The Port of Tilbury and ADM Erith have successfully launched a twice-daily coastal barge operation to deliver thousands of tonnes of oil seed rape from the port’s grain terminal along the River Thames to ADM Erith’s processing facility.

This form of water borne transport reduces truck journeys and ensures a greener supply chain for both businesses. The coastal vessel the Polla Rose takes the cargo from Tilbury twice a day, Monday to Friday with each trip moving 500 tonnes of oil rape seed at a time. [NB: see images provided with this release]

Each round trip is managed by HCH Marine and takes around seven hours and each day this operation removes 36 truck journeys from the already congested roads.

The Port of Tilbury aims to provide a greener supply chain for customers by using water-borne freight solutions.

Gary Vincent, Asset Manager at the Port of Tilbury said: “We are very pleased with this new coastal service for ADM Erith. Using the Polla Rose vessel for this cargo movement has been a success both operationally and as a greener supply chain solution for our customer.”

Martin Farrow, General Manager at ADM in Erith said: “We’re delighted to work together with the port of Tilbury to support our environmental efforts and optimize our supply chain. It also comes at a great time now that our Erith plant is fully operational again.”   

Nick Howard, Managing Director of HCH Marine said: “We’re very happy to have the support of both ADM and the Port of Tilbury and together we are looking forward to keeping river freight alive and doing our bit to keep road congestion down.”

 07 January 2021                            -ends-

Image credit: @KrispenAtkinson

“Regeneration through job creation” is the vision for a Thames Freeport being unveiled today.

DP World and Forth Ports are bidding for a Thames Freeport, with London Gateway, the Port of Tilbury and Ford’s Dagenham engine plant at its heart – highlighting the role of the River Thames in a prosperous, global Britain.

This comes after decades of Government initiatives targeting growth and regeneration across the largest development area in the UK, the Thames Gateway.

Now is the time to use the freeport policy’s special economic measures to turbocharge the best of the private sector to level up the left behind communities along the estuary.

Our Thurrock-based freeport will deliver dispersed wealth, just as the old Port of London did in the past.

Parts of the estuary are in desperate need of this support.

Thurrock is among the country’s top 25 most skills-deprived areas and the neighbourhoods surrounding Tilbury are amongst the top 10% of overall deprivation.

Barking and Dagenham is ranked in the top five local authorities for deprivation – the borough’s unemployment rate is 74% higher than the national average.

Initial modelling suggests that a freeport will unlock more than 20,000 new, better paid jobs and many more through local supply chains, while securing over £400 million in port infrastructure, which will lead to a doubling of port capacity.

The pandemic shockwaves continue to reverberate and have brought every element of the economy into stark focus.

Our proposal will re-connect Britain’s biggest market with its industrial engine.

A Thames Freeport will be a magnet for new investment, jobs, skills development and the adoption of greener technology.

This will drive innovation and transformational productivity gains by turbocharging regional clusters in next generation logistics, automation, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing centred around two global hubs – London Gateway and Tilbury – supporting regeneration in Thurrock and economic growth across the Thames Estuary.

The zone will be a catalyst for commerce, creativity and prosperity.

For example, Ford plans to build on its advanced technology capabilities to electrify, connect and automate vehicle

solutions in-and-around the freeport to reduce pollution and ease congestion.

More than ever, size matters for UK plc.

With almost 1,000 acres of land ready for development – much with planning consent secured – no other port cluster in the south of England can come close to matching our offer to deliver meaningful economic change and linked community benefits in the lifetime of this Parliament.

Our speed of delivery is matched by our global connectivity, with direct shipping routes to every continent for exporters to get their goods to market at speed.

The freeport will link sites along the estuary to the heart of the largest market in Europe via operational wharves helping to reshape urban logistics, alleviating road congestion, and reducing pollution along the A13 corridor.

This is where road and river dovetail – seamless integration of global freight into local supply chains – as Ford builds on its advanced technology capabilities to electrify, connect and automate vehicle solutions in-and-around the freeport.

