18 cranes, shovels


Issue 6 2020 - Freight Business Journal


///UK NORTH EAST


One fact more than any other helped PD Ports keep going through the coronavirus crisis, and that was the resilience and esprit de corps of its workforce, says chief executive Frans Calje. Whether


driving trucks, or working


in the office, “all our people without exception have risen to the challenge of keeping the ports going. If the crisis has done anything, it’s actually brought us all closer together.” PD Ports – which owns and


operates Teesport and the port of Hartlepool – adopted an open communications strategy from the start of the crisis, seeing it as the best strategy to reassure employees who might be anxious not only about their health, but also their future employment prospects. Frans Calje did a number of televised addresses through the various media channels available to PD Ports and published regular trading bulletins. It also created a phone app that gave vital information at the touch of a button. Calje stressed that, as a


mover of the necessities of life such as food, energy or raw material for manufacturing, PD Ports would remain in business,


advantage of that but it just didn’t happen – it wasn’t abused at all.”


In the event, around 6% of


has been seen in both bulk and unitised traffic – Teesport is the UK’s fifth busiest for the latter – while warehousing has also


Yorkshire Moors to a handling facility at Wilton on Teesside where it will be processed and then shipped all over the world by deepsea vessels, with estimated volumes of at least 12m tonnes a year but possibly rising to 20m tonnes. The Tees Valley Combined


Authority has also started to break ground on the vast, 4,500 acre land bank on the south bank of the Tees which is being developed as an offshore energy centre. Arguably the most


game-


PD Ports’ people self-isolated at first – and the numbers have declined since - and there were less than a handful of confirmed Covid cases. Calje has also kept his door


open – figuratively – to any queries that employees might wish to raise, in confidence, and “people have been really grateful for the support.” That the ports of Tees and


Hartlepool performed so well during the pandemic is entirely down to the human factor, says Calje. A process of delegating authority to people on the ground, and of encouraging staff


and management was


performed very strongly with major new contract wins. In fact, volumes through PD Ports’ port centric warehousing have been running at around three times last year’s levels, says Calje, with major boosts coming from canned foods and bicycles – both commodities that have seen strong demand during the lockdown. Demand for bikes in fact is so strong that, once assembled, they usually leave the warehouse without hitting the retailers’ shelves. While container traffic was


inevitably knocked back by Covid, it has now recovered well and should finish the year only about 8% down on 2019, says Calje. “We saw a very short, sharp down-turn in May, but it’s steadily recovered since then, back to 2019 levels,” he explains. In fact, box business through


Teesport has recovered so well that


the planned Northern


Gateway Container Terminal will be needed sooner rather than later, in perhaps 2024 or 2025.


schemes


come what may. In fact, total tonnage has held up well during the crisis, he says, although the commodity mix has changed somewhat. “One other message I gave


out to our people was that if they did have to take time off – whether because they had caught the virus or because they were vulnerable with underlying health issues and having to shield – they would be on full sick pay. One could argue that people would take


already well underway before the pandemic and has paid dividends, says Calje. “It makes my job a whole lot easier. And if the port does well, it means all our jobs will be there in future.” Now, PD Ports is beginning the


process of returning to normal. Traffic was inevitably affected by the Covid crisis, with a noticeable change in April and May, but there has been a very strong rally in June and July, while August is looking pretty strong, says Calje. Recovery


A number of other major and


projects are


underway in Teesside and these have not been materially affected by the Covid crisis, Calje continues. Sirius Minerals continues to develop an undersea polyhalite mine off the coast of Whitby, following its acquisition by Anglo American, and this promises to significantly boost activity on the river Tees. The


polyhalite will be


transported by underground conveyor through a 23-mile long tunnel beneath the North


changing scheme is the plan to build a new energy plant to the site of the former steelworks that would be the first large- scale use of carbon capture technology, with up to 10m tonnes of CO2 gas held in vast natural caverns under the North Sea until it eventually carbonises and solidifies. “It’s all part of how a region that has always been synonymous with industry has transformed itself into becoming the centre of new, green industry,” Calje states. Rail services for containers to


and from Teesport are another growth area and again seem to have survived the crisis very well. A new link to Daventry has joined the existing – and recently augmented – services to lowland Scotland together with the twice-daily Doncaster service inaugurated last year. Teesport has now set its sights on developing services to north-west England and to the East Midlands. “Volumes on our Scottish


trains did dip momentarily during the crisis, but given the nature of the essential nature of the commodities moved, they quickly recovered. And while you could argue that the main export commodity out of Scotland – whisky – isn’t a basic necessity, it too has done well.” After all, drinkers around the world have to do something during lockdown. While PD Ports does have


definite and firm ambitions to open a rail service to and from northwest England, the recent plans announced by the government to upgrade and electrify the main direct transpennine rail route weren’t


hugely encouraging to the freight business, says Calje. “The upgrade is really about passenger trains, so we’re a bit disappointed. Perhaps containers don’t vote, but people do get hacked off when they’re stuck in a queue behind lorries and rail could offer a ready-made solution to congestion. “But none of this means that


we can’t get the trains through. We already operate six trains a day from the terminal on Teesport, and we have a lot of expertise and a strong track record in developing intermodal rail.” PD Ports and the Combined


Authority have meanwhile submitted their joint bid to become one of up to ten new freeports in the UK, after the country leaves the European Union. The document that has been submitted is in response to the government’s consultation; the


awaited from the government. “We are very hopeful


and confident that we’ll be successful,” comments


Calje. “We sit on one of the deepest rivers in the UK, with a significant amount of brownfield land, so we tick all the boxes.” Calje believes that it is right


that the government takes a step-by-step approach to the concept of freeports which, after all, have not existed in any meaningful form in the UK for almost a decade now. More freeports, beyond the initial ten, could always be allocated at a later stage. Also, if virtually every patch of land, or every manufacturing site, was to become a freeport, the concept would lose relevance, as well as potentially the exchequer a great deal of revenue from customs duties. “It’s all about new


bid document is now


development, about bringing unused land back into play – and creating jobs. As well as being Europe’s largest brownfield landbank, a freeport for this region would also fit perfectly with the government’s promises to level up the North of England with the rest of the country.”


Teesport hails


success of vehicle booking system


Teesport says its Vehicle Booking System (VBS) has handled over 370,000 appointments


since it


was set up in July 2019. PD Ports launched the VBS in conjunction with its automated gate system which, with over 17,000 vehicles visiting in an average month, ensures that the port can continue to handle increasing volumes and support future international trade growth aſter Brexit. Over 1,300 individual users and 6,000 licence plates are registered on the system. PD Ports’ change and delivery


manager, Mel Hannaway, said: “There were multiple objectives in mind when we first explored the


concept of VBS. We were looking to reduce manual tasking at the automated gate and improve efficiencies as part of our wider business strategy – meaning that we are able to exceed current standards whilst continuing to grow volumes. “Teesport is a rather unique


terminal in that we have both a deep sea and short sea customer base, meaning that we handle an expansive range of cargo,” he added. PD Ports worked with CAMCO


to develop and implement the system, which has reduced times for vehicles entering and leaving the site to 30 minutes.


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