The arrival of the cargo vessel the Anna G into Scotland’s container terminal in Grangemouth at the weekend launched a new east coast container feeder shipping service with Unifeeder.

This new service is the first direct feeder call from Scotland to London Gateway on the Thames Increasing connectivity options for customers shipping to international markets and providing a new offering for UK domestic cargoes.

The service connects Grangemouth with London and offers both deep sea and short sea transit opportunities for customers. The weekly rotation calls at Grangemouth, London Gateway, Dunkerque, Antwerp and Teesport.

Commenting on the new call, Derek Knox, Port Manager said: “It’s great to see this new service from Grangemouth to London Gateway launched by Unifeeder.  This new connection to London increases the shipping options offered to our customers within the UK and beyond from Scotland’s container terminal. The service demonstrates Unifeeder’s confidence and commitment to both the Port and Scottish Market by offering a new alternative to existing supply chain solutions. We look forward to supporting Unifeeder with the service.

The prime location of Grangemouth on the east coast coupled with our experience, expertise and equipment deliver a first-rate service for customers. We continue to invest significantly in Grangemouth with new equipment, an expanded container terminal area and over 400 reefer connections secures us as Scotland’s largest container terminal.”

The Port of Grangemouth operates Scotland’s largest container port and handles in excess of 155,000 containers per annum. More than £6billion worth of goods passes through Grangemouth each year including steel plate, timber, paper and equipment for the oil and gas industry. There are regular container services from Grangemouth with frequent daily sailings to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Felixstowe and Hamburg. Most of the major lines utilise these feeder services to link with mother container vessels plying between the world’s major ports.

10 March 2020                                               -Ends-

Forth Ports’ Senior Harbour Master, Ashley Nicolson scooped the prestigious Women in Industry award for the first time at the CeeD (Centre for Engineering Education and Development) Industry Awards 2020.

Ashley Nicolson is part of the marine team at Forth Ports which manages and operates an area of 280 square miles of navigable waters on the River Forth and the River Tay, including two specialised marine terminals for oil and gas export.

Through her role at Forth Ports and her Vice President role at the UK Harbour Masters Association (UKHMA), Ashley is helping to drive the change required to ensure a more gender diverse workforce within the maritime sector. Ashley and her two colleagues from the marine team have committed to supporting the ‘Maritime and Me’ campaign launched recently by Maritime UK with the aim of encouraging women to join the industry.

This award also recognises Forth Ports’ corporate values which celebrate equal opportunity and achievement in the sector. Forth Ports has committed to the UK Women in Maritime Pledge to create positive change within the organisation and the wider UK maritime sector. The port group is also working towards achieving Women in Maritime UK Chartered Company Status.

Commenting on her award win, Ashley Nicolson said: “I am extremely proud to win this award and I hope it sets a positive example for other women in the maritime industry. I have progressed my career into areas and roles never previously held by women, challenging the standards and leading by example; fully supported by Forth Ports. Along with the current industry campaigns like ‘Maritime and me’, there is now real momentum to deliver change and help inspire other women to excel and influence the development of the industry.”

Celebrating the CeeD award success, Jackie Anderson, Group HR Manager of Forth Ports said: “We are all thrilled for Ashley and we congratulate her on this well-deserved award. At Forth Ports, we are committed to building an employment culture that actively supports and celebrates gender diversity, at all levels, throughout our organisation and throughout our industry.”

Ashley supports the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) Women’s Forum with their pilot mentorship programme, providing mentorship to other women in the industry. She is also UKHMA Vice President and will become president in June 2020 – becoming the first female to hold the role in the association’s history, which has been in existence since 1993 and the largest organisation of Harbour Masters worldwide.  Ashley has also won the Hammerman Award.

04 March 2020                                   -ends-

Forth Ports scooped a trio of awards at the prestigious Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2020 last night (27 February).

The port group won in the High Growth Business of the Year for Capital Cruising and Large Business of the Year. The business also celebrated the individual award win to Harbour Master Ryan Porteous who was named Young Leader of the Year.

High Growth Business of the Year for Capital Cruising – the judges were impressed with the strong growth performance of Capital Cruising which is Forth Port’s cruise business brand. The business has experience strong growth to become the second largest UK cruise operator enjoying a 50% increase in customer base and an impressive 75% increase in cruise calls. The success is based on a strong commercial and brand strategy coupled with a collaborative approach to customer service and passenger experience.

