16 to consider


Issue 6 2019 - Freight Business Journal


///UK NORTH EAST


The Port of Tyne has launched a campaign to persuade more shippers


using


its coastal feeder services to get containers from southern ports to the North and Scotland without incurring road miles. For a deepsea container, arrival in Felixstowe is often


links with Felixstowe and Grangemouth operated by BG Freight Line, which were certainly a factor in attracting the likes of Lanchester Wines & Green Croft Bottling, one of the UK’s biggest wine importers, with its avowed aim of being the ‘greenest’ merchant in the


£1.5 million in extending and reconfiguring the terminal, which will increase capacity by 43% when the project is completed by November. In 2018, the port handled 68,000teu, up 16% on 2017. Tyne has also increased its


container haulage fleet as part of a move to reconfigure its business. The port was unique in having its own logistics business but in a market dominated by major specialists, it decided it was


better to


work in partnership with these firms and concentrate on business moving over its quays rather than try to offer a general distribution service. Most drivers from the former distribution arm have moved over to the container transport side of the business and Tyne is still virtually unique among UK ports in offering a complete door to door container logistics service. Indeed, the port has recently hired more container drivers. Extensive


rail links are


only the start of a long and arduous journey to the north. Delays on north-south motorway


routes are


sector. As well as the coastwise


now


so long that truck drivers often reach the end of their statutory working day before reaching destination and have to park up, further delaying the shipment. The Port of Tyne has frequent feeder container


services, the Tyne also has frequent feeder links to Rotterdam and, from there, the rest of the world. There is also the regular DFDS ferry service to Amsterdam. Container traffic is currently


booming at Tyne, having grown 25% since 2015 and the trust port is now investing


available throughout the port – Tyne kept its network at a time when other ports were ripping them out – and while these are currently used mainly for biomass traffic rather than containers,


they would be


available for this or the port’s extensive trade car business if required. But trains do account for important


another part of


Tyne’s business in another sense. It has been busy importing completed carriages, body shells and components for the new fleet of Hitachi trains on the east coast


Tyne reveals 2050 vision


Port of Tyne chief executive Matt Beeton announced a Tyne 2050 strategy on 25 June, fully aligned with the government’s aspirations laid out in Maritime 2050. It is based around the themes of Technology, Business Development,


Infrastructure


Planning, Safety and Environmental


Management,


People, Security and Resilience and Community.


“We need to think long-term


and Tyne 2050 will develop initiatives that seek to meet the challenges of the UK’s maritime and transport infrastructure, by strengthening


collaborations


with business and the community, supporting skills and innovation,” said Beeton. “Thinking long-term and


preparing for the future will set us on the path of meeting our vision of growing the business,


creating a sustainable port that continues to add over £621m to the economy.” On the same day, Tyne


said that its pre-tax profits increased


to £2.1m and


turnover rise by 22% to £57.5m in 2018, with earnings rising by 54% to £11.7 million. It follows a £60m refinancing package from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking secured in January 2019.


mainline. Some 30% of the import material for Hitachi’s plant in Newton Aycliffe comes through the port. Automotive is the other big


ro ro traffic. With the Nissan car plant a few miles down the road in Sunderland, Tyne operates one of Europe’s largest car handling facilities, moving around 580,000 vehicles for the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance and the VW Audi group. And as well as parts for the Nissan assembly line, it also handles components for excavator maker Komatsu Europe in nearby Gateshead. The


regular DFDS ro ro


service has also been doing well – so much so that the Danish operator is considering a larger vessel for the service to and from Ijmuiden near Amsterdam. The port has plenty of berth capacity with two ro ro berths, one of which is used for the car-carrying vessels. Offshore is another sector


with good growth potential and the port will complete the infilling of Tyne Dock later this year, creating an extra 30 acres of land at Tyne Dock Enterprise Park, earmarked for offshore


wind development.


As Tyne is the closest port to several major windfarm developments off the coast, the North-East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is keen to develop activity in this sector and the port will be attending


a number of offshore energy exhibitions over the next few months. On the subject of green


affairs, Tyne is in the process of replacing all the light bulbs inside its offices, warehouses and streetlights with energy- efficient LED versions. It will cost £950,000 and go a long way


towards reducing port’s carbon footprint. the


There is a new employee app


to allow everyone who works for the port to share news and views on all sorts of topics. A £60 million refinancing package agreed with


Lloyds


Bank earlier this year will enable the port to keep on growing. Trust ports cannot rely on shareholders to inject funding but must instead raise their own funds. In the


Port of Tyne has also


achieved Authorised Economic Operator status for customs and security for all its berths as part of its Brexit preparations to simplify procedures and reduce any delays to a minimum.


latest financial year, turnover increased 22% to £57.5 million. The


port also recently


launched a Tyne 2050 strategy alongside the wider UK Maritime 2050 scheme to shape its long term strategy and direction.


Transport performance is patchy, says FTA


Ports in the North-East of England generally have good road access but there is a lot that could be done to improve overall connectivity, says Mags Simpson, head of policy for Northern England and Scotland at


the Freight Transport


Association. As in other parts of the country, the North-east’s transport infrastructure is a frustrating patchwork of good and not-so-good bits. In particular, the A66 east-


west route that runs between the M6 at Penrith and Scotch Corner on the A1 is in urgent need of dualling and is a scheme that FTA “backs 100%”


she says. It’s a scheme that would


benefit all the north-east’s ports by removing long stretches of winding single-carriageway and bypassing traffic-choked towns and villages, as well as removing heavy quarry traffic from local roads. It will also greatly improve all-weather reliability, Simpson adds. It’s a similar story on the


rails. While the North-east’s immediate access is good, there are issues further afield that need to be addressed if freight


is to grow. “We need


more freight capacity,” Simpson explains. “Unfortunately, what


has happened on routes like the Transpennine is that freight has dropped over the years and the capacity has now been swallowed up by passenger trains.” The result is that trains


of biomass from the port of Liverpool have to go via the Midlands to reach power stations in Yorkshire. Transport for the North’s


aspiration is to have a path for a 30-wagon train every hour across the Pennines although Simpson concedes that rail is not suitable for all types of freight. Its forte are heavy, less- time-sensitive bulk loads.


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