Forth Ports News

After being very much on the margins of the offshore wind industry, floating offshore wind now appears to be ready to hit the mainstream. With gigawatt scale developments already on the horizon, what will the infrastructure needed to build and support them look like? Over the past 12 months, the floating offshore wind sector appears to have had a major dose of adrenaline. While the largest development, to date, is the relatively small-scale 50MW Kincardine project off northeast Scotland (which will be outdone by the 88MW Tampen project in Norway later next year [2022])…

British oil major BP and the German renewables firm EnBW submitted their bid for offshore wind acreage in the ScotWind leasing round, looking to secure the rights for a lease area off the east coast of Scotland that could support offshore wind projects with 2.9 gigawatts (GW) generating capacity.The seabed round in which firms apply for the license to build wind farms has attracted the interest of both "traditional" renewables giants such as Iberdrola, Orsted, Ocean Winds, and Vattenfall…

Damen Shipyards Group has signed a contract with Forth Ports Limited for an ASD Tug 2312. The new vessel will operate as part of the Forth Estuary Towage operation, conducting towage work at various Forth Ports locations as well as providing towage services to other external customers in Scotland.Forth Ports has a range of existing operations in the Forth and Tay Estuaries that will benefit from the acquisition of this new vessel, however, the new vessel will also provide opportunities to service new emerging markets such as decommissioning and offshore wind.

British building materials company Tarmac has partnered with London’s fastest growing port, the Port of Tilbury, to create the UK’s largest construction materials aggregates terminal at Tilbury2, the new port being constructed on the north bank of the River Thames.The work will see the creation of new aggregate processing and manufacturing facilities, including an asphalt and ready mix concrete plant, at the new port terminal, supported by the terminal’s deep sea capacity for vessels up to 100,000 metric tonnes. Its riverside location will enable the easy import of raw materials and facilitate the use of the River Thames as a delivery route for processed construction materials into Central London.Martin Riley…

Global heavy lift and transportation specialist ALE has expanded its heavy lifting services by establishing a non-disclosure agreement with the Port of Dundee, which is owned by Forth Ports, and lifting, jacking and storage specialist OM Heavy Lift to provide the full service of port operations.ALE signed the agreement with OM Heavy Lift, a subsidary of OilMac who recently bought ALE’s Gottwald MK1500 crane, and the Port of Dundee.ALE will be working alongside OM Heavy Lift, with the use of their heavy crane, and the port, who currently work with offshore wind and decommisioning clients in the North Sea, to provide a more complete heavylifting and port handling scope of work to the the renewables market.With many years of experience…

Forth Ports, the UK’s third largest port group, has officially welcomed two new multimillion pound vessels to join their fleet of tugs and pilot boats working on the River Forth.The GBP 6 million investment in the two vessels to work on Scotland’s largest waterway sees the arrival of a powerful Sanmar tug and a state-of-the-art pilot boat from Holyhead Marine.The tug was built by leading ship builder Sanmar, is 28 metres long with two engines producing 2,700 brake horsepower and a bollard pull of 70 tonnes. It also has fire-fighting capabilities. Tugs are work horses and have a long life span which can last decades and this new tug demonstrates…

Forth Ports Limited and AF Offshore Decom UK announced the signing of a Heads of Agreement with the intent to establish a new joint venture, AF Dundee, which will lay the foundations of creating a North Sea oil and gas decommissioning hub in the city of Dundee, with its nucleus at the port. AF Offshore Decom UK, a subsidiary of AF Gruppen, is one of the North Sea’s most respected and prominent decommissioning contractors and operates AF VATS Environmental Base in Norway, the North Sea’s most advanced facility for decommissioning offshore installations. The Port of Dundee, is optimally placed to accommodate a significant share of North Sea decommissioning work due to its proximity to many UK North Sea oil and gas assets…

The Port of Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest container facility has enjoyed one of its busiest seasons, with over 50,000 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) being handled at the port in the last two months. This four-year high is the result of a buoyant fresh food export season utilising the port’s refrigerated container handling capability which has set Grangemouth on track for record breaking volumes this quarter. In October and November, the port recorded a 30% increase on refrigerated container volumes (known as ‘reefers’ *) year on year and during November alone, the port handled a record 1400 reefers. The bulk of these reefers are being used for the export of Scottish potato seed from farms across Scotland to far flung places around the world including Egypt…