The freeport will be key to catalysing the Thames’ net zero transformation, including the promotion of investments in clean energy generation, such as hydrogen fuel production, storage and fuelling infrastructure.

This is not uncharted territory, freeports are in our DNA.

DP World began as a free trade zone in Jebel Ali, while Tilbury was a freeport until 2012.

Harnessing our customs expertise, we intend to link the Thames’ trade hubs and manufacturing sites using our track-and-trace technology.

This tried-and-tested system will provide a viable technology platform to ensure the freeports policy is a success at ports across the country.

The Thames Freeport will be a new centre of excellence for the country as we electrify, automate and digitise our future.

We are confident we can replicate that success today to boost the economic prospects of global Britain.

The Thames has historically been a trading and industrial powerhouse, serving the whole UK.

A Thames Freeport will draw on this proud history and established expertise as the catalyst for a green revolution founded on new technology and new trading links, bringing new skills to communities otherwise left behind.

Follow Thames Freeport on Twitter  / LinkedIn

5 January 2021

Ground works got under way at Western Harbour this month (December) as part of the next phase of investment in housing at the popular residential area

The ground preparations are being made for a further two development sites, which combined with the current two plots in this phase of the masterplan will make up a 5-acre site for the development of much needed homes for Edinburgh.

The four combined will deliver a total of 540 homes to be delivered over the next 24–30 months. These homes are planned to add to the portfolio of managed rental properties in Western Harbour, including the recently completely Harbour Gateway, already created by Forth Ports and Rettie & Co.

These new homes will add to the community alongside the new primary school which is nearing completion and is planned for opening in late 2021, together with the new tram terminus. New plans for these homes will be submitted to Edinburgh City Council to seek detailed planning approval in the New Year.

Commenting on the start of the ground works, Carole Cran, Chief Financial Officer at Forth Ports said: “It is great to see the ground works getting under way for two new plots at Western Harbour. There have been a few delays this year due to the impacts of the global pandemic, however we are confident that we will gain planning approval in January to deliver these much needed homes for Edinburgh.”

Matthew Benson, Director, Development Services at Rettie & Co, said:

“Seeing activity at Western Harbour on this next phase of the housing plan is exciting. We hope that we can move to the construction phase of this new development quickly in 2021 in order that we can deliver high quality homes for residents. The success of Forth Ports’ earlier managed rent homes at Harbour Point and Harbour Gateway show that there is an urgent need for new housing in Edinburgh.”

17 December 2020                                     – ends –

Forth Ports welcomed today’s UK Government funding announcement in support of new and enlarged border infrastructure at the group’s key import/export hubs – Grangemouth, Tilbury and Tilbury2 – totalling £11.7m from the Port Infrastructure Fund.

Contractors are on site and the new border inspection facilities are set to be approved and operational for 1 July 2021.

“This £11.7m funding allocation for new border facilities will complement our existing work with cargo owners, shippers and the wider freight community to ensure that our global gateways stay highly productive and congestion free”, commented Charles Hammond OBE, chief executive of Forts Ports Group.

Early this week, Forth Ports unveiled a suite of tools and dedicated support from the group’s in-house Brexit transition support team (https://forthports.co.uk/forth-ports-group/brexit-ready/

Charles Hammond added: “Harnessing our vast experience and proven performance of handling rest-of-world trade supported by I.T. backed border and booking systems, an extensive network of ferry and container connections, and excellent onward rail and road linkages to the largest domestic consumer markets, we will ensure that goods continue to flow efficiently across our borders and onward to their final destination.

“Supply chains are realigning as they seek greater resilience and a low carbon route close to market, and our ports are ideally placed to support through our investment in infrastructure, market leading turnaround times and capacity for growth.”

Port of Grangemouth

– Scotland’s largest container port handling 30% of Scotland’s export

– streamlined customs and border processes, with AEO trusted trader accreditation

– at the heart of the Central Belt, with enhanced rail connections through an ongoing £3m overhaul of the intermodal terminal to accommodate the longest freight trains in the UK at 775m

– enhanced network shipping connections to northern European’s industrial base through key hubs like Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg, with new calls to the Benelux.

