Inter responds to customers

GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT

EXPANSION • A ‘MAJOR’ PROJECT AT SEAL SANDS IS JUST THE LATEST ACROSS INTER TERMINALS’ EUROPEAN NETWORK AS IT RESPONDS TO CHANGES IN THE LOCAL MARKET

INTER TERMINALS IS due to complete the largest organic expansion of its Seal Sands terminal this month. New tanks and pipeline links have been constructed to meet contracted demand for chemical storage at the terminal, adding a total of 27,000 m3 of new capacity.

Seal Sands occupies a prime location on the River Tees in north-east England and provides easy access by road and direct pipeline to the region’s major petrochemical and industrial complexes, as well as excellent sea connections via two jetties.

INTER TERMINALS IS FOLLOWING THE MARKET BY

EXPANDING CAPACITY AND ADDING CAPABILITIES AT ITS

“The investment at Seal Sands demonstrates Inter Terminals’ commitment to working closely with its customer base to identify and develop solutions for specific product storage and handling requirements,” the company says.

“Our Seal Sands Terminal has developed specialist expertise in storing and handling a wide range of chemicals, many of which have distinct storage requirements,” adds Paul Oseland, commercial director of Inter Terminals. “Recognising that each customer and application is different, Inter Terminals is able to apply its considerable expertise and resources to provide tailored solutions.”

DO IT YOURSELF The project at Seal Sands includes the construction of two 7,000-m3 mild steel tanks with internal floating roofs and a dedicated import pipeline for receiving product into storage by sea. In addition, an existing cross-country pipeline is being redeveloped to allow the direct transfer of stored product to nearby chemical manufacturing plants.

A further three mild steel tanks, with a total capacity of 13,000 m3, have also been built at the terminal, together with interconnecting infrastructure, to enable the export of product by sea and by road via a new tanker loading facility.

The extensive design and build programme at Seal Sands is being project-managed by Inter Terminals’ own engineering division. Offering specialised engineering expertise, the company’s in-house team has a wealth of experience in the design and implementation of projects to construct, upgrade and expand capacity within its own terminals and at customers’ facilities.

Inter Terminals’ latest investment at Seal Sands forms part of a continuous programme of asset integrity management and development across the company’s European storage network to ensure facilities meet the needs of current and future operational capacity.

Elsewhere in that network, Inter Terminals recently completed the construction of six new specialised stainless steel tanks at the Mannheim Terminal complex in Germany, which are now fully operational. The company’s engineers have also been busy recommissioning old tanks and converting others to handle different products as the regional market has changed.

Inter Terminals now has a combined bulk liquid storage capacity of more than 4.3m m3 (27m bbl) at 16 wholly owned multi-product terminals in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. These terminals, the company says, provide comprehensive storage and handling solutions for the oil, chemical, and biofuel markets, complemented with a wide range of services for the general chemical, food, agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors, including the handling and management of technical wastes. HCB www.interterminals.com