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Tees Port News

15 Aug 2023

PD Ports Orders New Hopper Dredge from Neptune

(Image: PD Ports)

PD Ports in the U.K. has ordered a new dredging vessel from Dutch shipbuilder Neptune Marine.The 71-meter-long hopper dredge, which has already been named the Emerald Duchess following a competition among PD Ports employees, was ordered for £23 million and will arrive at Teesport next summer.Currently under construction at a shipyard in Poland for commissioning, ahead of trials in the Netherlands in 2024, the Emerald Duchess will replace the Cleveland County, which had served…

11 Oct 2019

UK Strikes Ferry Deals to Ensure Supply of Medicines after Brexit

Britain said on Friday it had signed deals worth 86.6 million pounds ($109.50 million) with shipping firms to ensure the supply of vital medicines in the event of border chaos after the country leaves the European Union.The country's transport ministry said the six-month contracts meant that Brittany Ferries, DFDS, P&O and Stena Line would be ready to deliver capacity equivalent to thousands of lorries each week from the Oct.

20 Jun 2019

Containerships Introduces Second LNG-Powered Ship

Photo: Containerships

Containerships, an expert in Intra-Europe and a subsidiary of the CMA CGM Group, a leader in shipping and logistics, has announced it took delivery of its second container ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Containerships Polar.As the second LNG-powered ship for Containerships and the CMA CGM Group, the Containerships Polar will be phased into the redesigned BALT 2 service in the Port of Rotterdam on June 23rd, 2019. At the beginning of May, the 1,380-TEU vessel…

29 Jan 2019

GB Railfreight Launches New Intermodal Service from Felixstowe Port

The rail freight company in the United Kingdom, GB Railfreight has launched a new intermodal rail freight service connecting the Port of Felixstowe with the Birch Coppice terminal in the Midlands.The first locomotive on the service left Birch Coppice at 14:14 on 23 January 2019 and arrived at Felixstowe at 20:14, having passed through Hams Hall, Leicester, Peterborough and Ipswich along the way. Made up of 33 platforms, the service transports a mixture of intermodal containers, and will initially run 5 days a week.Commenting on the new service, Clemence Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at the Port of Felixstowe and Executive Director of Hutchison Ports, said: "We are delighted to welcome this latest service offering from GB Railfreight.

05 Dec 2018

Ship Sets Sail for Antarctica Wharf Works

A ship loaded with 4,500t of equipment by BAM Construct UK has been sent on a month-long journey to Antarctica, where it will be used for building a new wharf at Rothera Research Station.The new wharf, being built over the next two Antarctic seasons, will provide safe berthing and efficient unloading for the new polar research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough. The Rothera Research Station is a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base on the Antarctic Peninsula, located at Rothera Point, Adelaide Island.The construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Camberley, United Kingdom said in a press release that BAM oversaw the loading of plant…

24 Oct 2018

UK's PD Ports Rolls-out Second Teesport Rail Link to Scotland

Middlesbrough, UK headquartered PD Ports has launched a second rail service connecting Teesport direct with Scotland opening up further opportunities to connect global importers and exporters with the north of the UK.The new service, operated by DB Cargo, will run five days a week from the quayside at Teesport to PD Stirling Terminal at Mossend in Glasgow. The timings of the service operate in direct connection with the P&O Ferries service calling daily at Teesport from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam; providing a vital connection for shippers, shipping lines and forwarders looking for frequent, flexible and efficient routes to market.Having launched the first Scottish rail connection from Teesport in August 2015…

28 Jan 2018

British Ports Chief Calls for Post-Brexit Port Zoning

David Davis at Teesport, the British Ports Association’s Chief Executive, Richard Ballantyne suggested that cross border trade facilitation was being neglected in the negotiations. “The confirmation of the Government’s priorities for Brexit transitional arrangements provides European focused ports and logistics operators some clarity that in the short term it will be business as usual at the border. Much depends upon the negotiations and agreements of course but longer term, post the transitional period, we are unsure what the arrangements might be when leaving the European Union," Richard  said. The Free Ports concept has been much debated recently.