Large Business of the Year – Forth Ports – the judges were impressed with the strong managerial and financial performance of Forth Ports. Forth Ports is one of the UK’s largest port groups with over 1,100 employees, handling over 41million tonnes of cargo at their ports and contributing £950million of economic value to the UK. The company has an ambitious investment strategy across it ports with the development of a new multimillion pound port in Tilbury on the Thames to increase the import and export capacity; a renewables and decommissioning hub and new £10million heavy-lift quayside in Dundee; and in Grangemouth a £15million investment in infrastructure, crane capability and a Skills & Business Centre. The business also invests in its people to create a strong service delivery and ensure a skilled workforce for the future.

Young Leader of the Year Award to Ryan Porteous – Ryan has impressed with his level of vision and leadership deploying his skills to positively impact both the teams he works with and the wider business. His role as Harbour Master for Dundee and Leith is to assume overall responsibility for the safe and efficient running of all marine aspects of the Port. Ryan provides leaderships to a marine team and is key in liaising with the customer, managing commercial pressure whilst maintaining the safety of navigation. In addition to the Port based part of his role, Ryan has been proactively involved in engaging local organisation with the safe usage of the River.  Inspiring a joint safety campaign with the local leisure fraternities such as fishing, sailing and water sport clubs along with the Police to promote safe and responsible river use.

Celebrating the awards success, Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer, Forth Ports said: “We are thrilled to win these two awards for the business and we are extremely proud of Ryan’s win as Young Leader of the Year. Ryan is an impressive individual and this award is testament to his professional achievements and personal drive. All three awards are a result of the hard work of many people across the business and my thanks and congratulations go to the teams who have contributed to this success.

This is an exciting year ahead for Forth Ports are we open a new port in Spring in Tilbury; host a prestigious global Cruise conference in Edinburgh in March and continue our multimillion-pound investment programme across our Scottish operations.”

28 February 2019                              -ends-

Scotland’s largest agricultural products hub (“agri-hub”) is now fully operational at the Port of Rosyth with the arrival of the Baltic Mantis bulk cargo ship and her load of over 30,000 tonnes of animal feed from Argentina.

As part of a long-term partnership with Forth Ports and Cefetra Ltd, the Fife port has now become the main Scotland’s principal agri-hub, handling an extensive range of agricultural products for the Scottish animal feed, food and drink and farming industries.

To create the unrivalled agri-hub, the Port of Rosyth has been deepened to provide a true deep-water port capable of taking vessels carrying up to 50,000 tonnes of cargo. Its existing storage facilities have been significantly extended with the addition of a new, 200,000sq.ft. purpose built agricultural products terminal, increasing the port’s storage capacity to around 100,000 tonnes. The terminal was built by Luddon Construction and the port manages all the operations in the store.

The port has invested in a new Liebherr mobile harbour crane for bulk handling capability at the agri-hub. This new crane is a state-of-the-art mobile harbour crane with powerful transmission and advanced electronics for bulk handing.

To further enhance the port’s bulk handling process, and to manage dust emissions, a new SAMSON ecological hopper is also now in place at the port. The eco hopper is the first of its kind in the UK and forms a key component of the new agri-bulk hub facility.

Derek Knox, Senior Port Manager, The Port of Rosyth said: “This is an exciting time for the Port of Rosyth as we see another significant investment programme for our customer, Cefetra, reflecting our strategy of working in partnership to deliver supply chain solutions reach fruition. This new agri-hub and our new Liebherr mobile harbour crane bring together the port’s unrivalled logistics links as well as its excellent marine capability. It’s also great to see the new SAMSON eco hopper in use. This is a key part of our dust control at the port. My thanks also to the Luddon Construction team who delivered the new terminal warehouse ahead of schedule.”

Andrew Mackay, Managing Director at Cefetra Ltd, said: “We are very pleased with the new Rosyth agri-hub development. We would like to thank Forth Ports and their contractors Luddon, Liebherr and Samson for delivering these excellent purpose-built facilities. The agri-hub will increase the efficiency of our supply chains, allowing us to take advantage of scale and location, bringing additional benefits to our customers and to Scottish agriculture for the long term.”

Rosyth’s location and logistical links to the motorway network, make it ideally suited to supply all areas of Scotland and Northern England. In addition, Rosyth, being near to continental Europe, has advantages in short sea freight.

26 February 2020                           – ENDS –

Scotland’s container terminal, within the Port of Grangemouth, welcomed five new Kalmar/Cargotec straddle carriers as part of a multi-million-pound investment in terminal equipment at the port. The five new Kalmar ESC 440 diesel-electric straddle carriers were built in Port of Gdynia, Poland and shipped into the port aboard the specialist cargo ship Taiga Desgagnes [see link to a time-lapse of the unloading here: https://vimeo.com/390577168/b8c4e1eec1].

