Northeast England News

U.K. port bosses are scratching their heads as to how to meet demand as offshore wind, including new floating projects, ramps up around the country’s coastline.The U.K. government is pushing this source of energy and has a 40-gigawatt (GW) by 2030 target—ramping up from around 30 GW today—for offshore wind. While fixed bottom projects continue to roll out, through some of the world’s largest offshore wind farms, a pipeline of 15 GW of floating offshore wind is also on the cards…

Britain said on Wednesday that people should buy normally for Christmas and there would be no shortage of gifts after shipping containers carrying toys and electrical goods were diverted from the country’s biggest port because it was full.Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company, has diverted some vessels from Felixstowe port in eastern England because a lack of truck drivers means there is nowhere left to stack containers at the port.“I’m confident that people will be able to get their toys for Christmas,” Conservative Party co-Chairman Oliver Dowden told Sky.

Siemens Gamesa and GRI Renewables Industries will invest more than $360 million into offshore wind manufacturing facilities in northeast England.Siemens Gamesa will invest a total of $258m to expand its blade manufacturing site located near Hull - Britain's largest offshore wind manufacturing facility - readying it for the next generation of offshore wind turbines and blades greater than 100 metres, the government said.Siemens Gamesa will add 200 workers to the 1,000 it already employs in the factory…

As the global fleet of offshore renewables fleet increases, ways to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency and safety of operations and maintenance work, using robotics and autonomous systems, will also grow. Elaine Maslin reports.Robotics and autonomous systems are moving into many areas of modern day life. It’s becoming harder to avoid them, from our phones to automotive systems and now offshore energy renewable projects.Both are seen as tools to do otherwise dull, dirty or dangerous work…

U.S. conglomerate General Electric will test the world's largest wind turbine in a facility in northeast England, it said on Tuesday. GE Renewable Energy, the renewable arm of the U.S. firm, and the British government-funded Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult signed a five-year agreement to test GE's Haliade-X 12 megawatt (MW) turbine in Blyth, Northumberland. "This is an important agreement because it will enable us to prove Haliade-X in a faster way by putting it under controlled and extreme conditions," John Lavelle, president & CEO of GE's Offshore Wind business said in a statement. Britain is aiming to be a leader in offshore wind technology and its capacity could grow by five times current levels to 30 gigawatts by 2030…

Kotug International’s offshore division has assisted Allseas with the transfer and transport of Shell’s Brent Delta topsides after the record-setting removal of the structure by Pioneering Spirit. Kotug was mainly involved in the assistance of the cargo barge Iron Lady during the transfer of the topsides from the Pioneering Spirit to the Iron Lady and the ensuing tow of the barge to the Able UK decommissioning yard in Teesside, Northeast England. After the Pioneering Spirit lifted the Brent Delta platform…

From a helicopter, it looks like just another North Sea oil rig, a grey cube supported by massive yellow pillars, 90 kilometres (56 miles) off western Denmark. But the DanTysk facility is the world's first accommodation platform for offshore wind, which is borrowing techniques and labour from the crisis-hit oil sector as it tries to cut costs and end an addiction to state subsidies. The wind industry is moving further offshore and into the deeper waters tamed long ago by oil companies to increase scale and capture stronger and more constant winds. "There's a lot of new-generation technology in the offshore wind industry, but when I'm out there…

Denmark's DONG Energy has become the lead developer of Britain's Hornsea Zone offshore wind scheme after it bought the project rights to the second and third phases of the development Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Financial Services. The Hornsea Zone, off the coast of northeast England, is being developed in phases to ultimately provide 4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable wind energy and has the potential to meet 40 percent of Britain's electricity demand. DONG acquired the first phase of the development, known as Hornsea Project One, earlier this year, which will have a capacity of 1.2 GW.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has received an order for three Kalmar Gloria reachstackers and one Kalmar empty container handler to PD Ports' Teesport facility in the United Kingdom. The order was signed in July 2014 with delivery in December 2014. Jerry Hopkinson, PD Ports Managing Director - Bulks and Port Services said, "Kalmar's innovative technology, especially in the new cabin, was an important factor in our decision. At PD Ports, health and safety is our number one priority and these new machines will help us to further promote a safe working environment for our employees." The deal also reflects the port's focus on an ever improving service for customers, as well as increased throughput and enhanced efficiency.

