Pd Ports Group News

PD Ports and Teesside University welcomed the first 15 delegates on the newly launched Foundation Degree, specifically created for those working within the Ports Industry. Launched in late September, the Foundation Degree, in Leadership and Management (Ports) is offered over two years on a part-time basis. Some of the students have not studied for over 30 years and the course will recognise that they need help to rejuvenate their learning skills. The 15 delegates span a number of diverse roles throughout the PD Ports Group.

PD Ports has completed the first phase of its latest expansion programme to further develop its existing container terminal handling facilities at Teesport on the North East coast. This $3.2m investment involved the relocation of the Port’s existing Vauxhall cars import compound to make some 10 acres of additional land available, directly behind the existing TCT2 container terminal facilities. This land has been freed up to accommodate an increase in container volumes handled at Teesport.

PD Ports (PDP) recently handled of a specialist project cargo, which sailed into Hull Container Terminal (HCT) on the Beluga Federation vessel in June. PDP was awarded the contract by international freight forwarders, Transcar Projects Ltd, to handle the project cargo. The cargo was intended for the BP power station at Saltend, where it will form part of the station’s cooling system. The location of the container terminal and close proximity to the power station, all complemented PDP’s winning service offering.

A student project which has led to significant safety improvements at North East-based Teesport has won Daniel McDougal, an engineering apprentice at PD Ports, runner-up prize in the Skills Showcase 2009 event. For the project, part of a four-year course for the Higher National Certificate in Engineering, Daniel designed a mechanical grab trailer to make it safer to fix the grabs to cranes on the dock, at Teesport. The grabs are attached to the Port’s Gottwald cranes and are used for discharging up to 30 bulk cargo vessels in a year at Teesport and Hartlepool docks.

PD Ports, the owner of Teesport, welcomes the Government’s decision to approve MGT Power’s 295 megawatt (MW) wood fuelled power station which is to be built on the South Dock area of the port. One of the largest biomass plants set to be built in the UK, the Tees Renewable Energy Plant will produce enough carbon neutral, sustainable electricity to power 600,000 homes across the North East. MGT Power’s $819.8m investment is bringing a new impetus to the area in terms of the size of its renewable energy power station.

PD Ports welcomed the arrival of U.S.A based Excelerate Energy’s first full LNG vessel, since the regasification facility opened at Teesport in 2007. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, named after its owners, Excelerate, entered the Tees River in the early hours of Monday 13th April. The vessel, which stands some 909 ft in length, was carrying 58,500 tonnes of LNG. The vessel had sailed from Point Fortin in Trinidad. The vessel is currently berthed on the purpose built Excelerate jetty at Teesport, where she will remain for up to two weeks. During this time she will re-gasify her cargo and discharge the finished LNG into the UK gas grid – the National Transmission System (NTS).

The North Lincolnshire Health & Safety Group has presented PD Logistics, part of the PD Ports Group, with its annual Health and Safety award, recognizing the Company’s commitment to the highest levels of health and safety. The main award was presented to Jim French, director & general manager for PD Logistics, in recognition of the company’s continued commitment to improving competence levels and the raising of its health & safety standards. At the awards dinner, all companies which achieved lower than their industry standard for reportable accidents in 2008 were also awarded certificates. PD Logistics’ program of education and training…