FRANCE & CHANNEL PORTS\\\


Portland Port in southwest England -


a few miles from


Weymouth – is in the midst of a major expansion plan that will see it add what amounts to two complete new berths. Having already invested in its OCP Quay to allow it handle cargo ships of up to Panamax size of around 60,000 tonnes or 350m length – a project that should be completed by Spring 2019 - it is now turning its attention to another existing pier.


is a further 100,000sq m designated as having permitted development status and for which planning approval would be relatively straightforward.” There has already been


strong interest in various parcels of land ranging from 10,000sq m to 20,000sq m, he adds. Existing tenant Glencore is


also planning to increase its storage capacity by 16,000sq m in order to double its volumes of animal feed.


and refi tted. One other plus, he adds, is that the water around Portland is ‘clean’ which makes in-water inspection of ships possible. There is also the potential for


large structures to be transferred to barges in Portland. Intermarine has signed a 20-


Issue 8 2018 - Freight Business Journal The South Coast’s best-kept secret


year lease on the building and there is also plenty of room for further expansion. Other tenants include


commercial boat builder Manor Marine. There is also a shellfish company and another that breeds Lumpsucker fish, which are used in fish farming to eat


parasites on salmon. The port is also used to berth


the Terramarique heavylift ship-barge vessel, although most of its traffic is actually handled elsewhere. There is only a limited amount of project cargo in Portland, says Bill Reeves. Apart from prisons, Portland


is perhaps best known outside the


shipping world for the


23


famous white stone that is still quarried nearby. These days, almost of it however leaves the area by truck, although one quarry firm is talking to the port about a barge operation, says Bill Reeves. Portland stone these days is too expensive to use for structural work; most of it is used as thinner cladding for other materials and so it is not shipped in large tonnages.


Chief executive Bill Reeves


says the plan is to sheet-pile the pier and increase the draught from the current 8.2/9.5 metres to 11 metres, add a dolphin mooring point and, as it is double-sided, create eff ectively two additional berths capable of handling large vessels. “It will mean three new berths and will transform the port,” he explains. Portland has a low tidal range,


coupled with deep water – hence its development originally as a naval port, says Bill Reeves. As a naval base, it kept a low profi le until its privatisation and commercialisation in 1996. Portland, now owned by


Langham Industries, is already busy with cargo such as animal feed for Glencore and powdered cement. It remains an important base for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA), and the new deep water berths will allow it to handle its increasingly larger ships, along with the growing number of cruise ship calls, while also catering for increased amounts of commercial cargo. The RFA business is growing


and there is also interest from the US equivalent, Portland Port having acquired the necessary security clearance. There is also potential for


commercial development at Portland, Reeves continues. “We actually have 2 million square metres of land in total,” he explains. Of that, around 300,000sq m is already in operational use, but there


All


the extra


truck traffi c


will make road improvements a necessity, and the port hopes that the new unitary local authority and central government will press ahead with a new road that will bypass local villages and the nearby town and resort of Weymouth. Portland off ers a high level of


security. As a former Naval port, it has its own police force and is governed by its own bylaws which are much tougher than the standard UK trespass law, Reeves says. It has an explosive licence, mainly for the military business, but it has on occasion handled commercial explosive traffi c too, under strictly controlled conditions. Portland is also home to a


number of businesses, including Intermarine, a subsidiary of a Polish-owned company, that carries out marine, off shore and other engineering work using an array of specialist cutting, folding and bending tools, explains production manager Mark Bowden. Portland is in fact the


company’s fi rst permanent UK base. Previously, its main activity was supplying mobile shipyard labour for projects around the country. Portland was selected as a base, says Bowden, because of its good access to shipping lanes, as well as the availability of a large building already fi tted with a 40-tonne overhead crane, which Intermarine has refurbished


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28