Port & Terminal News
Milestone masks disappointment
Wed, 9 Dec 2009
Teesport has handled over 100,000 containers in a year for the first time. The PD Ports-owned facility, located in the northeast of England, reached the milestone in November.
“We are delighted that in these difficult economic times our efforts have clearly out-performed the market,” said Frans Calje, PD Ports MD. “We are really proud of what has been achieved at Teesport this year. We expect to reach this benchmark earlier each year as we move forward.”
The news came as PD Ports’ ambitions to develop a major new northern European container hub were dealt a blow. PD Ports’ CEO David Robinson has met with the company’s new owner, Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, and said that the Northern Gateway development will be delayed for three to five years.
“With the container market as it is, plus the situation with the banking and finance markets too, I don’t see the Northern Gateway taking any significant shape for at least three years and possibly as long as five,” he told Lloyds List newspaper.
“But I do see it starting to progress within that time window. It is still on our agenda, but is in our longer-term thinking. Yes, we have a shareholder now who is capable of supporting the project, but we have got to find a market to support it as well.”
Despite the delay, the scale of the project remains unchanged but is likely to be built in phases according to demand from the shipping market.
“We are delighted that in these difficult economic times our efforts have clearly out-performed the market,” said Frans Calje, PD Ports MD. “We are really proud of what has been achieved at Teesport this year. We expect to reach this benchmark earlier each year as we move forward.”
The news came as PD Ports’ ambitions to develop a major new northern European container hub were dealt a blow. PD Ports’ CEO David Robinson has met with the company’s new owner, Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, and said that the Northern Gateway development will be delayed for three to five years.
“With the container market as it is, plus the situation with the banking and finance markets too, I don’t see the Northern Gateway taking any significant shape for at least three years and possibly as long as five,” he told Lloyds List newspaper.
“But I do see it starting to progress within that time window. It is still on our agenda, but is in our longer-term thinking. Yes, we have a shareholder now who is capable of supporting the project, but we have got to find a market to support it as well.”
Despite the delay, the scale of the project remains unchanged but is likely to be built in phases according to demand from the shipping market.
advertisement