14 Sep 2017

PD Ports Warns UK Against 'Brexit Blinkers'

In the week that global maritime leaders gave the UK a vote of confidence, naming it one of the world’s leading maritime centres, PD Ports is urging UK businesses not to develop ‘Brexit blinkers’ but instead to explore significant new global opportunities as the UK negotiates its exit from the EU. Industry data shows UK export performance as a whole has been stronger outside the Single Market than within the EU over the last decade according to PwC’s UK Economic Outlook report. Although Brexit will bring challenges to the UK export market, there are equal opportunities to increase their focus on key emerging markets such as Asia in the medium and long-term, allowing businesses to take a truly global approach rather than limiting themselves to trade within the Union.

13 Sep 2017

Shipbreaking NGOs Attack FPSO North Sea Producer

16 August of last year the FPSO North Sea Producer was beached in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The ship was allowed to leave the UK based on the false promise that it would be further operationally used in the Tin Can port in Nigeria. One year on, the battle to hold the owners and cash buyers accountable for the illegal export of the FPSO is not over. The North Sea Producer (ex Dagmar Maersk) was deployed in the McCulloch field in the North Sea, transporting and extracting oil from the UK continental shelf for 17 years, and was owned by the North Sea Production Company, a single-ship joint venture between the Danish A.P. Moeller Maersk and the Brazilian Odebrecht. Once the field closed, the FPSO North Sea Producer was laid up in Teesport for a year while the owners were looking for buyers.

15 Jun 2017

Langh Tech Scrubber Honored

Photo: Langh Tech

The scrubber from Langh Tech received the Baltic Sea Clean Maritime Award at the Baltic Sea Forum in Berlin. The third-place award was handed to Langh Group’s Chairman of the Board, Maritime Counsellor Hans Langh by Professor Kurt Bodewig, European Coordinator Baltic-Adriatic. The Forum was organized in connection with the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) Annual Forum. The Baltic Sea Clean Maritime Award is awarded to innovative and environmentally friendly solutions and ideas, which promote the well-being of the Baltic Sea.

27 Apr 2017

Ethane Carrier GasChem Beluga Named

GasChem Beluga, pictured on the River Tees for its naming ceremony, is an eco-friendly sea vessel that will carry shipments of ethane gas from Houston in the U.S. to SABIC’s Olefins Cracker on Teesside. (Photo: SABIC)

A new liquefied ethylene gas carrier (LEG) was named on Teesside today. Operated by German shipping company Hartmann Reederei and GasChem Services, the new eco-friendly sea vessel GasChem Beluga will carry shipments of ethane gas from Houston to SABIC’s cracker at Wilton on Teesside under a long-term time charter. SABIC recently converted its Teesside cracker during a major investment to enable it to take ethane gas alongside other feedstocks, to make it one of the most flexible and competitive crackers in Europe.

02 Feb 2017

Quicker and Easier Man Over Board Retrieval

Image: MOB Lifesavers

All lifejackets are fitted with a lifting becket, which in comparison with the size of body in rough seas, is like finding a needle in a haystack. Lifesaver is 3 meters of brightly visible yellow line, spliced into a loop with a triangle at one end. The other end is fitted to the lifting becket in an automatic life jacket. When the life jacket inflates, the Lifesaver floats out onto the water and is much easier and faster for the rescuer onboard to grab with a boathook and secure the casualty to the boat.

11 Apr 2016

Two Additions to Maersk Tankers Fleet

At a naming ceremony in South Korea Friday the 8th of April 2016, Maersk Tankers christened two more newbuilds at Sungdong Shipyard in Tongyong, South Korea; Maersk Teesport and Maersk Tianjing. Both vessels are 50,000 DWT Medium Range (MR) and join their sister ship Maersk Tangier, who was delivered on 5 February this year. The vessels are a part of the renewal of Maersk Tankers’ fleet. In 2015 Maersk Tankers took delivery of the first two of 10 vessels in total ordered from the Sungdong Shipyard; Maersk Tampa and Maersk Tacoma. Within the next few years approximately 20% of Maersk Tankers fleet will be replaced with newbuilds already ordered. 10 vessels from Sungdong in South Korea and 9 additional MR vessels from Ningbo Shipyard in China.

11 Dec 2015

UK's Teesport Hikes Tariffs

PD Ports initiated a series of voluntary consultative discussions with the ICS (North East Branch) and the Tees and Hartlepool Port Users Association (THPUA). Following these consultations PD Ports will be increasing all Port Dues Tariffs by 1.0%, broadly in line with current UK RPI, from 1 January 2016. This 1% increase to tariffs is a holding measure whilst the overall impact of the SSI closure as it impinges on the broader River is assessed. Since the closure of SSI UK and the loss of some 25% of port volumes PD Ports has, for its part, undertaken a number of measures to deal with the consequences of this very profound business reduction.

