River Tees looks to a green future

Rob Turnball of AV Dawson explains that these plans include catering for a wider range of offshore industries, ‘For example we are looking at servicing vessels carrying new wind farm turbines, and although the 1,000m of quay currently has a dredged depth of 6m with the tide, the AV Dawson facility is looking at depths of 8.5m.’

‘We are looking three or four years in advance. A proportion of the wind farm manufacturing facilities look like being located on the UK’s north east coast, and this means catering for the bigger end of the service vessels.’

However, putting in the extra depth means certain questions have to be answered first. Richard Chambers, now a consultant, was present two decades ago when the offshore rig construction industry was at its height on the Tees.

His knowledge is coming in handy, as he explains, ‘I worked on both sides of the river for what was then Redpath and Cleveland Offshore firms. Although the quays have seen very heavy industry, it came in by barge and only needed 3m to 4m of depth. Now the current Dawson facility and its opposite number on the other shore, the Wilton Group, are looking at the larger vessels, and we need to see if the quays need modification before both sides can go ahead.’

Despite this, AV Dawson’s is an ideal distribution point for freight and the proposed new depth appeals to a much wider range of industries, including the other renewables sectors. The company has just invested in a new Gottwald mobile harbour crane.

The €2m harbour crane has a 19 cu/m grab and will increase the efficiency of discharging certain products by 200%. The crane is ideal for moving products with high volume and low weight, and as well as grain, the company is targeting supply chains. ‘Through our investment in the Gottwald harbour crane we can now offer clients in the bio-fuels and bio-mass supply chains the same efficiencies that our established client base enjoys,’ said AV Dawson MD Gary Dawson.