Major investment in port equipment in the Humber ports

Associated British Ports (ABP) is investing £32 million in port equipment in the Humber to maintain customer demand as part of a wider Group investment.

A five-year strategy is being rolled out which involves purchasing new cranes, the full refurbishment of existing cranes and investing in landside equipment. The plan has involved looking at the eco-friendliness of new plant and equipment ensuring that ABP continue to invest in environmentally friendly and sustainable equipment.

The ongoing strategy in the Humber has been split between investment in mobile harbour cranes and hydraulic cranes — the first of which the Mantsinen 300M, the world’s largest hydraulic crane, will arrive at the port of Immingham late April.

Simon Bird, Regional Director for the Humber ports said: “This significant investment shows the confidence we have to continue to grow and invest to ensure the Humber ports are future-proofed when it comes to the latest technology in cranes and cargo handling equipment.

“Our strategy is about ensuring we have a versatile mix of cranes to cargo mix and that we can provide additional capacity to meet growing volumes of cargo. As a port operator we remain resilient and give our customers what they need, and they want to know what we have is reliable and efficient.”

The Covid-19 pandemic delayed the rollout of the strategy, but now orders are being placed and equipment is arriving. The first delivery in December 2021 were four Konecranes reachstackers which run on hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) costing £1.6 million. This will be followed by the Mantsinen 300M Hybrilift hydraulic crane plus various attachments costing nearly £3 million in spring.

A team from the Port of Immingham consisting of operations and engineers visited the Mantsinen factory in Finland last month to check on its build progress. It also gave them an opportunity to test the new crane simulator and see how it handles.

The incoming plant and machinery will replace older infrastructure, while existing cranes will undergo a million-pound major refurbishment. Those being refurbished include the Butterley cranes built in the1990s for the width of the locks in the ports of Immingham and Hull.

It has not yet been decided what some of the future cranage and attachments will be, giving ABP time to engage with the port community and ensure cranes are fit for purpose. It will include mobile harbour cranes and material handlers, with some more reachstackers and forklifts being ordered.

Bulks, breakbulks and project cargo are all being catered for, to ensure offloading and delivery are covered. This includes a spend of £16m on maintenance Capex on cargo handling landslide within Immingham Container Terminal (ICT) and Hull Container Terminal (HCT), and the stocking of spare parts as part of the port’s resilience.

What can be assured by ABP is that efficiency is a deciding factor, to ensure efficient cargo handling, and loading and unloading times are kept to a minimum.

ABOUT ABP HUMBER ABP Humber Ports complex form the UK’s busiest trading gateway. The four ports of Immingham, Grimsby, Goole, and Hull handle more than 58 million tonnes of cargo between them each year worth approximately £75 billion. Across the Humber, the ports support 34,900 jobs and contribute £2.5 billion to the UK economy.

ABP Humber’s major investment programme ensures the ports offer state-of the-art cargo handling infrastructure and equipment, alongside a highly skilled team who can handle a vast array of cargo safely, efficiently and sustainably.

ABP Humber works collaboratively to build long-term partnerships and deliver the right supply chain solutions for customers, including value-added services and new facilities tailored to suit their business needs. Port Operations are complemented by the Pilotage Service and Vessel Traffic Service which ensure vessels are safely navigated through the Humber Estuary. ABP Humber offers 364 hectares of development land across its port locations capable of attracting investment and delivering transformational benefits for the economy both locally and nationally.

The ports are all part of the new Humber Freeport, which offers three tax sites with an exceptionally business-friendly tax and regulatory environment for potential manufacturing investors.

ABP Humber supports its local communities. The ABP Humber Coastal Half Marathon and 5k is now in its sixth year and complements ABP’s race sponsorship across the country.

INTRODUCTION TO ABP HUMBER ABP, the UK’s leading ports group is Keeping Britain Trading with 21 ports and other transport related businesses, creating a unique national network capable of handling a vast array of cargo.

It is driving growth, contributing £7.5 billion to the UK economy every year and supporting over 200,000 jobs. The current investment programme promises to further increase its contribution to regional economies around the UK.

ABP is also an essential partner for the offshore wind industry, providing Operations and Maintenance (O&M) for over 50% of the sector’s activity, as well as investing in infrastructure to realize future renewable energy generation.

ABP IN NUMBERS: v ~ 90 million tonnes of cargo handled each year; v 5,000 hectares of port estate owned; v 1,000 hectares of open storage; v 1.4 million square metres of covered storage; v 87km of quay; v > 1.5 million vehicles every year; v ¼ of the UK’s rail freight generated; and v > £55 million investment made in low emission and renewable energy generation technologies.