Foster Wheeler AG announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has signed an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) services agreement with BOC, a member of the Linde Group, for the installation of replacement heat exchangers at BOC’s Teesport facility, Teesside, in northeast England. The Foster Wheeler contract value was not disclosed and was included in the company’s first-quarter 2014 bookings. Under this agreement, Foster Wheeler will provide project management, front-end engineering design, detailed engineering design, procurement services, construction supervision and quality assurance for the replacement of existing aluminium plate fin exchangers in the 1,300 tons per day air separation plant.

During a recent tour of northeast England, Lord Livingston, the UK’s Minister for Trade and Investment, visited the Gateshead headquarters of Seacurus which, in April 2013, launched CrewSEACURE, the first ever insurance policy designed exclusively to protect the rights of seafarers when ships are abandoned at sea. Seacurus has a well-established relationship with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), having received expert advice and support from its Passport to Export scheme which helped the company to develop 99 percent of its insurance premium income from overseas markets.

After a record breaking cruise season in 2012 the Port of Tyne is expecting another busy year in 2013 with 32 cruise calls, 11 of which are transit and 21 are turnaround cruises. Three new cruise lines will be making transit calls – visiting the Port for one stop – including Crystal Cruises, Hurtigruten and Costa Cruises. A number of first time calls will be made by existing customers including the inaugural visit of Fred Olsen’s Black Watch and MSC Magnifica. U.K. ports are set for one million cruise passenger embarkations this year after a record 2012. The number of people leaving U.K.

Cammell Laird Holdings, which has been a strong shipbuilding and repair success story for several years, announced that it was to build two cruise ships, breathing further life into the struggling U.K. shipbuilding industry. Cammell Laird, however, said the contract with Luxus (UK) Ltd. for two 28,000-ton ships was conditional on the go-ahead from the UK government and Shipbuilding Intervention Funding, as well as ship mortgage finance guarantees to Luxus's bankers. The deal could be worth a reported $497.9 million, with the work expected to be shared between Merseyside in the northwest, Teeside and Tyneside in the northeast and Gosport on the south coast. Cammell Laird lost out last month on orders for six army roll-on roll-off transport ships.

Cammell Laird, under threat of losing a key $500 million deal with U.S. cruise ship firm Luxus, said it had won a U.K. Navy contract, helping safeguard 150 jobs at the group. "The work will generate employment security throughout the period (82 days) for some 150 personnel," Cammell Laird Holdings Plc said in a statement. The contract to repair the Fort George ship at Tyneside, northeast England, is worth just under $7.17 million. "It's certainly nowhere near the size of the Luxus contract, but it shows the market that we're out there fighting and winning work," Cammell Laird Managing Director Dave Skentelbery said. The company's stock has fallen more than 90 percent since November…

Struggling British shipbuilder Cammell Laird, which called in receivers last week, is to mothball its yard at Teesside, northeast England, and cut over 300 jobs nationally. Accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who are acting as receivers, said on Wednesday there would be 110 job losses at Teesside, 150 cut at Birkenhead, northwest England, and around 60 cuts at Tyneside, northeast England. The company, whose main shipyard was set up in 1824, had laid off an unspecified number of U.K. workers in recent weeks, PriceWaterhouseCoopers said. The group has a total U.K. workforce of nearly 2,000. Cammell Laird entered receivership after a series of cancelled orders hit its finances, causing it to suspend trading in its stock and bonds.

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. Earlier this month, the firm, a symbol of the decline in British shipbuilding, announced it was axing 330 jobs on top of more than 600 job cuts made earlier in the year. Last Friday, ship repair outfit A&P Group Holdings bought the plant and equipment of each of Cammell Laird's yards at Birkenhead, Tyneside and at Teeside, also in northeast England.

