DNV GL Lends Support to Walney 3 Offshore Wind Project
DNV GL has secured a role as technical advisor to a group of institutional lenders with their investment of the 659MW Walney Extension. Located off the coast of North West England at Barrow-in-Furness, the Walney Extension offshore wind farm will bring a mix of wind turbine types, featuring 40 MHI Vestas V164 and 47 Siemens SWT-7.0-154 turbines. DNV GL conducted a detailed technical due diligence study and full independent energy production assessment, allowing the group of lenders to develop an understanding of the technical characteristics and risk profile. The group of lenders includes Aviva Investors, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, Legal & General Investment Management Real Assets and Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solution.
Birthplace of Modern Commerical Shipping Turns 300
The world’s oldest enclosed commercial wet dock in Liverpool, North-west England is celebrating its 300th anniversary. Known locally as the ‘old dock’, it opened for business on 31 August 1715, providing a blueprint for the development of other trading ports. For the first time in history, the design of the dock allowed ships to load and unload whatever the state of the tide. It helped Liverpool to become one of the globe’s most important ports, with ships being able to turn around in under two days, rather than the two weeks needed previously. Thanks to the ‘old dock’, by the end of the 19th century 9% of the world’s trade went through Liverpool.
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, Leili can also carry 12 driver accompanied units. Sailing from Birkenhead at 03.00hrs, Leili will arrive in Dublin at 11.00hrs, enabling same day delivery. The return sailing from Dublin at 15.00hrs will arrive in Birkenhead at 23.00hrs, allowing next day deliveries throughout the UK.
A&P Group Purchases Cammell Laird's Dockyards
Ship repair outfit A&P Group Holdings said on Friday it bought the dockyards of insolvent shipbuilder Cammell Laird, but there was no reprieve for the 204 workers of the northern English firm. A spokeswoman for Cammell Laird's receivers PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) said the remaining staff at the shipyards would be wound down but no deadline had been set. Cammell Laird collapsed in April after a series of cancelled orders hit its finances. Earlier this month the firm, a symbol of the decline in British shipbuilding, announced it was to axe 330 U.K. jobs on top of more than 600 job cuts made earlier this year. Among the famous boats put to sea from Cammell Laird's Mersey docks were the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the Alabama, a raider designed to fight in the U.S. civil war.