The new straddles are the first phase of ‘taller’ straddles purchased by the port group in Scotland and will increase capacity of the container terminal by allowing containers to be stacked up to three high. Currently the stack is two high and with these new taller machines, the capacity of the container terminal will increase by 50%. The diesel-electric straddles are fuel efficient, low noise and feature a diesel-electric drive which fully complies with the latest exhaust emission regulations.

Senior Port Manager, Derek Knox, said: “The arrival of our five new Kalmar/Cargotec straddle carriers is an important asset and will facilitate increased container volumes moving through the port in the coming months and years.  This investment builds on a year of growth in container volumes in Grangemouth despite the current economic uncertainty.

The additional capacity that will be created further secures our position as Scotland’s largest container terminal with a modern fleet of equipment and the supply of storage capacity to meet future demands. In Grangemouth we handle some of the country’s most valuable exports, such as fine foods and drinks, so flexibility and durability of our equipment is essential with further investment in our straddle carrier fleet planned over the next few years.”

Mikko Mononen, VP, Sales, EMEIA, Kalmar: “We are happy to continue strengthening our long-standing and successful partnership with Forth Ports with this delivery. Driven by a highly efficient diesel-electric power unit Kalmar Straddle carriers comply with the latest emission regulations and offer excellent maneuverability, quiet operation and easy maintenance. The 8^th generation machines come with a number of refinements and improvements that have been developed in close collaboration with our customers and they have proven to be a reliable and dependable choice.”

The straddles will be put into operation next month (March) following an induction period and training for the straddle drivers. More than £6billion worth of goods passes through Grangemouth each year including food and drink, steel plate, timber, paper and equipment for the oil and gas industry.

• February 2020                         -Ends –

Nusrat Ghani MP, Maritime Minister, visited the Port of Tilbury – London’s major port – today for an overview of the Forth Ports Group’s flagship investment – the new 160 acre port terminal, Tilbury2 – alongside the community outreach, employment and re-training programmes to support former armed forces personnel and their families get back-to-work, utilising the Tilbury on the Thames Trust’s high-tech simulator suite.

The Minister also met two female graduate trainees and heard about the Group’s efforts to promote greater gender diversity, as part of the Women in Maritime initiative.

The Minister was also briefed on Tilbury’s network of short-sea container routes to northern and southern Europe, including the latest addition – a weekly service to Portugal (Lisbon and Leixões) operated by Samskip / X-Press Containerised, predominantly for fresh produce, beverages and manufactured goods.

The £250m Tilbury2 project consists of the construction of a new port terminal and associated facilities on land at the former Tilbury Power Station on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury. When operational in April 2020, Tilbury2 will be the UK’s largest unaccompanied freight ferry port, the country’s biggest construction processing hub and will see the creation of a new significantly larger rail head which can accommodate the longest freight trains of 775m. The site will be trusted trader Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) accredited and will employ the latest border technology, such as number plate recognition. The marine and terrestrial construction programme is being delivered by GRAHAM.
The project is central to the Port of Tilbury’s £1 billion investment programme during 2012-20, which has seen it double the size of its business in the past 10 years and is projected to double the volume of cargo across the quay (from 16 million to 32 million tonnes) and increase direct employment (from 3,500 to 12,000 jobs) over the next 10-15 years.

“Our new port is nearing completion at a crucial time as the UK prepares to leave the European Union. Harnessing the best-in-class border processes, Tilbury2 will be Brexit ready when the first ship docks at the start of April,” commented Charles Hammond, Chief Executive of Forth Ports.

Nusrat Ghani MP, Maritime Minister, said: “Ports are at the heart of the UK’s economy and I was delighted to visit the Port of Tilbury today and see the progress being made with Tilbury2 after the major development was recently given the go-ahead by the Department for Transport.

“This is an impressive example of how we are supporting our ports to harness talent, boosting diversity and taking advantage of technologies to bolster the capabilities of nearly 30,000 people who work at the ports around the country.”

The crew manning the tug, the Craigleith, on the River Forth on Christmas Day have been assured a traditional festive dinner after the marine team at Forth Ports made a special delivery of their turkey – by pilot boat.

A three-strong crew of the Craigleith will be onboard the tug over the festive period moored close to the Braefoot Gas terminal, east of the Forth Bridge on the River Forth, to ensure the safety and smooth transit of ships using this busy waterway. Tugs are also used in situations which need firefighting and marine pollution control capabilities; however these situations are a very rare occurrence.

