The Port of Tyne’s container terminal originally opened in 1991 to service the needs of the North of England supply chain.
Almost 30 years on the Port’s container terminal handles everything from manufacturing parts for Nissan, Komatsu and Hitachi to 30% of the UK’s tea, wine, clothing, and consumer goods, to furniture, machinery and recovered materials.
Growth of almost 25% in container volumes in the past five years has seen the Port invest £2 million in extending its 20 acre container terminal. Reconfiguring the layout, repositioning the weighbridge and extending its capacity by 40% to almost 70,000 square metres.
Matt Beeton, Port of Tyne Chief Executive Officer, said:
“This marks a new era in transformation for the Port of Tyne, helping global shippers to transport cargo more efficiently to their destination and ensuring we continue to service a growing customer base in the North East, North West and Scotland.
“Container shipping through the Port of Tyne avoids congestion in the south and unnecessary road miles reducing carbon emissions by as much as 80% for some of our customers as well as saving time and money.”
The £2 million extension was officially opened by The Hon. James Ramsbotham CBE, Chief Executive of The North East England Chamber of Commerce.
“Investing in multimodal connectively is so important for the northern economy, I am delighted to officially declare the new ‘Tyne Container Terminal’ open for business, and it will provide a state-of-the-art gateway for importers and exporters with road, rail and deep-sea connections linking directly to the heart of the UK mainland,”
said James.
The extended deep-sea facility will complement the existing port services and has the annual capacity to handle a throughput of around 100,000k TEUs*.
The Port recently announced it has secured Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status, an internationally recognised quality mark that simplifies and speeds up customs procedures for goods traded outside of the European Union.
Almost 90% of non-bulk products are shipped in containers and the Port of Tyne’s regular container connections operated by BG Freight Line and Unifeeder provide direct connections from the Port at South Shields (GBSSH) to the ports of Felixstowe and Rotterdam and from there the rest of the world.
The container extension was completed in just under six months by Seymour Civil Engineering Contractors Ltd based in Hartlepool.
