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Issue 1 2019 - Freight Business Journal


///SOUTHAMPTON


Setting sail from Southampton


With the government constantly urging British business to export more, the 1.2 people of the Solent region couldn’t be in a better place. The port sits astride the main shipping lanes to Asia, and it is oſt en the last place in Europe that a ship will see before heading off to China, Africa or the Indian subcontinent. With excellent connections to the rest of the UK and Ireland by road, rail and feeder ship, it’s hardly a surprise that it’s one of the country’s leading ports – number one for cars and in second place for containers.


Solent Stevedores changes the game for rail


Southampton-headquartered Solent Stevedores has made a “transformational investment” in


its 6½ acre facility. In


partnership with landlord ABP, during 2016 it spent £2.5 million on a new loading pad and £2m on handling equipment, allowing train loading times to be halved to around 90 minutes. Now, in a further project, to lengthen the


ABP is about


rail sidings from 613 metres to 635m at the facility – due for completion in March 2019 – and reconfigure the track layout to allow two trains to be handled simultaneously. A further £1 million will be invested in additional reach stackers and tugs.


All this will allow Solent


Stevedores to aggressively chase new business, says operations director, Tom Dynes. The terminal already


handles five trains a day – three by DB Railfreight to Manchester Trafford Park, Birch Coppice (near Tamworth) and Wakefield and two operated by GB Railfreight to Birmingham


Hams Hall and Doncaster iPort. The latter is the latest addition to the schedule, having been launched in September 2018. The 36-wagon service runs five days a week to the new inland port. However, Solent Stevedores


is hungry for more business and Dynes says the company is already talking to operators about additional services, which it hopes will start in the first or second quarter of 2019. It runs an open-access terminal, and is willing to


talk to any operator. It has on occasion handled Freightliner services in the at times when the latter’s own dedicated Southampton facility has not been available. Solent Stevedores’ has been pretty busy of


late, Dynes


adds. The IT problems at Southampton’s major rival, Felixstowe, meant additional ship calls as operators sought alternatives and, at the time of writing in late November, much of the additional business appeared to be continuing.


Solent Stevedores has leased some empty land adjacent to its rail terminal to allow it to store 2,000teu of empty containers, and this will be continued until further notice, says Dynes. Ongoing issues on the roads, in particular the truck driver shortage is also thrusting additional volumes onto the rails. Empty wagon slots have been filled and operators have in some cases increased train lengths. “These are all nice problems


to have,” Dynes says, adding: “There are some concerns over Brexit next year and the effect it might have on the overall economy – Solent Stevedores traffic is almost all deepsea, so is unlikely to be directly affected – but otherwise business seems set to grow. After a quiet start to 2018, traffic is currently running at around 75,000 boxes a year but there is plenty of scope for more.” The port of Southampton’s


rail business received a boost a few years ago when gauge- clearance for 9’6” high boxes was completed on routes to


the Midlands and north and while the shorter hauls to the Midlands remain a very tight market for rail in competition with road, the truck driver shortage may have tipped the balance in favour of trains. Containers are not Solent


Stevedores’ only business in Southampton; it is also very active in the bulk sector, including recycled metals, minerals and agribulks as well as cruise liners. It also operates a 20,000sq m refrigerated fruit terminal. The company is currently


in discussion with ABP about adding a fifth mobile harbour crane, which will increase flexibility and resilience, says Dynes. On bulks,


“we


looking to break the 1 million tonne mark. There has been a resurgence in export grain traffic, with farmers who had been sitting on stocks now making a move while prices are still strong.” Solent Stevedores also has


have had another good year and we’re


numerous activities outside Southampton, including an empty container depot at London Gateway, a bulk sugar handling operation at Silvertown on the Thames, another facility importing flue ash and cement in Immingham, and lo lo and ro ro cargo handling on the island of Jersey. Dynes explains: “Southampton remains the beating heart of our operation. However, often the experience gained here can be readily replicated elsewhere.”


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