Aberdeen Harbor Board News

U.K. based vessel owner and operator Bibby Marine announced it has appointed Howard Woodcock as non-executive director.Howard has more than 35 years’ experience across the maritime and offshore energies sectors, having held senior executive roles with United Offshore Support (GmbH) and Bibby Offshore Holdings Limited, in addition to non-executive directorships with Aberdeen Harbor Board, Costcutter Supermarkets Group, IndoChina ShipManagement UK Ltd and AWSR Shipping Limited.In his most recent role…

As the first 6,000 tonne concrete “foundation” for Aberdeen Harbor’s $466m expansion has arrived from Cromarty Firth, the harbor expansion project has reached a new landmark stage.The 50m long, 15m wide and 16m deep caisson is the first of 22 that will form the foundations for Castlegate and Dunnottar Quays, which will be 540m and 400m long respectively. In order to transport the caisson safely, it will travel the 180-nautical mile journey at two nautical miles per hour, escorted by ‘The Strathdee’ towage vessel.Once the caisson has safely arrived in South Harbor, GPS equipment will be used to position it into its designated location with an accuracy of +/- 20mm. It will then be filled with water to sink it to the sea bed.

Michelle Handforth has taken over the role of chief executive at Aberdeen Harbor Board, the U.K. offshore oil and gas port. This comes after an extensive recruitment process, when Handforth, who has 20 years of board and leadership experience in global, multi-site businesses, was recruited to succeed Colin Parker as Chief Executive. Alistair Mackenzie, Chairman of Aberdeen Harbor Board, said, “Michelle is joining Aberdeen Harbor at an incredibly important time for the organisation. Construction works are well under way at the Aberdeen South Harbor site, whilst we continue to focus on providing second-to-none services and facilities for our customers in the existing harbor.

Aberdeen Harbor Board said it has completed the restructuring of its Marine Operations Department with the internal appointment of Captain Jeff Gaskin as new Harbor Master and Alexandra McIntosh as Marine Manager. Gaskin, formerly the Harbor’s Marine Superintendent, has been appointed Harbor Master following the retirement of Captain Ray Shaw. Gaskin has 26 years’ experience within the maritime sector. He started his career as a cadet with Louis Dreyfus Shipping in 1990 and enjoyed spells with both PNTL and Cunard before ending his seagoing career with Vector Offshore in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen Harbor has reported its results for 2013, with vessel tonnage exceeding 28 million metric tons for the second year in succession, and nearly 4.9 million metric tons of cargo crossing the quayside. Strong activity across the Harbor’s customer base was reflected in its financial results for the year, with turnover up 1.1% to £27.6 million (2012: £27.3 million), delivering pretax profits of £9.6 million. The port has continued to be buoyed by high levels of activity from the region’s oil and gas industry and from its general cargo customers…

Plans by Aberdeen Harbor Board to create additional berthing facilities at Nigg Bay have received a double boost. An independent report has estimated the economic benefit of the development to the local and national economies to be nearly £1 billion per annum. This report has been published in the same month that the Scottish Government, in their National Planning Process, has named the Nigg Bay Development as one of only 14 projects that they consider to be of national importance to Scotland.

Aberdeen Harbor Board’s annual results have revealed record vessel activity in 2012 and record levels of cargo passing through the port. Overall vessel tonnage handled by the port increased by 8%, from 25.91 million tons in 2011, to 28.19 million tons in 2012. The Harbor also saw an 8% increase in cargo handled, increasing from 4.76 million tons in 2011 to 5.14 million tons in 2012 - another record for the Port. As a result, Aberdeen Harbor’s annual turnover increased by 13% to £27.37 million from £24.06 million in 2011, recording a retained profit of £7.46 million.

Aberdeen Harbor has welcomed the largest ever vessel to the port after the completion of a £5.2 million program to improve access and deepen the Navigation Channel. The improvements – designed to open the harbor to larger vessels and new markets – were completed five weeks ahead of schedule. The two recent visits of the diving support vessel, Skandi Arctic, were perfect demonstrations that the harbor has entered a new era. Measuring 27 metres in breadth and 156 metres in length…

The first phase of a multi-million pound redevelopment project of Aberdeen Harbor’s Torry Quay has been completed. A project milestone, it was marked by the vessel Skandi Foula, which docked at the quay before loading cargo destined for a North Sea installation. The vessel is the first to have used the new facilities, which include 300 meters of realigned, deep water berths, a stronger quayside for heavier lifts, and a wider channel in the River Dee, designed to facilitate improved vessel navigation. These features are the result of an initial £19million investment by the Aberdeen Harbor Board. “There is a growing trend for increasingly large, deep-drafted vessels.” Said Ken Reilly, engineering director of Aberdeen Harbor.

Aberdeen Harbor attracted increased traffic across the first half of 2011, with both vessel numbers and tonnage on the up. Vessel numbers rose by seven percent on the same period last year to 3,746 while shipping tonnage increased from 11.6 million tonnes to 12.2 million tonnes. Total cargo tonnage also increased over the same period by 4.7 percent from 2.2 to 2.3 million tonnes. The port also recorded 590,563 tons of shipping activity during the second week of July; the highest weekly tonnage ever to be handled.