PORT OF GRIMSBY & IMMINGHAM POSTS STRONG FIRST-HALF RESULTS
Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Grimsby & Immingham has enjoyed a strong start to 2005, with turnover rising by 13.4 per cent over the first-half of the year. Exceptional growth has been seen in a number of key trades, including coal and steel imports. Construction work has also started at Immingham on Humber International Terminal 2 and Immingham Outer Harbour, in which ABP is investing a total of £87 million.
ABP is investing £27.5 million in the construction of the £35 million Immingham Outer Harbour (IOH), a new riverside roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) terminal at the Port of Immingham, after signing a 25-year agreement in 2004 with ro-ro ferry operators DFDS Tor Line. Scheduled to become operational in 2006, IOH will cover an area of 50 acres and will have the capacity to handle three vessels berthed simultaneously on the River Humber, outside Immingham Lock. The new berths will accommodate DFDS’s newer and larger generation of vessels, as well as providing the potential for deep-sea ro-ro vessels. IOH will extend DFDS’s existing terminal in Immingham to a total of 170 acres and seven ro-ro berths. The facility will be the ro-ro terminal on the Humber closest to the busy North Sea shipping lanes. Work is also under way on the construction of an extension to the deep-water Humber International Terminal. The £59.5 million project is being built on the back of term agreements between ABP and BHP Billiton, International Power, Drax Power, EDF Energy and Scottish & Southern Electricity.Once it becomes operational in 2006, the extended Humber International Terminal will have a total berth length of 520 metres, and will be able to accommodate vessels carrying more than 100,000 tonnes of cargo. It will be equipped with the latest dockside equipment, including two rail-mounted slewing cranes capable of free-digging in excess of 1,500 tonnes an hour, and fully automated landside operations, including two stacker reclaimer/conveyor systems and rapid-loading rail bunkers. The new facility will be capable of handling approximately 7.5 million tonnes of coal each year.
Other developments at the port include a new £1.7 million blending and distribution agribulks centre for IAWS Fertilisers (UK) Limited, following the signing of a new 10-year agreement. The new 7,000 sq m facility will be equipped with two blending and bagging plants servicing high-speed bulk and packing lines. Immingham is the latest ABP port to be used as an import, blending and packing facility by IAWS, which also has operations at ABP’s Ports of Newport, Ipswich and Ayr. The development will further expand the port’s existing range of bulk cargo-handling facilities.
More than £0.6 million will be invested by ABP in a new tug berth within the new Immingham Outer Harbour project. The berth will be built for Adsteam Humber Limited (‘Adsteam’), who provide towage services for vessels calling at the Port of Grimsby & Immingham, as well as other nearby terminals. This will be the second dedicated berth built by ABP at Immingham for Adsteam.
Other highlights of the period at Immingham include the completion of the £0.5 million manufacturing plant for Whitemountain Roadstone Ltd in May. In June, a £1.7 million upgrade of the port’s existing coal-handling equipment and storage facilities was finalised.
Nick Palmer, ABP Grimsby & Immingham’s Port Director, said of the port’s first-half performance:
“Grimsby & Immingham has had an excellent start to the year with significant rises in volumes of most of our key commodities. Our two major capital projects are well underway and are on budget and on schedule to become operational next year. In all, I’m very pleased with our performance and we’re on track to have another successful year.”
 |
 |
Copyright © Associated British Ports Holdings PLC 2004. All rights reserved.
Contact us