Port of Tilbury

– the fastest growing port in the UK

– streamlined customs and border processes, with AEO trusted trader accreditation

– home to the country’s newest port, Tilbury2. The £250m terminal is the UK’s largest unaccompanied freight ferry terminal operated by P&O Ferries and the biggest construction processing hub

– P&O’s Tilbury-Zeebrugge ro-ro route has recorded 7% annualised growth in the first six months of Tilbury2’s operation

– London Container Terminal at Tilbury has added five new routes in 2020 – stretching from north Africa to Norway – with a 35% increase in European trade this year.

16 December                                                     – ends –

With less than a month until the end of the transition period, Forth Ports’ chief executive, Charles Hammond, issues valuable guidance to shippers, cargo owners and the wider logistics sector using the group’s eight ports along the east coast of the UK. 

The cargo flowing through our ports varies, but the current supply chain planning and the sentiment from our customers is consistent throughout.

Customs, border and security formalities are about to change in two stages on 1 January and 1 July 2021 for intra-European trade flows, but what’s required?

My dedicated in-house Brexit transition team has been at the heart of discussions with the Border Delivery and Protocol Group and all tiers of the government in England and Scotland as the UK prepares for this new dawn.

The team has also been working collaboratively with our customers to provide Brexit flexible solutions.

Harnessing our vast experience and proven performance of handling rest-of-world trade, I.T. backed border and booking systems, an extensive network of ferry and container connections, and onward rail and road strategic linkages to the largest domestic consumer markets, we will ensure that goods continue to efficiently flow across our borders and onward to their final destination.

Our commitment is to ensure our shelves remain stocked, our NHS is supported, our vehicles fuelled, our industrial base fired and our construction industry thrives by keeping the flow through our ports.

Supply chains are realigning as they seek greater resilience and a low carbon route close to market, and our ports are ideally placed to support through our investment in infrastructure, market leading turnaround times and capacity for growth.

We’ve matched that ambition through a £260 million investment programme in our new port, Tilbury2, and an overhaul of our rail terminals at Tilbury and Grangemouth.

This provides for a 775m long rail hub-to-hub low carbon distribution model for the food, drink and perishables sectors – connecting one of Europe’s largest reefer ports to Scotland’s largest container port.

The growth through our brand new freight ferry terminal operated by P&O Ferries, Tilbury2, is testament to early tremors of the ongoing seaquake.

Despite strong pandemic headwinds, our trade routes have grown substantially.

The Tilbury-Zeebrugge ro-ro route has recorded 7% annualised growth in the first six months of Tilbury2’s operation.

While London Container Terminal at Tilbury has added five new routes in 2020 – stretching from north Africa to Norway – with a 35% increase in European trade this year alone.

Grangemouth has enhanced the frequency of its network connections to northern European’s industrial base through key hubs like Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg, with new calls to the Benelux.

Be assured that Forth Ports is ready for Brexit and we have an appetite and capacity to continue supporting growth of core markets.

In these uncertain times, my team has compiled a useful guide of what’s required and when, alongside a guide to key terms, an overview of our services and our global, European and domestic network connections here.

14 December                     – ends-

The investment programme in the redevelopment in the Port of Dundee, totalling £40m, has reached a significant milestone with the start of the latest contract for the construction of a new wharf alongside land upgrades to secure the port’s future in offshore renewable energy and North Sea Oil and Gas projects. This work will augment the development work already completed at the port during 2018/2019.

The work, being delivered by construction and civils engineering company GRAHAM, consists of the construction of a new wharf and the preparation and upgrade of over 15 hectares of land (equivalent to 20 full size football pitches) for the emerging energy transition sector.

The port’s existing Caledon East Warf is being replaced with a new heavy lift quayside that is capable of roll on/off operations as well as conventional lift on/off. Prince Charles Wharf is also undergoing an upgrade after almost 45 years’ service.

Once completed at the end of 2021, the total quayside available at this specific part of the port will be 485m. The quayside, combined with the capital dredging program under way in the River Tay, will allow large semi-submersible vessels (HTV) or wind installation (WIV) to berth in the port.

