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Progress for Northern Gateway Container Terminal
01 Oct 2007
A major obstacle to the development of PD Ports' proposed Northern Gateway Container Terminal (NGCT) at Teesport UK was removed last month when agreement was reached with Hutchison Ports (UK) regarding rail freight network capacity.
Hutchison had stood as the only objector to PD Ports' application for a Harbour Revision Order (HRO) based on its concerns that rail freight demand generated by NGCT would overload the East Coast Main Line, also used by Hutchison ports to the south. Following discussions between the two companies PD Ports has addressed Hutchison's concerns by agreeing to contribute to upgrades of the East Coast Main Line and diversionary routes. Accordingly, Hutchison removed its objection to the NGCT HRO application, which had it stood could have necessitated a public inquiry before the Department for Transport (DfT).
PD Ports CEO David Robinson welcomed the development saying, 'This is a major step forward for us and Northern shippers. We will now work with the DfT, which has already confirmed the withdrawal to the last objection, to enable the Minister to make an early decision. We are confident the Minister will give PD Ports the final approval needed. We already have the unanimous approval of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council regarding the plans for the land based elements of NGCT.'
The proposed £300m NGCT project would create a new deep sea container terminal on the riverside at Teesdock, Redcar. The would be 1km of riverside quay with berthing pockets dredged to 16m and the approach channel to 14.5m. The terminal will feature three berths capable of handling 8,000 TEU containerships.
Existing short sea container operations at Teesport will be reorganised to maintain a capacity for 300,000 TEU by expanding the recently developed Teesport Container Terminal 2 with new storage areas, additional cranage and related capital expenditure.
The anticipated build time for NGCT Phase 1 is two to three years from the receipt of full and final approval. When fully operational, NGCT will provide 1.5m TEU deep sea capacity to add to existing short sea capacity.
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