Each year, Forth Ports gives each of its employees across the group a fresh turkey for Christmas. In Scotland, over 500 turkeys are distributed around the ports of Dundee, Rosyth, Grangemouth, Burntisland, Methil and Leith and the teams working on the Forth and Tay Estuaries.

Commenting on the festive delivery to the Craigleith, Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports, said: “It’s a long-standing tradition in the ports industry that employees get a turkey for Christmas to enjoy with their families. The Craigleith’s crew will be out on the river and away from their friends and families this Christmas but we weren’t going to let them miss out on this important custom. Our thanks and appreciation go to them and all our teams around the business who are working over the festive period.”

The Craigleith is the pride of Forth Ports fleet of tugs. Launched last year, the tug was named the Craigleith in keeping with the tradition of the tugs on the Forth being named after islands in the estuary. The Fidra, Seal Carr and Oxcar tugs are the other tugs in service.

Picture: Ben Greenshields (skipper of Craigleith tug) and Theo Currie (Towage Manager from Forth Ports) onboard the pilot boat the Puma, with the Craigleith in the background

23 December 2019                             – ends –

A 360-tonne bridge has been lifted into place as part of construction of a new port for the South East, Tilbury2.

The steel bridge was towed 135 nautical miles from Rotterdam to the Tilbury2 site – a process which took 24 hours – before it was lifted into place. See the video of the journey here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY15F6AtQR8

The approach bridge is the first of three components to be installed over the next few months to create a Roll On – Roll Off facility into the new terminal currently under construction by GRAHAM.

Peter Ward, Commercial Director at The Port of Tilbury, said: “This is another important milestone in the creation of our new port Tilbury2.

“GRAHAM’s team successfully completed the link span fixed bridge installation and we look forward to seeing the bridge opened early next year.”

The steel bridge, measuring 54m x 15m x 5m was chosen for its strength and durability in the marine environment.

It was transported by the HAPO pontoon H-332 and supporting tug.

The Port of London (PLA) pilots were on board when entering the Thames Estuary and remained with GRAHAM throughout the lifting operations.

Following closely behind in convoy was the MATADOR 3 seagoing floating sheerleg crane with a lifting capacity of 1,800 tonnes, again with a supporting tug.

Paul Scott, Contracts Director for GRAHAM, said: “We have hit another milestone on this major project with the arrival and installation of the approach bridge.

“It was a real team effort from the loading out at Ravestein’s BV yard through to the installation.

“The approach bridge is positioned from abutments on both the landside of the flood defence and on the foreshore.”

The Tilbury2 project consists of the construction of a new port terminal and associated facilities on land at the former Tilbury Power Station on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury.

When operational in Spring 2020, Tilbury2 will be the UK’s largest unaccompanied freight ferry port, the country’s biggest construction processing hub and will see the creation of a new significantly larger rail head which can accommodate the longest freight trains of 775m.

The project is central to the Port of Tilbury’s £1 billion investment programme during 2012-20, which has seen it double the size of its business in the past 10 years and is projected to double the volume of cargo across the quay (from 16 million to 32 million tonnes) and increase direct employment (from 3,500 to 12,000 jobs) over the next 10-15 years.

-ENDS-

Construction of the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) offshore wind farm is now underway following confirmation from EDF Renewables that financial close for the project has been achieved. Twenty-five (25) financial institutions are lending money to fund the wind farm which will supply enough low carbon electricity for around 375,000 homes.

All of the project’s 54 turbines will be assembled at the Port of Dundee before being sailed to the site and the Scottish engineering firm BiFab will build a number of the foundation jackets.

NnG has a capacity of c. 450 megawatts (MW) of low carbon energy and will offset over 400,000 tonnes of Co2 emissions each year. Construction of components is now underway, offshore construction will start in June 2020 and full commissioning will complete in 2023.

Charles Hammond, Group Chief Executive of Forth Ports, said: “This is great news for Dundee and we look forward to working with EDF Renewables and Siemens Gamesa on this major development that will bring significant benefits to not only the City of Dundee and the port but the whole of Scotland. Continued investment in our facilities, skills and infrastructure along with our £10m industry-leading heavy lift quayside means the Port of Dundee is well placed to deliver this prestigious offshore wind infrastructure project.”

See link to video of Charles Hammond talking about the news: https://vimeo.com/376136758/8d0f994b7a

Link to main news release: https://nngoffshorewind.com/2019/11/28/construction-of-neart-na-gaoithe-offshore-wind-farm-project-to-go-ahead-following-financial-agreements/