Struggling shipbuilder Cammell Laird Plc is to cut a further 330 U.K. jobs on top of over 600 job cuts set in motion earlier this year after it entered into receivership following a series of cancelled orders. Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), acting as receivers for the group, said on Thursday that 153 jobs would go at Cammell's Birkenhead plant in northwest England. It said 166 job cuts will also take place at the company's Tyneside plant in northeast England, while 11 workers will also be made redundant at the nearby Teesside yard.

Struggling shipbuilder Cammell Laird Plc, which is in receivership, has announced a further 187 jobs cuts in Britain on top of over 600 previously announced redundancies. Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), acting as receivers for the group, said on Wednesday that the latest cuts would see 95 jobs go at Tyneside, northeast England, and 45 redundancies at Birkenhead, northwest England. The company, which currently employs just under 700 workers in the U.K., called in the receivers after a series of cancelled orders hit its finances, causing it to suspend trading in its shares. The decline in the fortunes of Cammell Laird, whose main yard was set up in 1824, marked a further fall in Britain's once-proud shipbuilding industry.

Struggling shipbuilder Cammell Laird Plc is to cut a further 93 jobs in Britain on the back of over 500 redundancies announced earlier in the year after the group entered into receivership. A spokeswoman for accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, acting as receivers for the group, said on Wednesday that 82 jobs would go at its plant in Tyneside, northeast England. The rest of the job cuts would take place at the Birkenhead and Teesside plants in northern England. She added that the cuts had arisen since Cammell Laird had completed work on two major contracts and so no longer needed the workers. Cammell Laird, whose main yard was established in 1824, entered receivership when a series of cancelled orders hit its finances, causing it to suspend trading in its shares.

Cammell Laird Plc has axed another 146 jobs in the U.K., but a proposed management buyout of one of its yards held out the prospect on Wednesday of saving hundreds more. Cammell Laird, which called in the receivers in April, has announced over 600 job cuts in Britain this year after a series of cancelled orders hit its finances. A spokeswoman for accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), acting as receivers for the group, said that a management team had made an indicative offer for the Tyneside shipyard in northeast England. And PwC expects another management offer for Cammell Laird's plant at Birkenhead, northwest England, which was first established in 1824. The company has a current UK workforce of around 770.

Struggling shipbuilder Cammell Laird Plc, which has entered into receivership, is to cut a further 71 jobs in Britain on the back of over 600 previously announced redundancies. A spokeswoman for accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), acting as receivers for the group, said that the latest job cuts had arisen after the shipbuilder completed work on existing contracts. Cammell Laird, whose main yard was established in 1824, called in the receivers after a series of cancelled orders hit its finances, causing it to suspend trading in its shares. The decline in its fortunes marked a further fall in Britain's once-proud shipbuilding industry.

Struggling British shipbuilder Cammell Laird Plc, which has had to axe nearly 600 jobs after entering receivership earlier this year, has accepted an offer by one of its former executives to buy one of its yards. A spokeswoman for accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, acting as receivers for the group, said on Wednesday that contracts were being negotiated for the buyout offer for the yard at Teesside, northeast England. She declined to give financial details of the agreed deal with former Cammell Laird executive Eric Welsh, and declined to comment on whether the offer could lead to jobs being saved. "We have accepted his offer and contracts are being drawn up," she stated.

Cammell Laird, which is in receivership, has had an offer to buy its Teesside yard in northeast England, giving a glimmer of hope for workers fearing further job cuts. "An offer to take over the Teesside yard only has been received. Negotiations continue," a spokeswoman for accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, acting as receivers, said. Cammell Laird, whose main yard was established in 1824, announced over 500 job cuts in recent months after it entered receivership when a series of cancelled orders hit its finances, causing it to suspend trading in its bonds and shares. The decline in its fortunes echoed those of the British shipbuilding industry as a whole. Cammell Laird said last month that it would mothball the Teesside plant.