North East and Tees Valley Water Freight Event Review – 6th February 2019
John Bourn, from the North East Regional Transport Team, welcomed guests to this second Water Freight event co-hosted by the North East, North of Tyne and Tees Valley Combined Authorities, and held in the impressive surroundings of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
The audience at the well-attended event included representatives from ports, terminal operators, hauliers, shippers, Local Authorities and trade associations. John explained that the North East Freight Partnership is the longest-running Freight Quality Partnership in the UK and the aim of this meeting was to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities facing the water freight sector in the region, with a particular focus on Brexit.
We heard presentations from a wide variety of speakers, comprising the Ports of Sunderland, Tyne, Antwerp and PD Ports, as well as reviews from P&O the shipping company and CILT regarding intelligent solutions for the freight industry. It was underlined that the maritime industry is of enormous economic importance – 80% of the world’s goods are moved by sea, with 5% using UK ports.
Andrew Oxby of PD Ports outlined the key economic role of Teesport, which supports over 3,500 jobs in the supply chain and has delivered more than £175m of investment in the last 8 years. He explained how they are preparing for Brexit by enhancing cargo storage capacity, preparing for disruption at the border, gaining Approved Economic Operator (AEO) accreditation and recruiting extra drivers. He stressed that ports around the UK are not cargo owners but they are doing everything possible to support their customers and to create the necessary capacity and resilience within the port infrastructure.
Nick Pank, the Head of Freight for P & O, outlined the issues around Brexit from a shipper’s viewpoint. He spoke about the challenges Brexit presents to shippers and the measures they are considering to mitigate its impacts.
Justin Atkin from Port of Antwerp highlighted the possibilities the Belgian Port offered for North East Ports and businesses post-Brexit. With a significant capacity of 15m TEUs, the port is primed to mitigate disruption caused at other ports by Brexit and, as it already has the UK as one of its top 5 markets, it is experienced in facilitating trade with this country. Incorporating 15 breakbulk terminals and 12 dry bulk terminals as well as liquid storage, Justin was keen to emphasize the wide ranging facilities at the port.
Tim Morris of the CILT spoke about how the use of technology could help to overcome some of the challenges ahead, helping to address problems of congestion and long delays for Customs clearance arising out of Brexit. He identified a number of issues for the future, including:
- Smart infrastructure
- Data security
- Automation
- Supply chain digitalisation
- Internet of Things
Tim outlined the potential role digitalisation could play in port operation and the cargo supply chain.
Nolan Gray from Port of Tyne and Matthew Hunt from Port of Sunderland both spoke about the role and history of their ports, their present operations and plans for future growth. Brexit does provide threats to supply chains but could also create opportunities to do things differently. There was a strong theme around looking to maximise the capacity of Northern ports while recognising the needs of the nation in terms of the quick flow of goods. Northern ports working together and continuing to invest was a strong narrative. Movement activity is generally down to the clients, the shipping companies and customers, but by investing in facilities, ports can make sure they are ready for any challenges and any opportunities that might arise if Brexit causes bottlenecks in and around Southern ports. In addition, by working collaboratively on big regional issues, more effective action can be taken.
One theme of the day was driver shortages, which were mentioned in more than one presentation highlighting the issues of an ageing workforce and reliance on drivers from other EU states. Solutions including non-attended loads and containerisation could help with driver availability but won’t entirely solve the problem. The North East Freight Partnership has a Skills Working Group operating which aims to discuss these concerns and help find solutions. if anyone would like to get involved in the group, please do get in touch.
New technology was also another theme. For example, the Port of Antwerp is looking at the deployment of drone technology to support port operations. A holistic look at systems will help. Combining automation in the shipping industry with automation on the highway network will start to have end to end journey time benefits. We do however need to improve interfaces and sharing of data as well as combining telecommunications and highways planning.
We also heard about the place of ports in the wider community. They are recognized for their key economic role as places to import / export and invest in, but also support wider society and much work has been done by the ports who attended on their CSRs.
Thank you to all those who attended the event. The presentations from the various ports and from the CILT accompany this note.