NORDEN EXPANDS INTO PORT LOGISTICS

SHIPPING & TRANSPORT Norden expands into port logistics

NORDEN has entered into a new business area of port logistics, signing a major contract with manganese mining company Comilog — a subsidiary of French metallurgical group Eramet — extending the relationship with a key customer.

Over the ten-year agreement, NORDEN is responsible for setting up and operating a transshipment solution in Gabon, Central Africa with an investment of around US$40 million.

“Port logistics is an exciting new growth opportunity for us as we look to take our business beyond a standard freight service to an innovative supply chain partner,” says NORDEN CEO Jan Rindbo of the first logistics offering, where the first operation took place earlier this year.

A NEW GROWTH AREA Development of the port logistics business is managed by NORDEN’s Logistics & Climate Solutions team, which works to deliver efficient and sustainable supply chain solutions to customers by investing in selected port logistics, headed by Adam Nielsen:

“This type of logistics solution is a natural extension of our customer service offering and we see a large potential to grow our business globally by engaging in such infrastructure development in partnership with customers.”

The Gabon project has seen NORDEN establishing a floating transfer station 40km away from the existing port, to allow for the use of Capesize vessels. Cargo is transported on barges from the port to the floating transfer station, where it is loaded onto the vessels and shipped to Asia.

The agreement with Comilog sees NORDEN handling the ocean freight for a portion of the transshipped cargo. Utilizing larger vessels solves a major bottleneck for Comilog, making the operation more efficient while at the same time reducing carbon emissions of the transport.

“We are pleased to further our collaboration with Comilog, making this project a success for Gabon and for the company,” adds Nielsen.

OFFLOADING 30,000 TONNES OF SALT Port logistics and cargo handling services represent a critical new business area for NORDEN.

“Our ambition is to be much more than just a standard freight service to our customers,” says Nielsen. “We are looking at new ways to optimize and decarbonize our customers’ supply chains; and we are actively looking for business where integrated solutions are required.”

In 2021, NORDEN entered into a project with current customer Empremar for offloading bulk salt. The complex operation optimizes the supply chain for Empremar and is yet another example of NORDEN’s move into port logistics.

While NORDEN has been shipping salt to the US for Empremar for 20 years, NORDEN now also manages the entire logistics operation of moving the salt from ship to shore. This involves an intricate barging, heavy equipment, and labour operation, and timing it all to consistently meet the arrival of the ship coming from Chile, building on NORDEN’s specialist knowledge.

The operation takes place at a chemical plant in California, where 30,000 tonnes of salt is offloaded from a bulk carrier onto a private terminal, for then to be taken directly to the plant and used to

make chlorine. NORDEN handles eight operations annually for the Chilean salt miner.

As there is no space at the terminal to bring in heavy equipment, NORDEN has in California partnered with a local barge company to carry bulldozers, clamshell buckets, re-fuel tanks and gangways alongside the vessel to offload the salt. A team of private heavy equipment operators have also been contracted to complete the offloading operation in about four or five days, working 12- hour shifts night and day.

A NATURAL EXTENSION OF THE BUSINESS The move into port logistics is a natural extension of NORDEN’s business, done in partnership with customers, and building on the strong relations NORDEN has across the industry.

The specialist knowledge needed to go beyond ‘free in/free out’ — which means responsibilities end when the ship arrives at the berth for discharge — is in many cases already in NORDEN, and the move to becoming an innovative supply chain partner is an exciting new chapter for the company. DCi

Port of Tilbury’s Grain Terminal team receives partnership award from Essex County Fire and Rescue

The Port of Tilbury in the UK has received an award from the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) for the collaborative role the port team played in supporting the Fire teams during a large and challenging fire at the grain terminal in July 2020.

The large fire had to be managed over a number of days and required firefighters to work collaboratively with port engineers and other advisors to monitor the scene and to minimize the impact the incident had on the grain site.

Commenting at the award presentation ECFRS Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Moira Bruin said: “This was one of the most challenging incidents our Service had faced in recent years. Resolving this incident successfully only happened because of the great partnership work, and despite being under pressure, we worked together to find innovative solutions. We wanted to recognize the support, ingenuity, bravery and open engagement of the grain terminal management and staff and were delighted to present them with this award and invite them to part of our own celebration event.”

The fire damaged the silo tower and some other equipment but no one was injured.

Major building works are well under way with construction of ten new giant metal grain silos now complete. The ten 30metre-tall silos have a total combined capacity of 20,000 metric tonnes. Work is now underway to replace the concrete silos for a return to full operations in 2023, restoring the original storage capacity.

Peter Ward, Commercial Director at The Port of Tilbury said: “We are honoured to receive this award which recognizes the collaborative role the team at the port played during this major incident at the grain terminal.

“I am proud of how the team handled this situation as they worked closely with the Fire and Rescue Service during this difficult and challenging period. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank not only the grain terminal team, but Essex County Fire and Rescue Service for its professional response and commitment both during and after the fire.

“The terminal is a vital facility in the South-East of England and an essential part of the UK agricultural supply chain for imports and exports and we made sure that there was no interruption to our service throughout.”

The Tilbury Grain terminal has been in operation for over 50 years and is a key strategic facility in the South-East of the UK for the grain import and export markets handling over two million tonnes of product from around the world. Grain is a key commodity in the UK food supply chain for a number of uses, most notably within the flour milling and bakery industries.

Once fully rebuilt, the terminal will be restored to its full storage capacity of 135,000 metric tonnes and continue to benefit from the full multimodal services at the port including river barge transport ation into central London. The terminal also operates a monthly coastal shipping service from Tilbury to its sister port in Kirkcaldy, Scotland for Carr’s Milling.

ABOUT FORTH PORTS/PORT OF TILBURY Forth Ports Limited owns and operates Tilbury, alongside seven other commercial ports on the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay: Grangemouth, Dundee, Leith, Rosyth, Methil, Burntisland and Kirkcaldy.

The Port of Tilbury is the number one UK port for forestry products, construction materials, paper, grain, recyclables and warehousing space. The port has a strong market presence in bulk commodities, ro-ro, cars and cruise vessels. The port’s London Container Terminal handles a mix of short and deep-sea services, is the UK's number four port for containers and has the greatest reefer (refrigerated container) point connectivity in Europe. Tilbury's strategic location makes it a natural point for distribution, with nearly 20 million people living within 75 miles. Serving the UK's market, the port offers customers excellent transport links to and from the UK’s capital and across the South East where over 50% of the population live and work. The port is a diverse multi-modal hub, covering around 1,100 acres (850 acres and the London Distribution Park, in addition to the Tilbury2 site) and is well positioned to access the M25 orbital motorway and the rest of the UK's national motorway network. In addition, there are direct rail connections within the port and dedicated barge facilities.

L-R Moira Bruin, Deputy Chief Fire officer EFRS; Craig McLelland, EFRS; Andy Barness, Port of Tilbury; Warren Betts, Port of Tilbury; Gary Vincent, Port of Tilbury; Marc Diggory, EFRS; Rick Hilton, Chief Fire Officer EFRS.

The construction of the ten new giant metal silos is now complete.