ABP Port Manager Grimsby & Immingham Mike Sellers with the new crane
Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Immingham has seen its fleet of cranes expand with the addition of a brand new machine worth £2 million.
The crane, a Terex / Gottwald HMK 170 EG, was shipped over to Immingham direct from the Gottwald factory in Dusseldorf, Germany, to be used for a wide variety of cargoes, as ABP Port Manager for Grimsby & Immingham Mike Sellers explains.
“The new crane will be used to move anything from bulk cargoes to hook work and everything in between, ” said Mike. “We’ve recently secured new soda ash business which created a requirement for additional equipment, plus this crane is slightly smaller than some of the others in the existing fleet, which means it can be moved around the port estate and the quaysides more easily.
“It’s essential that we make efforts to continually improve efficiency in order to ensure our operations and those of our customers remain competitive and that Immingham is allowed to develop and grow.
“This latest purchase, which forms part of our planned programme of ongoing investment, means the port will continue to thrive and support local jobs.”
The new crane is 50 metres high and weighs approximately 280 tonnes. It took four days to reach Immingham by sea and has now joined the rest of the Immingham fleet of 18 machines which is worth around £50 million.
Immingham is the UK’s busiest port by tonnage which, along with the three other Humber ports, contributes around £1.5 billion to the regional economy and supports 14, 000 jobs in the area.
ABP is the UK’s leading ports operator with 21 ports and other transport related businesses creating a unique national network capable of handling a vast array of cargo.
Around one quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade passes through ABP’s Statutory Harbour Areas. ABP contributes £5.6 billion to the UK economy every year and supports 84, 000 jobs. Our current investment programme promises to deliver an extra £1.75 billion for the economy every year.
ABP…
- · Handled over 1.5 million vehicles in 2013.
- · Generates around one quarter of the UK’s rail freight
- · Has 1.4 million square metres of covered storage
- · Has 1000 hectares of open storage
- · Handled 119m tonnes of cargo in 2013
- · Owns 5000 hectares of port estate
- · Has 87km of quay
Over the next five years, ABP is investing over £650 million in a wide range of major projects across the group.
ABP Humber
The four ports of Grimsby, Immingham, Hull and Goole handle more than 65 million tonnes of cargo between them each year.
Grimsby and Immingham form the UK’s busiest trading gateway and move around 54 million tonnes of cargo per annum.
£75 million is currently being invested in the biomass handling terminal in Immingham, in a Humber-wide agreement with Drax Power Ltd that has seen £25 million invested in a biomass handling facility in Hull. The Immingham Renewable Fuels Terminal will handle sustainable biomass shipments and will create over 100 permanent jobs once complete. The construction phase has also created 100 employment opportunities.
The Port of Hull handles 10 million tonnes of cargo per annum and is the is the focal point for the development of the UK’s largest offshore wind turbine construction, assembly, and service facility, which will be located on the Port’s Alexandra Dock. This new facility, coupled with a new rotor blade manufacturing base near Paull to the east of the port estate, represents a £310 million investment and could create up to 1000 direct jobs.
The Grimsby River Terminal represents an investment of £26 million and allows large car-carrying ships to berth outside the Port’s lock system. This development confirms the Port’s position as the UK’s leading automotive handling facility.
More than the equivalent of 1million teus (twenty foot equivalent unit) of unitised trade is shipped through ABP Humber ports.
Ro-ro and container traffic represents more than 30 sailings a week to Europe, Scandinavia the Baltic and beyond.
The Humber ports handle more than 70 freight train movements per day.
Goole is situated 50 miles upriver and is the UK’s premier inland port. It handles over two million tonnes of cargo annually.
