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NEWS Port windfarm cash saved


A £60 million fund to help UK ports develop facilities for the offshore wind energy industry appears to be safe from Government spending cuts, although its exact status remains unclear. The money appears to be included in a £200m-worth of funding being made available for low-carbon infrastructure projects in mid-October, but the industry is seeking further clarification. The previous Labour government


announced a £60m fund specifically to help ports develop facilities that would allow them to handle wind turbines and other equipment for a range of planned offshore windfarms; it had been feared that this would fall victim to the new Con-Dem administration’s Comprehensive Spending Review unveiled in mid-October. However, far from cutting the ports’ £60m, the Government announced that £200m would be made available for low carbon projects, though without specifically mentioning ports. PD Ports’ development director for bulks,


ports and logistics, Paul Barker. told FBJ: “We don’t know if it is the £60m we thought we had, or if it is more than £60m, nor who can apply for it.” But any investment would be welcome, he


continued adding: “We fully appreciate this isn’t ‘free money’. It’s a seedcorn fund.” PD Ports’ Hartlepool is the nearest harbour


to the huge new windfarm planned for Dogger Bank. Local industry, including the ports, have banded together to set up ‘Chain Reaction’, a scheme to develop a complete logistics and manufacturing capability for windfarm development in the area, along the lines of the ‘supplier parks’ that have been created by motor manufacturers in many parts of the world. The wind industry has the potential to totally transform the economy of north-east England, its participants believe. Paul Barker says that Hartlepool would be


in an ideal position to serve the new industry. Not only is it within ‘binocular distance’ of Dogger Bank, but it also has a large amount of brownfield land that could be converted relatively quickly into assembly and laydown areas for the windfarm industry. However, a decision on the design and size of any new windfarms would be needed soon


ISSUE 4 2010 ROUND-UP: SHIPPING


Local Government Minister Bob Neill has confirmed that the Government that it will abolish the payment of backdated port business rates. At a briefing at GEFCO’s Sheerness Port facility on 25 October he said that new legislation is set to be introduced in November as part of the Localism and De-centralisation Bill and could take effect in spring 2011. However, he also committed to extend the moratorium on the collection of backdated rates if the bill is not passed by the time it expires on 31 March 2011. The previous Government introduced a new system for calculating rates that would have led to significant increases, along with demands for backdated payments, for many port tenants.


The port of Southampton has its first direct link to Scandinavia for ten years with a new feeder service by X-Press Container Line. It offers a fixed day weekly sailing using a 525teu vessel, to Gothenburg and Antwerp, with a three-day voyage time to Sweden. The same operator earlier introduced a new weekly feeder service on its SIX service between Scotland, Ireland and Southampton and increased the frequency of services operating between Southampton and Greenock to twice a week.


JDR Cable Systems is planning to double up in Hartlepool


if the Government was to realise its ambition to have the first wind turbines in situ by 2015, he said. “My concern is that everyone says 2015 is the first date for turbines to be in the water. But people are reluctant to build a supply chain without having definite plans first. In the ports industry, most developments are significant and have long-term implications, and in the wind industry there’s no ‘copy and paste ‘solution.” Elsewhere in Europe, a slowdown in the


European renewable energy market has forced Danish company Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, to announce the closure of five factories with the loss of 3,000 jobs. As governments tighten their budgets across Europe, funding for alternative energy has taken a back seat except in the UK, which sees wind power as central to achieving its 2020 renewable energy targets. Paul Barker said: “We’ve had Norwegian,


Swedish and Danish visitors who all see the North Sea as a big market and recognise they have to be present in the UK. We’ve got the land, and can introduce them to 20 or 30 other businesses behind us such as hauliers and freight forwarders.” Dogger Bank is a “round three”


development, with a planned completion date of 2015. “We’re taking a multi-layered approach,” Barker says. “It would be great to attract a top-end tier one manufacturer, but we also have to think further down the supply chain. A phenomenal amount of cable will be required, for example.” An existing port tenant, JDR Cable Systems,


opened a new facility at Hartlepool in July 2009 to produce subsea power cables for the oil & gas and renewables sectors, and now plans to double it. The company recently completed a 25km subsea cable for a wave power project off the coast of Cornwall and has begun work on 230km of cabling for the London Array offshore wind farm. However, Albert Owen, MP for Ynys Fon (Anglesey) which has hopes of turning itself into an ‘energy island’ with several large wind and other power generation projects, has complained that only English ports will be eligible for the fund. Whenever grants are made to England, a proportionate amount of money is supposed to be allocated to the devolved administrations through the so- called Barnett formula, but the amount of money that would go to Wales would be inconsequential, he believes.