Clarkson PLC announced that Marie-Louise Clayton will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 January 2017. She will take over as Chair of the Audit Committee following the Annual General Meeting in May 2017 when James Morley, who has been a Non-Executive Director for nine years, will retire from the Board. Marie-Louise Clayton brings a wealth of financial and strategic experience from a broad range of businesses from technology and manufacturing to sugar processing, power and energy. She is currently Chair of the Audit Committee of Zotefoams plc and a Non-Executive Director of Geoffrey Osborne Ltd. Marie-Louise has held various executive positions including Finance Director of Venture Production plc…

If Britain votes to leave the European Union, the country's shipping sector faces years of disruption as trade agreements get reworked and currency volatility leads to higher costs at a time when the industry is battling its worst global downturn. Shipping contributes some 10 billion pounds ($14.2 billion) annually to the UK economy and directly employs 240,000 people in multiple areas including maritime services such as ports, transportation, as well as ship broking and marine insurance.

Staff at the Port of Grangemouth - one of the country’s biggest ports handling 150,000 containers each year - have voted for strike action over changes to conditions by employer Forth Ports, reports Daily Record.   Workers at Scotland's largest container port are to begin a two-week strike on Tuesday in a dispute over rotas and pay.   The union Unite said all but two of 75 "operatives" based at the Port of Grangemouth had voted for action in a ballot. The workers include crane drivers and loaders.   Trade union Unite have balloted staff and workers said there was near unanimous support for industrial action.

The Port of London Authority (PLA) is recruiting 12 new pilots this year to respond to increased traffic on the Thames. The PLA is looking for candidates with a Class 1 Unlimited Certificate of Competency. Other suitably qualified candidate who can demonstrate experience relative to marine pilotage will also be considered. The candidates will typically undertake a 28-week training course consisting of training on the PLA’s ship bridge simulator and tug simulator, training in Vessel Traffic Services and on board tugs and ships, with regular reviews, assessments and oral exams.

Forth Ports Limited announced today that it plans to make the largest investment in the history of the Port of Dundee. The port owner is to invest more than £10 million to create a new quayside with an industry-leading “heavy lift” capability, coupled with a significant onshore operational area. This will position the Port of Dundee at the forefront of the North Sea oil & gas decommissioning and offshore wind sectors. This privately funded investment will result in the development of the quayside at the East end of the port, connecting to the existing Prince Charles Wharf. The quayside will offer heavy lift capability over its entire 200m length with an ultra-heavy lift pad at one end.

The vital role that the River Thames plays in the economy, the movement of freight and the transport of passengers – and also in the wellbeing of the capital’s residents – has been made clear in two new reports launched by the Port of London Authority (PLA) this week during London International Shipping Week. PLA chief executive Robin Mortimer revealed some significant data relating to the river, which is home to the UK’s second biggest port. The tidal Thames and the Port of London generate 43,500 full-time equivalent jobs, of which 27,000 are people directly employed in port-related operations, with the remainder in the associated supply chain and support activities, he said.

As part of the move to boost for importers and exporters of fresh produce using Scotland’s largest container terminal , the port of Grangemouth is to receive investment from its owners, Forth Ports Ltd to increase its capacity for refrigerated containers. Forth Ports is significantly investing in extending the electricity supply infrastructure at Grangemouth from 126 specialist power supply points to 432. Refrigerated containers – known as ‘reefers’ – need power immediately on arrival to keep their contents fresh until being loaded on to vessels for export or collection by haulage firms for delivery across Scotland. The installation of the increased power supply infrastructure…

The Port of Grangemouth is the largest container terminal in Scotland and the port’s owner, Forth Ports Limited, has announced that it’s going to get even bigger. Forth Ports will invest GBP £1.5 million investment at Grangemouth in surface upgrading works on an area of about 6,325 square metres. Forth Ports said that the investment was designed to increase the terminal's total capacity to 12,000 TEUs, the industry standard container size of 20-foot equivalent units. This latest expansion of the container storage area, with Forth Ports says would mean the storage area has increased by 50 per cent since 2005. The storage expansion work is expected to be completed and ready for business in October 2015…