12 Sep 2015

Felixstowe Port Top For Customer Care

The Port of Felixstowe, the Port of Britain has walked away with the coveted Rail Freight Group 2015 Customer Care Award for its continued and sustained improvement in customer service. This Award recognises the port’s commitment to delivering for its customers’ real needs by consistently making every effort to ensure continuity of service and minimum disruption to supply chains. “We are delighted to have been honoured with the prestigious Customer Care Award by the Rail Freight Group. In 2014 the prolonged Ipswich Yard track lengthening works caused an extended and unexpected period of disruption, posing many challenges for cargo owners, the port and freight operators.

19 Aug 2015

Brookfield Acquires Australian Port and Railroad Operator for $8.6-billion

Patrick Terminals and Logistics. Photo: Asciano Limited

A group lead by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, a global asset manager, had reached an agreement to buy the Australian port and railroad operator Asciano for about $8.8 billion in cash and stock, and that it was shopping for ports farther afield in a push to expand, reports NY Times. Brookfield says the acquisition of Patrick terminal will lay the foundation for a global container terminal presence, building on its facilities at Teesport, U.K., and the Port of Los Angeles. The company also hopes to leverage Patrick’s experience with automating port operations.

01 Dec 2014

EU Backing UK on Green Maritime Transport

The EU's TEN-T Program will support with almost $6.29 million the pilot construction of the UK's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker at Teesport near Middlesbrough and the LNG propulsion system of two new ships. The project will help reduce maritime pollution and support the roll-out of LNG technology in the UK. This project is a real breakthrough in the use of LNG for short sea shipping as it will develop a dedicated LNG supply and demand chain in the UK. It will also demonstrate the viability of LNG as an environmentally sound alternative to present marine fuels…

14 Nov 2014

More UK Orders for Kalmar Gloria Reachstackers

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.

23 Jun 2014

Foster Wheeler Signs Agreement With BOC to Replace Heat Exchangers

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.

17 Apr 2014

North Sea Crude-Forties eases, VLCC options narrow

Forties trades at parity with dated Brent; Competing Libyan barrels returning to market. Refining margins under pressure as capacity ramps up. North Sea Forties crude differentials eased on Thursday as the market remained sluggish ahead of the long Easter weekend and the window of opportunity for VLCC voyages to Asia narrowed. Some traders said that the VLCC Phoenix Vanguard, which is currently off Fawley, UK, would still go to Hound Point to load Forties for South Korea around April 23. This would make it the last VLCC to load before Jetty 1 closes for two months of maintenance work. With little chance of arbitraging barrels to Asia in May and June, traders expect the supply of competing crudes such as Urals to drive North Sea crude values in coming weeks.

05 Dec 2013

Teesport Upgrades to C-Scope

Teesport, recognized as the first port in the world to be fitted with a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) system, will upgrade to C-Scope, the next generation maritime surveillance system from Kongsberg Norcontrol IT. “The relationship between Kongsberg Norcontrol IT and Teesport is the longest running technology partnership in our history,” said Steve Guest, General Manager for Kongsberg Norcontrol IT’s UK office. Located five kilometers east of Middlesbrough on the River Tees, Teesport is one of the United Kingdom’s major ports and one of the largest ports in Western Europe. Owned by PD Ports, it handles both international and domestic cargo in excess of 38 million tons per year.

14 Oct 2013

Vessels Detained in U.K. Ports: September

The U.K.’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced today that nine foreign flagged ships were under detention in U.K. ports during September 2013 after failing Port State Control (PSC) inspection. Latest monthly figures show that there were five new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in U.K. ports and four vessels remained under detention from previous months. Only three vessels remained under detention at the end of this month. • Full details of the ship. • The accompanying detention list shows ship’s name, the flag state and the ship’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it.

12 Mar 2013

UK Port Apprentices Get Jobs

The 13 Apprentices: Photo credit PD Ports

PD Ports has announced the creation of 13 full time permanent positions for Teesport based apprentices. The new dock operations roles in both bulks and container related areas of the business will commence at the end of April, after the existing apprenticeship programme completes. The programme took over 18 months of training and is on track to achieve 100% success rate with all 13 apprentices achieving a NVQ Level 2 in Dock Operations. PD Ports initiated the programme in conjunction with the Redcar Development Trust…