The Port of Tilbury’s Grain Terminal has reached an important construction milestone with the completion of the concrete slip form for the new silo, which will add a further 34,000 tonnes of automated storage at the busy Thames based terminal.

Once the mechanical and electrical fitting is complete, the new concrete silo is expected to be fully operational in January 2024, bringing a combined total storage on site to 134,000 tonnes, underpinning the grain terminal as the UK’s largest import and export grain handling facility.

The new concrete silo will be in addition to the ten steel silos and flat store with a combined storage capacity of 34,000 tonnes, which became operational in September 2022. These steel silos are filled with a 650 tonne per hour transfer conveyor system which also serves the automated filling system for the 14,000 tonne flat store. The transfer conveyor also delivers grain directly from the terminal to two adjacent customer flour mill sites.

The concrete silo rebuild has been undertaken following a fire in 2020*.

Peter Ward, Commercial Director at The Port of Tilbury said: “We are making great progress towards the complete reconstruction of our busy grain terminal. Once the new concrete silo is operational, the Grain Terminal will be back to full capacity on one site.

“Over the past two years, our team has worked hard to ensure that our customers have not experienced any service interruption and we are extremely proud of the high level of service that we have provided for this important industry.

As the UK’s largest grain facility, we are an essential part of the UK agricultural supply chain for imports and exports.”

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 2 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. The terminal also operates a monthly coastal shipping service from Tilbury to its sister port in Kirkcaldy, Scotland for Carr’s Milling.

*The fire at the grain terminal was in July 2020 and damaged the silo tower and some other equipment. No one was injured.

6 March 2023                                  -ends-

Local primary schools in Thurrock took part in a challenge to come up with a name for one of the Port of Tilbury’s new Liebherr harbour cranes which will arrive into the port next month (March). The winning name, ‘Giraffe’ was the firm favourite with the port judging team, but they also awarded a runners up prize to the name ‘Big Claw’.

The winner was Rebekah Oppong, aged 10, from Lansdown Primary Academy and Kitty North, aged 8, from Tilbury Pioneer Academy was the runner up. Peter Ward visited the winning schools to present the pupils with their prizes.

There were over 60 entries with 10 finalists chosen including the two winners who were all presented with Port of Tilbury footballs. As the winners, Rebekah and Kitty were given a model of the cranes as their prize and will be invited to the port when the crane has arrived, so they can see it for themselves.

Commenting on the competition, Peter Ward, Commercial Director at the Port of Tilbury said: “We have had a lot of fun working with the pupils from the local Thurrock schools on this competition. We loved all the creative names that the pupils came up with and we were very impressed that there were so many to choose from. We all felt that Rebekah and Kitty’s name ideas were perfect for our new crane. We look forward to welcoming ‘Giraffe’ into the port next month.”

 The new crane is a Liebherr LH150-M-HR and will work across the port. The crane is expected to be delivered to the port next month.

 14 February 2023                          -ends-

Cruise ship calls in 2023 for Forth Ports’ Capital Cruising business on Scotland’s east coast are set to jump by 50%, with around 150 (2022: 100) cruise ships, carrying an estimated 225,000 passengers, expected to visit Edinburgh, Fife and Dundee this year.

The cruise calendar in Scotland traditionally runs between April and October each year and the 2023 season kicks off on 11 April with the arrival of the Viking Venus into the deep anchorage near Newhaven with thousands of passengers visiting the attractions of Scotland’s capital city.

Edinburgh is a globally popular destination and viewed by the cruise market as a “marquee” cruise destination with iconic attractions, events, heritage and culture. Most importantly the city is known for welcoming cruise lines and cruise passengers. The 150 cruise ships will sail directly into the Port of Leith, Rosyth and Dundee’s cruise berth as well as anchorages in the River Forth for Newhaven and South Queensferry.

The 2023 Dundee season will see a bumper year for the city with 14 cruise calls booked, starting on 13 May with the arrival of the Ambition. In 2022, the port welcomed four cruise ships.

The 2022 cruise season saw the restart of the industry after lockdown during the global pandemic. The 2022 season welcomed over 100 cruise calls and 26 inaugural ship visits to Scotland with a further 62 ships visiting their London facilities, which will also see strong growth this year.

The Tallink Victoria 1 Cruise Ferry which is currently being provided by the Scottish Government as safe accommodation for displaced people from Ukraine, is the first cruise vessel to receive a shore power connection within the Imperial Dock in the Port of Leith. By switching to shore power, the vessel is now able to switch off all of its fossil fuel powered generators, and with Forth Ports’ electricity being provided through non fossil fuel generation, this is a significant step forward on the journey to net zero for the port.

Commenting, Rob Mason, Head of Cruise at Forth Ports, said: “It is brilliant to see the cruise industry return so strongly and continue to grow this year and we are extremely pleased that we have provided the Victoria 1 Cruise Ferry with shore power.