Dundee is currently the wind turbine hub for the construction of EDF Renewables’ and ESB’s major offshore wind farm, Neart na Gaoithe (NnG).

Commenting on the investment in Dundee, Senior Port Manager, David Webster, said: “This significant investment in the Port of Dundee demonstrates our commitment to bring large-scale renewables and decommissioning projects to Scotland. We are pleased to work with GRAHAM on this project in Dundee following their successful delivery of our new freight ferry terminal in Tilbury2 earlier this year.”

Leo Martin, managing director of GRAHAM’s civil engineering division, said:

“This will be our second project working in collaboration with Forth Ports, following our completion of Tilbury2 on the Thames.

“This is a fantastic scheme for GRAHAM to be working on and another opportunity to demonstrate our wide-ranging marine construction and civils capabilities.

“The offshore renewables construction facility at the Port of Dundee promises to bring significant benefits to both Dundee and indeed the whole of Scotland, both socially and economically, creating jobs and supporting the supply of low carbon electricity.”

14 December 2020                             -ENDS-

The Port of Grangemouth today (10 December) announces a multimillion-pound investment in its rail freight offering which will cement its position as the key strategic freight and export/import hub for Scotland.

The £3 million investment will significantly scale up and modernise the port’s current rail capacity to create an extended dual rail siding of 775 metres – currently 200 metres – capable of handling the longest freight trains on the UK network. When operational early next year, Grangemouth’s will be the first rail freight terminal to offer this and provide enhanced container / domestic intermodal options particularly for customers in the food, drink and perishables sectors across the Scottish freight community.

The investment in rail comes at an important time for the freight market as businesses are seeking flexible, resilient, and greener supply chain solutions. Grangemouth has the unrivalled position of being truly interconnected for sea to rail and rail to sea, with the added flexibility of direct road access into Central Scotland and beyond. With regular container ship calls into the port each week from mainland Europe and the South East of England, this increased rail capacity will help to take trucks off the UK’s congested roads and to lower customers’ carbon footprint.

The port also has on-site distribution warehouses with cross docking possibilities and is within a few miles of the main supermarket distribution centres within Central Scotland.  Grangemouth’s key strategic location in Scotland allows customers to take advantage of the excellent road, rail and shipping network that the port offers.

Commenting on the investment, Derek Knox, Senior Port Manager at The Port of Grangemouth said: “Over the past five years, we have invested over £30 million in the Port of Grangemouth to offer our customers first class service and connectivity for their businesses. We now look to extend this further and the investment in our rail terminal is part of our strategy to provide more resilient, cost effective, greener and efficient options for rail freight transportation to our existing and future customers.

 “The unique advantage of the Grangemouth rail freight terminal is that it is directly linked to Scotland’s largest container port.  This enables customers to easily connect to established short and deep-sea shipping connections to European and international markets.  Additionally, excellent road connectivity to the Port and our central location provides an attractive opportunity for domestic freight flows within the UK.

 “As the UK prepares to leave the EU Single Market and the Customs Union, the freight sector is looking at ways to maintain an efficient free flowing supply chain. With the new rail offering combined with our established port operations and streamlined customs processes, the freight hub we are creating provides a unique solution.  We have recently appointed a rail freight expert, Ian Wilson, to support our rail growth strategy and, coupled with our established rail links with our sister port in Tilbury, we are confident that rail customers will benefit significantly from both freight hubs.”

Existing services link Grangemouth and its sister port in Tilbury on the Thames with a connection through Daventry. Construction of the new rail extension starts this month and is expected to welcome its first train in January 2021 building on current rail volumes at the port.

10 December 2020                                        -Ends-

The Port of Leith is enhancing its position in the offshore renewables market with a seven figure privately funded investment at the port to bring to the market an additional 25 hectares of land linked to over 3km of deep water quaysides. This investment will see the skyline of the port changed, with the final stages of the demolition of the Imperial Grain Silo being completed.