Nicholas Scott-Gray has been appointed as the head of UK-based Montrose Port Authority (MPA)  – bringing with him more than 26 years’ experience within the port and shipping sectors. He brings with him over 26 years of experience within the port and shipping sectors, said a statement. Scott-Gray was most recently the business development manager at Forth Ports Ltd where he successfully developed the company’s commercial strategy for the development of the ports under its umbrella. Prior to that he also served as the port manager at Leith and Grangemouth, while also having held a number of prominent roles in the shipping and marine logistics industry. Scott-Gray (48)  has succeeded John Paterson, who held the chief executive position for nine years.

Ship repair and specialist fabrication firm Dales Marine reports a first time achievement as all of its seven docks around Scotland are full for the first time today. Dales Marine’s docks are filled with vessels ranging from offshore supply vessels to ferries, and are all owned by different firms. The work being carried out at Dales Marine’s six bases in Aberdeen, Leith (which has two docks), Grangemouth, Montrose, Greenock and Troon is a mixture of planned repair and maintenance, along with weather-related unplanned repairs.

Suez Environment subsidiary, SITA UK, and Forth Ports Limited announced a long-term partnership that will see the creation of a major recycling and resource management hub based at the Port of Tilbury on the River Thames. The partnership is part of a growth strategy for both companies that includes the acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, of Forth Ports-owned Nordic Recycling by SITA UK under a share purchase agreement and a long-term agreement between the two companies. As part of this agreement, SITA UK will deliver a new alternative fuels waste material processing facility at the Port of Tilbury, which will process both solid recovered fuel (SRF) and refuse derived fuel (RDF).

This offshore prototype will be the first to be installed in Spain,  Gamesa having chosen Arinaga Quay in Gran Canary Island: a decision driven by technical and wind resource considerations, offshore market trends and investment return criteria. The installation of  Gamesa's first offshore prototype in Europe freezes the offshore prototype project in Virginia (United States), in Cape Charles. The milestone to design a competitive offshore turbine in the R&D centre in Virginia has been fulfilled, but the prospects for the U.S. offshore market and its regulatory conditions in this segment so far do not justify the next step, the installation of a prototype in the U.S.

Scottish cargo customers are benefiting from the launch of a new domestic service, linking the Port of Grangemouth to strategic east coast English ports. Forth Ports has recently teamed up with Feederlink to provide a service from Grangemouth – the UK’s largest feeder port – to Southampton, offering an opportunity for Scottish customers with export, import and domestic cargo needs. The new route meets the demands of a range of industry sectors – in particular retail and supermarket trade – and port centred logistics. The new service builds on the Port of Grangemouths’s reputation as one of Europe’s premier feeder ports, and reinforces Forth Ports’ recent capital investment in the Port.

Cargotec has secured an order for 14 Kalmar straddle carriers from UK based Forth Ports as part of a major investment and upgrade program  at its London Container Terminal (LCT) at Tilbury. Forth Ports is investing in substantial equipment and site upgrading to LCT to ensure customers continue to receive a first rate and enhanced service. It is also integrating LCT with the busy short-sea terminal, also located at Tilbury. Part of the investment plan is the purchase of 14 new Kalmar ESC 450W straddle carriers from Cargotec.

UK based Forth Ports orders the carriers for its upgrade of the London Container Terminal (LCT) at Tilbury. Forth Ports is investing in substantial equipment and site upgrading to LCT to ensure customers continue to receive a first rate and enhanced service. It is also integrating LCT with the busy short-sea terminal, also located at Tilbury. Part of the investment plan is the purchase of 14 new Kalmar ESC 450W straddle carriers from Cargotec. LCT handles in excess of half a million containers per year and is the only UK port servicing both deep sea and short sea customers. It is located on the Thames and is a key shipping and distribution location with access to London and the South East.