inspired me to choose this career path.

How would you describe your role in 5 words?

Essential, practical, prominent, understanding and reliable

Did you have concerns about doing an apprenticeship?

I would say the only concern I had would be in case I didn’t fit in with my colleagues in the workplace but everyone was very welcoming and we can have a good laugh also they would help or give me any advice to the best of their knowledge if I needed any.

What advice would you give someone considering applying for an apprenticeship?

I would highly recommend anyone considering applying for an apprenticeship to go for one that they would enjoy and they actually want to go down that career path.

I would also tell them they will need to put in the effort in learning and taking everything on board they are getting taught.

To find out more about careers at Forth Ports go to: https://forthports.co.uk/careers/

Port of Tilbury, London’s fastest growing port, has reached the final of the prestigious annual Logistics Awards. The port has been shortlisted in the ‘New Facility’ category for their recently opened terminal, Tilbury2.

Tilbury2 opened in May 2020 and is the UK’s most modern and largest unaccompanied freight ferry terminal offering a multimodal (rail, road, sea, river), lower carbon route to the biggest consumer market in Europe and largest industrial bases in Britain, London and the South East.

Despite the challenges around the global pandemic restrictions, the freight ferry and rail terminals opened on schedule to support high volumes and market-leading turnaround times, with the rest of the new port – including the country’s largest construction materials processing hub – due to complete in Q3 2021.

Utilising the port’s AEO accreditation, Tilbury2’s IT-backed operation is Brexit-ready and based on a state-of-the-art container terminal solution from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) already deployed at the Group’s facilities at London Container Terminal, Tilbury, and in Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest container port.

Commenting on reaching the final, Paul Dale, Asset and Site Director at the Port of Tilbury, said: “This shortlisting is great recognition for the years of planning and carefully executed delivery by our dedicated in-house team, ably supported by an array of expert consultants.

 “Tilbury2 is a strategic national infrastructure asset that offers the best-in-class operation. This is the latest chapter in Forth Ports’ 25 year investment story at Tilbury.”

 He added: “Such as it is in lockdown, we look forward to the virtual awards next month and wish everyone nominated good luck on the night.”

 The Logistics Awards, the annual celebration of excellence in the logistics and supply chain sectors, has announced the finalist shortlist for this year’s awards. The award winner will be announced on 3 March. For more information on the awards click here: https://app.shdlogistics.com/2021/01/18/the-logistics-awards-shortlist/content.html

17 February 2021                              – ends –