The Port has seen an unprecedented surge in activity over the past few years with the energy transition to low carbon becoming a strong influence in the future of Scotland and Leith. The Port of Leith has been able to demonstrate its agility through responding to project needs ranging from utilising the deep water for the storage of offshore wind farm foundation jackets to significant project work associated with the subsea elements of the development of offshore windfarms.

Shipping and onshore economic activity has been boosted at Scotland’s capital port this year with its key role in supporting EDF Renewables’ and ESB’s major offshore wind farm Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) at various stages of the project.  This major Scottish project will supply enough low carbon electricity for around 375,000* homes and has a capacity of c. 450 megawatts (MW) of low carbon energy, will offsetting over 400,000 tonnes of Co² emissions each year. Watch video here of the work at The Port of Leith: https://vimeo.com/483016712

Commenting on the investment and plans, David Webster, Senior Port Manager at Forth Ports, said: “This investment is another example of our commitment to bring large-scale renewables to Scotland. This will allow Leith to build on its current success as well as complement the significant upgrades that are under way in our Dundee facility. The foundation logistics in Leith will be supported by the wind turbine hub in Dundee, we see this as the future to local content in Scotland that will drive employment.”

Matthias Haag, NnG Project Director, said: “It’s really exciting to see the Port of Leith making such a huge investment in offshore renewables, especially as it will play a key role in the successful delivery of NnG. Since the offshore construction of NnG started in August, the Port of Leith is already Marine Logistics Base for the pile casings. These casings will form part of the foundations on which the project’s 54 turbines and two substations will stand.

“We’ve always said we’re committed to using the Scottish supply chain as much as possible and we’re really pleased to be working with the Port of Leith.”

Kenny Williamson, Deputy Port Manager said: “I have been working in the Port of Leith for 37 years and have never seen so many vessels in port with so much activity going on. This is an exciting time for Leith and Edinburgh as we adapt, upgrade and regenerate the port to create opportunities in Scotland’s emerging industries. We have been successful in winning a number of contracts this year, along with our partners.

“Leith is the largest Port on the East Coast of Scotland and has extensive deep water non-tidal berths connected to more than 140 hectares of land.”

25 November 2020                            – ends –

As the Government launches the competitive bidding process today (16 Nov), DP World and Forth Ports continue to push forward their bid for a Thames Freeport with London Gateway, the Port of Tilbury and Ford’s Dagenham engine plant at its heart.

Backed by the City Corporation of London, Essex Chamber of Commerce, London First, the Port of London Authority, the Thames Estuary Growth Board, Thurrock Council and the South East LEP, a Thames Freeport will drive innovation and transformational productivity gains by growing regional clusters in next generation logistics, automation, clean growth and advanced manufacturing. Vivid Economics is providing economic analysis in support of the bid.

With a network of global and European shipping connections, excellent road, rail and river distribution networks, in addition to unrivalled first hand expertise in operating freeports, the Thurrock-based combined port and logistics cluster has the scale to grow the associated aerospace, automotive and many complex manufacturing and processing businesses along the Thames. A freeport will act as a job creation and high-quality development catalyst in an area of severe deprivation and economic need. Both ports have consented development land that is available for expansion now, with the aim to improve the opportunities for skilled jobs, bringing prosperity to the residents of Thurrock and beyond.

“Freeports will be an effective way of underpinning Britain’s economy post-Brexit and post-Covid by further enabling trade with the rest of the world and creating zones which will act as catalysts for commerce, creativity and prosperity,” commented Alan Shaoul, DP World UK’s Chief Financial Officer.

He added: “Freeports are part of our DNA. DP World began as a single free trade zone and free port in Dubai, Jebel Ali, while Tilbury was a freeport as recently as 2012 and we are confident we can replicate our recent success in the UK.”

Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer, Forth Ports: “The Port of Tilbury and London Gateway are already the most integrated logistics hubs in the UK, harnessing the best-in-class border technologies, with commanding market leading positions across a range of commodities. 