 “Since the restart of the industry last year we have been working hard with the city, destination partners and the wider cruise industry to meet all of the industry’s challenges and deliver another successful cruise season. We know that there are significant economic benefits to the country as hundreds of thousands of passengers visit our cities and we look forward to welcoming them this year.”

In line with the cruise industry’s commitment to sustainable tourism practices, significant work is being undertaken to ensure Edinburgh is recognised as a sustainability driven destination, with extensive destination development work also continuing to connect local providers with tour operators and cruise lines.

Recent success has been demonstrated with EZ Bike Tours located next to the port now providing to the Cruise lines environmentally friendly electric bike tours of the city as a shore excursion option. Forth Ports’ commitment to reducing its own carbon footprint as well as that of its customers has already been demonstrated this year with the Port of Leith becoming the first large mainland commercial port in Scotland to provide a shore power connection which allows ships to switch off any diesel powered generators or engines.

10 February 2023                                        – ends –

The Port of Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest freight hub, has delivered a bumper ‘tattie’ season with 65,000 tonnes of seed potato exported around the world from Grangemouth. The busy container terminal grew annual volumes with 150,000 containers moving through the port in 2022.

October and November are the port’s peak months for Scotland’s seed potato trade with over half of the annual total of reefers (refrigerated containers) passing through the container terminal in Grangemouth. Annually, around 3,500 reefers containing approximately 65,000 tonnes of seed potatoes grown on farms across Scotland including Caithness & Sutherland, Grampian, Angus, Perthshire, Fife, the Borders and Ayrshire are shipped around the world.

The spuds make their way from Grangemouth principally to Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and the Middle East and as far afield as Taiwan and Thailand.

As well as potatoes, fish and seafood originating from all over Scotland move through the port in refrigerated containers to be shipped around the world to countries such as China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Greece.

Derek Knox, Director of Operations for Forth Ports, said: “We have just had our busiest period of the year for our freight hub in Grangemouth and the Scottish tatties are just part of the goods we export globally in the winter months. We are Scotland’s largest container terminal and we play an important part in the country’s export and import market.

“We handle around 1million tonnes of food and drink products each year at the port including seafood, spirits, cheese and of course potatoes, being shipped out around the world.  This volume is handled by our efficient and experienced terminal teams ensuring everything is loaded onto vessels on time in order that cargo can meet connections to get to international destinations on time”

The port, which will be a key part of the Forth Green Freeport which was successfully shortlisted earlier this month, has enjoyed significant investment including over 500,000 sq.ft. of new warehousing space opening at the port over the past five years. In December, five new straddle carriers arrived into port to increase its capacity for storing both conventional containers and reefers. The new straddle carriers will replace five of the existing fleet of 16.

Grangemouth handles some of Scotland’s most valuable exports, such as fine foods and drinks, with more than £6 billion worth of goods passing through the port each year including steel plate, timber, paper and equipment for the oil and gas industry.

26 January 2023                                          – ends –

The Port of Tilbury’s London Container Terminal has signed an agreement to use Portchain Quay as their terminal wide berth planning tool for creating reliable berth plans supported by intelligent predictions. Portchain is excited to partner with London Container Terminal to unlock the potential in their quayside operations. The deployment of Portchain Quay is an important step in London Container Terminal’s digitization journey, where several key planning processes will be digitized to promote real-time information exchange, transparency and process efficiency across the terminal.

“As we continue our investment in the digitization of our busy container terminal, we have chosen Portchain Quay to assist our teams in providing reliable real time berth planning and optimization. Portchain Quay will improve the planning process for both the terminal and our customers, providing intelligent real time updates to our planners and more accurate berth predictions for our customers. The initial feedback has been incredibly positive and we look forward to working with Portchain Quay to develop the solution further.”  Ross McKissock, Director of Unitised, Forth Ports.

“We are excited to collaborate with London Container Terminal to help them accelerate their digitization journey, while providing them with vessel ETA and port stay prediction tools to optimize their operations.” Thor Thorup, CCO & Co-Founder, Portchain

 20 January 2023                                                          – ends –

The Port of Dundee’s new road salt import and distribution hub is handling 70,000 tonnes of road salt this year for distribution to Scotland’s regional depots via Scotland’s east coast ports.

Forth Ports has imported millions of tonnes of road salt through the Ports of Leith and Rosyth over the past number of years and this new expansion at the Port of Dundee can accommodate and discharge the large, deep sea bulk transport vessels. The road salt is then loaded onto coastal ships for onward transport to Scotland’s smaller regional harbours and The Port of Aberdeen.

The MV Tina C vessel is a coastal ship which has been being loaded with over 5,000 tonnes of road salt in Dundee for delivery to Aberdeen where councils can then collect the road salt locally.

Road salt is a critical part of Scotland’s councils’ efforts to keep the roads safe throughout the winter period. Thousands of tonnes of road salt, provided by Transport Scotland, are used across the country to keep people and businesses moving when temperatures dip below freezing.

Having salt delivered in bulk to a central location for onward coastal shipping to local ports is a more environmentally friendly move as it significantly reduces the truck road miles and carbon emissions. The shipping of 5,000 tonnes of salt by sea removes approximately 180 vehicles from the road and eliminates 11,000 truck miles on a typical Dundee to Aberdeen route.

