12


NEWS


Workington is ready to welcome the world


The Port of Workington officially launched itself as a multimodal gateway for Cumbria and beyond on 24 June at an open day attended by leading figures from industry, politics and the logistics industry. The high- profile event included Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy Lord Marland and Pete Waterman who, as well as being familiar to X-Factor viewers as Britain’s most successful


music impressario is,


arguably, the country’s leading rail buff.


The Multi-Modal Cumbria


day marks a £4m investment by Nuclear Management Partners, along with £1.7m from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in new equipment, including an 84-tonne capacity Liebherr mobile crane, that is set to turn Workington into the UK’s newest container port, and indeed the first completely new international box port since the opening of Thamesport back in the late 1980s. It will also be the only port with a regular international container service on a 150-mile stretch of coastline between the Mersey and the Clyde.


The municipally-owned port of


Workington is being partnered by rail operator DRS and logistics specialist TDG (now part of French- owned Norbert Dentressangle), creating one of the country’s few true sea, rail, road and logistics hubs. The event marks a turn-around in a port that was in serious trouble only a decade ago, explains business development manager, Colin Sharpe.


“Historically, the port relied on heavy industry and for many years it did very well, but it was reliant on too few pieces of business,” he told FBJ. “It had all its eggs in just two baskets.”


One of those was the rail making industry – ‘Workington’ can be found stamped on the sides of rails in almost every part of the world – while the other was phosphate- based chemicals, both of which have closed down, depriving the port of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of cargo virtually overnight in the early years of the new century. The County Council, owners of the port since 1975 when it was disposed of by British Steel, carried out a review. An attempt to sell the port as a going concern brought little more than an offer by one operator to run the port in return for a fee of around £1m a year.


Instead, a public-public partnership was selected as a vehicle to develop Workington, with funding from the local council, borough and the regional development agency. “This made good the infrastructure and signalled that we were here for the long term,” Sharpe explained. “But we were also mindful that there were activities that we weren’t yet expert in, so we talked to potential partners like DRS and others.” DRS managing director, Neil McNicholas said that his company has invested in a fleet of 50 ‘lowliner’ container wagons, which will allow it to carry 9’ 6” high containers on much of the British rail system


ISSUE 4 2011


ROUND-UP CONTINUED: FORWARDING & LOGISTICS


Kerry Logistics has started building work on a 42,600sq m logistics centre at Haicang Export Processing Zone, Xiamen, China. When complete, expected in the third quarter of 2012, it will handle hi-tech & electronics, food, wine, and temperature-sensitive cargoes. It has also started construction of its 26,000 sq. m. Wuxi Logistics Centre which will have a capacity of 10,000 tonnes when it is completed in the fourth quarter of 2012. Kerry Logistics has also been appointed by Marks & Spencer (M&S) as its logistics partner in Greater China. Kerry will manage and operate M&S’s National Distribution Centre (NDC) in Mainland China and its Regional Distribution Centre in Hong Kong (HKRDC). Kerry Logistics has also acquired a controlling interest in two groups of companies in China; NVOCC Shanghai Wisdom Group and Shanghai Huicheng Logistics, which specialises in chemical logistics.


French forwarding group GEFCO has opened a subsidiary in Almaty, Kazakhstan. With a team of ten, it will primarily support corporate clients and offer a full range of logistics services.


APL Logistics has appointed Iraq Transcontinental Shipping and Kuwait Transcontinental Shipping is its agents. The move brings new offices in Basrah, Bagdad and Umm Qasr in Iraq and Ardiya in Kuwait. In the US, APL has confirmed the purchase of 43 acres at Joliet, Illinois, to develop an intermodal container terminal within the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, the largest inland port in the US.


without resorting to expensive gauge enhancement. Low platform wagons aren’t a new concept, but McNicholas believes that the design procured by DRS solves many of the technical problems experienced with earlier designs with their troublesome inside bearings. “We’ve done trials with two prototypes which have done 60- 70,000 miles without problems and we’re also satisfied that there are no excessive maintenance costs.” The port is now marketing West Cumbria as a place to do business and also to reach beyond its immediate hinterland. The centrepiece is the new harbour mobile crane which will be capable of handling not only containers but project cargo pieces of up to 84 tonnes – an important consideration given the interest in the offshore wind industry in these parts.