“A Thames Freeport would secure the next stage in the development of our sites, attracting further foreign direct investment, while acting as a testbed for new technologies, including autonomous and electric vehicles, leading to new skills opportunities across the Thames estuary development area.”

– ends –

HS2 Ltd has released a new video highlighting how the additional capacity HS2 will create on Britain’s existing rail network will benefit UK ports and distribution centres that use rail freight for the movement of goods.

Filmed at the Port of Tilbury in Essex, the video shows how additional network capacity for rail freight is essential for Britain’s low carbon future, as transporting goods by rail creates 76% less carbon dioxide emissions than equivalent road journey.

Watch the video here: https://vimeo.com/470638641/dba2ca9ba2

HS2’s brand new track and fast inter-city passenger services frees space on the existing railway network for more freight by rail, taking lorries off the roads and reducing carbon emissions. By putting direct inter-city services on dedicated high-speed lines, HS2 will create more space on the existing railway for Britain’s growing rail freight sector.

The Port of Tilbury is the largest port on the River Thames spanning 1,100-acres and incorporating the London Container Terminal and a new port complex, Tilbury2, which together handle over 500,000 containers and trailers per year for import and export. Tilbury2 also has a dedicated construction material and aggregates terminal (CMAT), capable of handling in excess of five million tonnes of bulk product per annum. With the development of Tilbury2, including its two rail terminals capable of handling the longest freight trains, the port has scope for significant increases in both unitised and bulk cargo flows.

The Port currently welcomes daily rail services to major retail distribution centres and customers in the Midlands, the South West, Wales and Scotland. The trains then return with British products for distribution around London and the South East and exported by ship around the world. From everyday goods to construction materials, more than £30 billion worth of products are distributed by rail in Britain every year. The Port of Tilbury has invested around £23 million in new rail-related infrastructure over the last couple of years to help expand their capacity to deliver more freight by rail.

With logistics companies striving for a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and extra enquiries coming in as customers see rail as part of their supply chain decarbonisations plans, HS2’s capacity benefits will allow ports and distribution centres to offer more rail slots to their customers on the existing network – enabling our economy to grow in a safe and sustainable way. The Port of Tilbury anticipates the amount of materials moved by rail to increase by 900,000 tonnes per annum within the next five years, the equivalent of the weight of 429 London Eyes.

Speaking in a new video about the benefit of HS2 to UK ports, Carole Cran, CFO of Forth Ports said: “HS2 will give us the headroom to grow our network of low carbon delivery routes. By building a new rail line, HS2 takes fast trains off the existing railway and places them on their own dedicated tracks. This allows local and freight trains to run at similar speeds on the existing lines, freeing up space across the network for many more passenger and freight services, so there are benefits for everyone, not just those who will travel on HS2.”

Ben Rule, Infrastructure Management Director, HS2 Ltd said: “Building HS2 is the best way to increase capacity for rail freight on Britain’s existing rail network. Giving the UK’s ports the ability to transport more goods using rail will take lorries of the roads, reducing carbon emissions from transport, and will help us achieve a greener future for Britain.”

Jackie Doyle-Price, Member of Parliament for Thurrock, said: “HS2 is the largest infrastructure project in Europe. It will bring a significant increase in rail capacity to the benefit of the whole UK. HS2 will free up capacity on existing lines to enable the transport of more rail freight including from major ports like Tilbury in my constituency. I fully endorse Tilbury’s push to grow its low carbon delivery model, with rail at its heart. Whether it’s food, medical supplies, or building materials, as we build back better, Tilbury will continue to play its critical role for the nation.”

HS2 Ltd has today also released a new explainer animation – ‘HS2: Upgrading freight Britain’ – which further demonstrates how, by providing additional capacity on the existing network, the new high-speed line will enable more freight to travel by rail, as well as allow an increase in local and regional passenger services.

HS2 will also take thousands of lorries off the roads every year as more freight can travel by rail. Each freight train removes up to 76 lorries from our roads, which currently amounts to 1.63 billion fewer kilometres a year by heavy goods vehicles, or more than seven million lorry journeys.

22 October 2020                  – ends –