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ScOTLANd


Forth Ports’ container trade north of the border appears to be on the rise again, says business development manager Nik Scott- Gray. Speaking in mid-December, he explained: “We have seen an improvement in the last few months and we hope that that will be maintained into 2011.” Most of Forth Ports’


container traffic is handled at Grangemouth, Scotland’s leading box gateway and in fact the only port in Scotland other than Clydeport to handle significant volumes of containers. As so often in the Scottish


freight industry, the answer to the industry’s ills is whisky. “The trade continues to be very positive, though there is also a significant amount of vodka and gin too,” Scott-Gray explains. Many of the distillers are using their bottling capacity to handle other drinks as well and this has helped boost Scotland’s total alcoholic beverage volumes.


Grangemouth’s portfolio


of regular liner operators is growing again too. Unifeeder started operating to Rotterdam and Hamburg this year, three times a week with 700teu vessels. The operator joins Feederlink (Rotterdam and Felixstowe), CMA/CGM, MSC (both with their own dedicated feeders), Samskip (Rotterdam) and BG Freight (Antwerp). Forth Ports has also been


developing port centric logistics in Grangemouth for builder’s merchant Travis Perkins and plasterboard manufacturer Lafarge. Travis Perkins assembles and redistributes a range of products from its site, including some brought in by road as well as sea. “We are interested in products that are brought in by road as well as by ship,” says Scott-Gray. In fact, Forth Ports runs the entire logistics operation on behalf of Travis Perkins. The Lafarge operation is


broadly similar, although there are also hopes that rail might eventually be used as well. “Grangemouth was originally a railway-owned port and there still is a rail link,” explains Mr Scott- Gray. Regular existing rail services include a shuttle to Elderslie near Paisley operated by Scottish logistics operator WH Malcolm – believed to be the shortest- distance regular container rail service in the country. DRS also runs a service four times a week to Aberdeen. In the longer term the Firth


of Forth could be developed as an inland waterway and before the recession there were serious plans to do so. These could be dusted off again when real growth returns. Another scheme that has been put on hold was a plan to develop the rail terminal as a standalone facility. Major investments in new


gantry cranes, straddle carriers and a driver’s interchange have


been completed - enough to build throughput up to 200,000 containers per year enabling the port to easily cope with any likely traffic volumes over the next few years. Nik Scott-Gray says investment is being considered to allow the port to handle larger feeder vessels than the current maximum. He has no ambition to turn Grangemouth into a ‘deep sea gateway’, arguing: “We only have 5.5 million people here, so it’s highly unlikely that we could ever justify direct calls by large ships.” New container operators would be welcomed, but ideally they should add destinations not already served from Scotland. The port would definitely be interested in new links to Iberia or North Africa, but less so in services that simply diluted the existing feeder trades to Rotterdam and some of the other big continental hubs. Forth Ports hopes too to attract more logistics operations


ISSUE 1 2011 Forth Ports’ business starts to multiply again


to Grangemouth. “We’ve been doing a lot of work with the retailers these last few months, and we think there are some possibilities, if we can configure the supply chain in the right way.” Given the perennial shortage of containers for Scotland’s exports, it would make a lot of sense if the country’s imports could be shipped in direct by container into a local port - rather than via Felixstowe or Southampton to a distribution centre in the Midlands for redistribution by


road transport into Scotland itself. However, it would mean exporters to the UK separating off the Scottish element of their UK-bound traffic and this might not always be easy to achieve, Scott-Gray admits. “I think the onus is on us to go out and market the concept and show what Grangemouth can do. We’ve got 70 to 80 acres here available for development – a whole distribution park – exactly equidistant between Glasgow and Edinburgh.”