Humberside willing and Able


In summer Able UK unveiled its own plans for a £400m ‘Marine Energy Park’ on the South Bank of the Humber in North Lincolnshire. An application is due to submitted to the Infrastructure Planning Committee (IPC) next year. The plans envisage new quays


1,630 metres long, specifically tailored to the needs of the wind turbine industry and, if successful, it could create up to 20,000 jobs. It would service three offshore wind areas at Dogger, Bank, Hornsea and Norfolk Bank for which around 5,000 turbines would be delivered by 2020, shipping of which would start in 2015, with up to 19 units being moved every week. Able claimed


that the cost of delivering from its site would be significantly lower than other parts of the UK and Europe. A spokesman for North Lincolnshire Council


said:


“This would be a huge site for the design, manufacture, installation and servicing of offshore wind turbines. It would also create a market for locally produced steel and would be a massive opportunity to bring manufacturing back to the UK – it would be equivalent to the Nissan project in Sunderland.” He added that he was optimistic


that the Secretary of State would give approval for the project. In a separate but nearby application, Able UK has just


received planning approval from the council for a £100m scheme to create a logistics park at East Halton. The 1,500 acre site would be


close to ABP Port of Immingham as well as Able’s existing Humber vehicle storage facility. The scheme includes transport depots, warehousing and external storage areas, offices, a business park and motel and there would be road and rail links to nearby ports. The plan has now gone to the


Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. If the SoS were to decide not


to intervene in the application, it would then be referred back to the council for final approval.


Peel Ports has confirmed former Peel Airports CEO Mark Whitworth as its new chief executive. He will take over the permanent running of Peel’s entire ports operation, which includes the Port of Liverpool, the Manchester Ship Canal, Clydeport, Medway and Heysham, having acted in the post since the departure of Stephen Baxter in June.


There has been a surprisingly strong improvement in the fortunes of the major container operators in 2010, says shipping analyst Drewry in its Annual Container Market Review & Forecast for 2010/11. However, markets will remain very unpredictable over the next few years as consumption patterns remain unclear even in the short-term. www.drewry.co.uk


Maersk Line said it would temporarily withdraw one of its Asia- Europe services in mid-November. The AE9 service would be taken out in line with changes in demand, and would also help maintain schedule reliability, said the Danish-based carrier. The AE9 accounts for around 10% of Maersk Line’s Asia - Europe capacity. And after Chinese New Year, Maersk Line said it expected to remove yet more capacity to take account of market shifts. Director of Maersk Line’s Asia-North Europe trade, Lee Sissons, said the withdrawal of the AE9 service would not involve vessel lay-ups or other capacity adjustments. “We plan to reinstate the AE9 service as demand levels dictate, and we will remain flexible to changes in the market,” he added. But the Grand Alliance container lines (Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and OOCL), have adjusted their Europe to Far East capacity to cope with seasonal demand. Loop D will offer bi-weekly sailings until March 2011.


MoD mulls privatisation plan for military port


The Ministry of Defence may privatise Marchwood Military Port, on Southampton Water, according to local press reports. The port, official name Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre, started life in 1943 as one of the main launching points for the D-day invasion of France and has since played an important part in many of the UK’s overseas military campaigns. Although currently under full military control, in many respects it resembles a normal commercial port with three jetties, one 220m long, ro ro pontoons and is capable of handling ships of up to around 16,000 tonnes. There is a dedicated rail link and trunk roads and motorways are a few miles away on local two-lane roads. Typical annual throughput of the 290-acre site is around 100,000 tonnes of cargo a year. However, ABP which operates the commercial container terminal on the other side of Southampton


Water, played down local speculation that it might take on the operation. ABP Southampton has had its plans to develop a second container terminal at Dibden Bay turned down, and some reports have suggested that Marchwood might form part of an alternative development site. However, a spokeswoman said that while the port was within Southampton Water, and “ABP would certainly have a close look at whatever further details are published by the government”, she added: “ABP’s interest in a sale of Marchwood would be determined, in large part, by the extent of ongoing military activity on the site.” One potential obstacle, assuming that Marchwood is to continue in its military role after privatisation, is that it handles large quantities of ammunition and other explosives.


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