The five-year crane strategy will involve purchasing new cranes and refurbishing existing ones.

Port of Blyth announces record financial results

The Port of Blyth in the UK has announced record financial and operational performance figures for 2021 at its recent Annual Public Meeting.

Overall group turnover grew to £25.5million, the highest total in the port’s 140-year history and up 15% on the previous year, whilst group operating profit grew by 64% to £2.1million.

The major driver for these results was the main port operating business, which landed two major offshore windrelated contracts in 2021 and continued to be regarded as one of the UK’s foremost offshore energy support bases. Wholly owned forwarding and logistics subsidiary, Transped, also contributed a record £0.5m profit to the year.

While overall volume of cargo handled in the year increased to 0.7 million tonnes, given the port’s increasing focus on servicing offshore energy vessels rather than handling more traditional cargo, port chiefs have highlighted the 32% increase of berth utilization during the year as a more useful performance statistic and another sign of significant growth.

Operational performance has also been a keen focus as container handling at the port’s South Harbour terminal grew to the highest figure since Transped was established in 1997, while the commitment of the port’s ‘key workers’ ensured that millions of key consumer goods made it quickly from the container service to the supermarket shelf.

The port maintained an outstanding safety record in 2021, with not a single lost time incident occurring throughout the year as it continues to lead the port sector nationally in relation to Health & Safety.

Martin Lawlor, Chief Executive of Port of Blyth, said: “To achieve record turnover in a year that contained both Covid and numerous Brexit-related challenges is a huge accomplishment. Our offshore energy/renewables clients consistently reference our wealth of experience, high service levels and a service safety-first culture as reasons for selecting Blyth and long may that continue.”

Chair of the Board of Commissioners, Geoff Hodgson, added: “Such positive financial results are testament to both the scale of the projects that the port is attracting to Blyth and the commitment of a superb team. With its key role in the renewables sector only set to grow, the future of the Port of Blyth is looking hugely positive.”

Port of Blyth is home to some of the world’s leading offshore energy companies and regularly hosts high profile projects connected to North Sea oil, gas and renewables operations.

The port’s performance was reported at its Annual Public Meeting Held recently, which was held in a hybrid format for the first time — both inperson for the first time in two years due to Covid-19 restrictions and online. This important event forms a key part of the Port of Blyth’s commitment to its stakeholders as a leading UK statutory Trust Port.

ABOUT PORT OF BLYTH Port of Blyth is the port operating division of Blyth Harbour Commission, an independent statutory trust established in 1882. It is one of the largest Trust Port’s in the UK handling cargo across four terminals based around the River Blyth.

Together with major logistics and training divisions, the port group has a growing turnover exceeding £25 million, driven by growth across a variety of sectors but particularly offshore energy, with the port now recognized as a major strategic east coast base supporting the sector. Other trade handled includes containers, dry bulks (coal, aggregates, cement etc) and marine fuels.

As a Trust Port, all profits are reinvested back into the port to improve facilities and to provide benefits for its wider stakeholders.

The SUA Granéis consortium, which encompasses Agemar, Loxus and Marlog, is the new concessionaire of the Suape Dry Bulk Terminal (TGSS). The concessionaire, whose members are heavily involved in petcoke handling, will run the facility for a period of 25 years. TGSS, which is situated at the rear of Quay 5, covers an area of 72,000 square metres, in which SUA Granéis proposes to invest $13 million. The investment is required to allow the facility to handle 12,000 tonnes at any one given moment, with a forecast first year throughput of 570,000 tonnes.

The revamped terminal will handle and warehouse both vegetable and mineral bulk, as well as general cargo, with operations to start in 2024. It will have a modern gate system and the necessary equipment in place to offer productivity rates of 549tph (tonnes per hour) when handling petcoke and 128tph for bagged sugar.

According to the Port of Suape’s CEO, Roberto Gusmão, the port should now be in a position to triple throughout of dry bulk within five years, thereby becoming one of the most important ports in the north and northeast of the country. Not only will there be organic growth of existing dry bulk commodities but new ones should also be attracted, according to Francisco Martins, the port’s Planning Director. Petcoke volumes are expected to double, with a second train added to the Abreu e Lima refinery.

Previously, the area covered by the new concession has been operated under a transitional agreement by M&G São Caetano. It began in June last year and which will end operations at the terminal in December.

Dry bulk traffic at Suape increased from 588,202 tonnes in 2020 to 719,174 tonnes in 2021, an increase of 22.3%, with wheat and petcoke the two main products. Barry Cross

Abreu e Lima refinery.