Commenting on the project, Kenny Williamson, Senior Sales and Commercial Manager for Forth Ports, said: “The Port of Dundee’s strategic geographical location is perfect for making it the distribution hub for this coastal shipping road salt project. The port can accommodate large bulk vessels (Handymax) with thousands of tonnes of salt and our logistics team manage the discharge, storage and coastal shuttle delivery service by ship to other ports as required. We are delivering to the smaller regional ports and the Port of Aberdeen by ship, which is significantly reducing road truck miles.”   

Shipments of road salt will be made this month to Scotland’s coastal ports to ensure that local council supplies are replenished.

11 January 2023                                 – ends –

The Port of Leith has become the first large mainland commercial port in Scotland to provide a shore power connection, reflecting Forth Ports’ commitment to reducing its own carbon footprint as well as that of its customers.

The Victoria 1, which is currently being provided by the Scottish Government to accommodate Ukrainian refugees, is the first vessel to receive this connection within the Imperial Dock in the Port of Leith. By switching to shore power, the vessel is now able to switch off all of its fossil fuel powered generators, and with Forth Ports’ electricity being provided through non fossil fuel generation, this is a significant step forward on the journey to net zero for the port.

The electrical network in the port has been extended and integrated to the vessel’s systems though a PSW Power & Automation shore power transformer. This setup is being further developed in the port’s Harbour Berth where it will be offered to offshore construction vessels which use Leith as their home port. This further expansion will be online later this month.

The Port of Leith is currently undergoing a major transformation to create Scotland’s largest renewable hub, including the development of a new deep water outer berth which will also be shore power enabled.

David Webster, Director of Energy at Forth Ports said: “As a business we are committed to reducing the emissions from our operations and we are encouraging shipping to do the same. This major civil engineering project to introduce shore power in Leith is a significant milestone for our business in Scotland and we are pleased that the Victoria 1 is now powered by mains electricity. We look forward to offering shore power to our other vessels visiting the port in 2023.”

Minister with special responsibility for refugees from Ukraine, Neil Gray, said: “Scotland has legislated for some of the world’s most ambitious climate change targets and we will be a net zero nation by 2045. This is a great example of business taking action that will benefit us all. We’re grateful for the work undertaken by Forth Ports to make this happen. The MS Victoria is providing safe accommodation for displaced people from Ukraine and it’s an added bonus that it is now powered by mains electricity.”

5 January 2023                                            – ends –

Generous employees at the Port of Tilbury have made a record donation of 122 gifts to Changing Pathways, just in time for Christmas. The business has been supporting the local charity for 10 years with people from across the port providing gifts for women and children to open at Christmas.

Changing Pathways are a domestic abuse charity who work across the areas of Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point, Rochford, Thurrock, Harlow and Epping Forest.  Changing Pathways provide free and confidential services to support people and their families who are currently experiencing or have previously experienced domestic abuse. They now have refuge accommodation for up to 46 women and their children and also 16 self-contained flats for women and children who are ready to move on from the refuge, or who have older male children.

Paul Dale, Asset and Site Director at the Port of Tilbury said: “The team at the port have again shown the strength of their generosity to Changing Pathways and I want to thank everyone who donated. This is a tough time for a lot of people and we hope that the gifts will bring some festive cheer this Christmas.”

Image: the presents under the tree at the Port of Tilbury’s port office before they were delivered to Changing Pathways.

22 December 2022                                         -Ends-

Sergeant Nigel Morgan from the Port of Tilbury Police, received his well-earned Long Service and Good Conduct Medal this week as he reaches a career milestone of 20 years of policing.

Nigel is a well-known face in the port and the local Tilbury area and has worked at The Port of Tilbury for the whole of his 20-year career so far. Joining the port in 2000, Nigel started work at the specialist Chill Store and then moved into a procurement role before joining the Port Police in 2002. Nigel was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2005, making him the youngest officer to be given the role.

Commenting on his medal award, Sergeant Morgan said: “I can honestly say the last 20 years have absolutely flown past, I have seen many things over those two decades, some extremely upsetting scenes and some absolutely wonderful things.  The skills that I have learned have allowed me to be in a position to have saved people’s lives both on and off duty. 

 “I have always been proud of my achievements and have always tried my best for the Police and for the Port every time I put my uniform on.  I have the best of both worlds. I joined the Police and also get to work in the Port which I love.”

Paul Dale, Asset & Site Director at The Port of Tilbury presented Nigel with his medal at an event at the port attended by Nigel’s close family and his Chief of Police, Matt Bass. Paul Dale said: “Congratulations to Nigel on this impressive two-decade career achievement. I have had the privilege of working with Nigel for a long time and he’s a valuable part of the police team.

 “At the Port of Tilbury, our police team provide a vital service for us both within the port and in the wider community and we are grateful to Nigel for all his hard work over the years.”

21 December 2022                          – ends –