A&P Birkenhead

Business As Usual At A&P Birkenhead

A&P Birkenhead Limited and Reddington Finance Limited have reached an outline agreement for the sale and leaseback of some of A&P’s land at Birkenhead. A&P Birkenhead retains ownership of the drydocks, but some surplus land will be sold to Reddington Finance. This is a positive development, as it allows A&P to focus on their ship repair business and allows Reddington Finance to focus on developing surplus land at Birkenhead. Clive Towl, Managing Director of A&P Birkenhead commented “2004 has been the busiest since we re-opened the yard after the receivership of Cammell Laird. We look forward to continuing to grow the business in 2005.”

NorseMerchant Ferries Boosts Freight Capacity

NorseMerchant Ferries has responded to market demand for increased trailer capacity between North-West England and the Republic of Ireland by adding a third vessel to its Birkenhead - Dublin service. With a capacity of approximately 70 trailers, the newly-chartered Leili will provide over 400 additional spaces per week in each direction on this route when she enters service in October. A sister vessel to NorseMerchant's Varbola, currently operating on the Heysham - Belfast route

A Japanese Space Mission for Rickmers

Space may be the final frontier but in this instance, the craft setting out on a momentous voyage was not the starship Enterprise but Rickmers New Orleans, one of nine identical ships maintaining Rickmers-Linie’s bi-weekly Round-the-World Pearl String service for heavylift and project cargo. On board was the Experiment Logistics Module - Pressurized Section (ELM-PS), which forms part of the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo (meaning ‘hope’)

First Vessel Booked in at A&P Birkenhead

A&P Group has confirm that it will soon be docking its first vessel at A&P Birkenhead since the facility was purchased in 2001. The European Envoy, a 4,267dwt passenger vessel owned by P&O European Ferries (Irish Sea) will be arriving at the Birkenhead facility at the end of July for a dry dock and repair programme.

A&P Birkenhead Scoops “European Shiprepair & Conversion Specialist 2003” Accreditation

Subsequent to an extensive research and selection process, the awards committee at the Institute of Transport Management has decided to present A&P Birkenhead with the “European Shiprepair & Conversion Specialist 2003” accreditation. All major European Shiprepair Companies were canvassed, and this accolade is a true testament to the outstanding company that is A&P Birkenhead. The ever-increasingly popular ITM Awards Programme took place once again

A&P Birkenhead Gets Triple Ferry Deal

A&P Group's newly reopened dry dock facility, A&P Birkenhead, has recently completed the dry docking and repairs of Mersey Ferries' 464grt passenger ferry Woodchurch. The Woodchurch is the first of three vessels booked into the yard by Mersey Ferries Ltd, the Passenger Transport Authority and Executive for Merseyside. The three ship contract was won in open competition against other UK ship repairers. The two other ferries

The Axe Continues to Swing at Cammell Laird

Insolvent British shipbuilder Cammell Laird Plc is cutting a further 117 staff, a spokesman for its receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers told Reuters on Monday. The spokesman said 34 jobs out of 59 were being shed at its Tyneside operation in northeast England while 83 of 136 jobs were being cut at Birkenhead in northwest England. Cammell Laird went into receivership in April after a series of cancelled orders hit its finances

A&P Birkenhead Welcomes First Vessel

A&P Birkenhead has drydocked its first vessel since A&P Group acquired the facility in 2001. The vessel involved is a 1,537dwt general cargo vessel Kay L, which is owned by German shipping company Reederei M. Lauterjung KG, Emden. The vessel was trading in the Irish Sea area when it suffered rudder problems and had to enter dry dock for repairs. The vessel will undergo some additional general repairs whilst in dry dock.

A&P Birkenhead Works on HMS Bulwark

A&P Birkenhead Ltd, part of the A&P Group, has been awarded the contract for the ‘pre-acceptance’ drydocking of BAE Systems’ newbuild HMS Bulwark (L15) prior to its delivery to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The vessel is due to arrive in Birkenhead during early June this year (2004). Whilst in drydock, work will include final removal of the hull launch ‘poppets’ and complete coating of its underwater hull, plus other work as required by BAE Systems.

MES Completes the World’s Largest Diesel Engine

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (MES) has completed the world’s largest class diesel engine (MITSUI-MAN B&W 1198MC type: 69,920kW) at its Tamano Works and delivered the engine to Imabari Shipbuilding co., Ltd. in October 2001. The engine has been installed on a 6,000 TEU container carrier. The second 11K98MC type was also completed for the same shipbuilder in December 2001. MAN B&W Diesel A/S developed the K98MC type diesel engine series as a highly efficient main engine for