Coals to Newcastle prove to be a winning formula
Apr 5 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal
THE Port of Tyne has beaten the cream of the world’s major maritime players to be crowned Port Operator of the Year.
It scooped the title at the prestigious Lloyd’s List Awards 2008, beating port giants including PSA International – the Port of Singapore Authority – APM Terminals of the Netherlands and the Port Said Port Authority from Egypt.
Keith Wilson, Port of Tyne managing director, said: “Lloyd’s List is renowned throughout the world as a benchmark for excellence within the maritime industry.
“We were just delighted to have been named as one of the finalists, especially when we saw the very high calibre of the ports we were up against, but winning reinforced just how far we have come and how successful our strategy and reinvestment programme has been.”
More than £100m has been invested in the port’s development in the past decade.
It is now able to accommodate larger vessels, such as the Jin He, a panamax vessel which arrived in February carrying almost 62,000 tonnes of coal from Murmansk in Russia – the biggest ever cargo brought up the river.
Bringing coals to Newcastle from Eastern Europe and the US for use in UK power stations is one of the port’s key growth areas, with the size of vessels entering the port effectively doubling in the last five years.
It has invested £30m over two years to develop its structure to cope with these massive ships.
Mr Wilson said: “We are now in the big ship class of port.
“That gives us a tremendous opportunity in the market place. Ships are getting bigger all the time and the ports that can’t handle the bigger ships will be left behind.”
The Lloyd’s List achievement comes shortly after the port was named the European Port of the Year for the second successive year by the Institute of Transport Management.
“This double achievement is fantastic news, not only for the port but for the wider regional community which benefits from the economic contribution of the river and port authority,” said Mr Wilson.
Six million tonnes of cargo came through the port last year, with the dry cargo tonnage, such as coal, doubling in two years. In addition to cargo, container handling, warehousing and distribution, it is also an international passenger terminal for ferries and cruise ships.
It is one of the 10 biggest car terminals in Europe, handling vehicles for Nissan and VW and also owns more than 600 acres of land north and south of the Tyne, housing 68 commercial and manufacturing tenants.
Mr Wilson spent most of yesterday showing the Lloyd’s List award to the port’s 450 staff. “It’s not my award – it’s everyone’s award,” he said.