As for the container shipping service, an agreement with a potential operator was “99.9% complete” said Sharpe and could be in operation by late summer or early autumn. The final service pattern hasn’t been decided yet, but it will link Workington with Rotterdam weekly, and there would also be connections to Dublin, Belfast and Liverpool. It could cater for Scotland/Ireland flows or even for cargo transhipped from Liverpool to Cumbria. The port can handle containerships of up to around 450teu without any additional dredging or investment in quays. Apart from the crane, most of the investment for the new container terminal has been on the land side, in hardstanding and a container storage area.


Port chief calls for more clarity


Port of Hartlepool officials called for more clarity in the Government’s renewable energy policy during a visit by Minister of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Charles Hendry, on 27 June. PD Ports Group’s Hartlepool wants to become a centre of excellence for the UK wind energy market. However, PD Ports Group CEO David Robinson said that it was imperative that the Government had a direct, clear and positive view of the renewables sector, including Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs), funding and planning, adding: “There is a major reluctance to invest in this sector until the Government sets the level for ROCs which will determine what proportion of their power that UK electricity suppliers must generate


from renewable sources. As long as the Government delays specifying the ROC level, it causes great uncertainly in the market and gives international companies no clear incentive to invest in UK facilities,” he pointed out. Hartlepool is already building a reputation as a centre of wind energy expertise on its 50ha site. Tenants include JDR Cable Systems, a leading cable manufacturer for renewable energy projects, and Heerema Fabrication Group, which specialises in the engineering and fabrication of large and complex structures. The Minister visited both these companies as well as Port of Hartlepool facilities. The visit was organised by Iain Wright, MP for Hartlepool, who is a supporter of the


Chain Reaction initiative to


attract companies in the renewable energy sector to establish themselves in the area, bringing much-needed investment and jobs.


During the visit, the Minister commended the collaboration and close working relationship between


the port, JDR, Heerema, the local council and the local MP. He also commented on how impressed he was with the fact that a company such as JDR was able to grow from scratch to such an impressive working plant within three years at the port.


Geodis Wilson has taken over US domestic transportation specialists One Source Logistics. The non-asset based US company specialises in full- and less-than-truckload movements throughout the country, as well as time- and mission-critical deliveries for the retail industry. Former One Source president Mike Tillges will take on the position of director domestic supply Chain in the US. Geodis Wilson aims to at least double its US freight forwarding business within the next five years.


The British International Freight Association (BIFA) is seeking entries for its annual Freight Service Awards competition. Entries to any of the categories can be made through the event’s website at: www.bifa.org/ awards. Judging meetings will be held in mid October to select four finalists in each category, who will be announced at the end of October, followed by the winners at the awards ceremony on Thursday 19 January 2012 at the Chiswell Street Brewery in London.


DSV is to buy 100% of the shares in Finnish project specialist Wasa Logistics. The Danish forwarder says its acquisition is one of the market leaders in Finland within this segment.


ROUND-UP:


INTERNATIONAL TRADE & CUSTOMS


The free trade deal between the EU and South Korea officially came into force on 1 July. However, the president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in Korea, Jean-Marie Hurtiger said that, with EU exporters needing to register first with their national customs authorities in order to take advantage of reduced tariffs, this could discourage many smaller firms and only 30% of SMEs are likely to take advantage of the new agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, EU providers of international express delivery services would have access to the Korean market. A postal reform law, when adopted, will also extend this commitment to further areas outside the definition of the reserved postal monopoly area such as parcels.


The UK Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July. The new legislation, which some commentators have described as an even more draconian version of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act on which it is based, makes it illegal to make or accept a bribe, under any circumstances, whether to a private individual or public official and it applies to any person or individual with a connection to the UK. Any company using a supplier of goods or services will be subject to the Act, even where the transaction does not take place in the UK, will be subject to the new legislation.


Croatia should be a member of the EU on 1 July 2013, after EU leaders said they planned to sign the Balkan country’s accession treaty by the end of the year.


Anglia Ruskin University and the Institute of Export & International Trade (IoE) have joined forces to offer a Foundation Degree (FdA) in Professional Practice in International Trade. The new qualification, which is also available as a one- year Higher Education Certificate, combines industry knowledge with academic theory and skills, with the aim of improving the competence of British businesses internationally.


PD Ports group’s David Robinson (right) told Charles Hendry that the government needed to be clear on its energy policy


Denmark has reintroduced ‘permanent’ checks at its borders with Sweden and Germany but has pledged not to delay trucks or personal travellers, A total of around 50 customs officers have been assigned to checking for narcotics, weapons and illegal immigrants, but tax and customs administration director Erling Andersen said that there would not be any systematic control of all vehicles and trains and that they would be carried out with the least possible disturbance to traffic.


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