Rosyth ready for more ro-ro traffic Smaller ports


Rosyth, the terminal for Scotland’s only regular ro ro service, now operated by DFDS following the takeover of Norfolkline, is shortly to be upgraded to a two-ship operation – something the route hasn’t enjoyed since the service was inaugurated by Superfast Ferries. DFDS also decided to convert it into a truck-only route, and while this is disappointing news for the tourist trade, it could arguably improve service to freight customers. Commenting on the move John


G Russell chief executive Alan Poulton, whose company makes extensive use of the service for its continental traffic, said: “We are very relieved at the reprieve of the DFDS service and delighted that it will continue.” He said that freight service would improve without the “distraction” of passenger traffic. Forth Ports’ Nik Scott-Gray


continues: “Volumes have been coming back on this service. Hauliers are making increasing use of the service as fuel prices increase and driver’s hours rules are tightened. We are handling


increasing volumes of unaccompanied trailers and trade cars into Scotland.” Having made a success of one ferry service, Rosyth would welcome


another, perhaps to Germany or the Baltic region. “We’re having a lot of discussions with potential operators at the moment,” says Nik Scott- Gray. “It’s looking quite hopeful.” Chris MacRae of the Freight Transport Association meanwhile urges


the Scottish freight industry to make full use of the ferry link, warning that if DFDS cannot make it fully commercially viable, it’s unlikely that the Scottish government would be able to subsidise it in future. “We have to understand that this is the last chance to make it work. It really is a case of use it or lose it.” More good news for Rosyth comes from the Scottish government,


which announced towards the end of 2010 that it would go ahead with the second Forth road bridge. Rosyth would find itself virtually underneath it. A potentially less welcome development in Rosyth for Forth Ports are


the plans by Babcock to develop a container terminal on their part of the former dockyard site. However, this is a long way from fruition. Nik Scott-Gray doubts


whether there is room in the small Scottish market for what would effectively be a fourth major player, alongside Grangemouth, Clydeport and Freightliner. A Babcock spokeswoman told FBJ that the final version of the harbour revision order was due to be submitted to the Scottish Executive in


Early snow freezes up Xmas rush


warning that the weather was closing in, the authorities could have done more to get slow-clearing equipment in the right places before the snow came down. “Normally, Scotland is actually very good at dealing with snow,” argues Poulton. In the event, the main M8 Glasgow-Edinburgh route – Scotland’s busiest – was completely closed for a time, an unprecedented situation. “We lost around eight days from the supply chain at a time when


December’s snowfalls hit Scotland particularly hard and the logistics industry bore the brunt of the disruption to transport networks. While the conditions were unusually harsh, especially for early winter, the country could have been better prepared in some respects, says John G Russell’s Alan Poulton. Given that there was plenty of advance


it was at its peak, and what should have been one of the busiest periods of the year in fact became one of the slowest.” Main roads were gridlocked, the port of Grangemouth was closed for a short time as equipment refused to operate in the subzero temperatures and stacked containers froze together. The Coatbridge rail terminal near Glasgow was also closed for a few days before reopening on a restricted basis. “Fuel supplies also became very tight, even though we do have our


own fuel bunkers on site,” Poulton recalls. Even if trucks could get out of the terminals, the problems didn’t end because it was taking


Forth Ports runs seven ports in Scotland. Along with the small ports of Burntisland, Methil and Kirkcaldy, the others include Leith - mainly a bulk and coal port - and Dundee, which mostly handles agri bulks, much of it for the whisky industry and some offshore work. Dundee is in a good position


to capture future offshore wind farm work, including the Forth Array scheme just off the coast of St Andrews. With its river


early January, which will be followed by a 42 day statutory consultation period. She added: “Depending on representations made during this 42 day period, the final approval of the HRO may not be completed until mid 2011 or later if a public enquiry is required.”


see windfarm future


berth, unrestricted by locks, the port would be ideal for handling the 40-50 metre wide vessels, Forth Ports believes. Leith, near Edinburgh, would also be in a good position. The Scottish Government


has made £70m-worth of funding available for offshore infrastructure, and there are even more ambitious plans to develop further wind farms, perhaps in the far north of the country.


up to four hours to deliver to many consignees because of the knock-on effects caused by congestion, and this backlog continued even after the weather improved. John G Russell itself was probably one of the best- prepared logistics companies with its own gritters and snowploughs at its sites; at one stage it even cleared the public roads near its Coatbridge terminal, with Police permission. Freight Transport Association, head of policy for Scotland, Chris


MacRae added: “Many of our members do have snow- clearing kit, but some councils have said that they can’t use it on the public roads.” Nik Scott-Gray from Grangemouth’s


owners,


Forth Ports said: “We had temperatures down to minus 20 and the plant we have is not designed for it but our guys worked as hard as they could to keep everything moving.”


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