Forth Ports Limited, Scotland’s largest ports operator and owner of seven Scottish ports on the east coast, has today intimated to the Scottish Government that it will submit a proposal for a Green Port encompassing key ports, industrial complexes and logistics centres along the north and south shores of the Firth of Forth and at Edinburgh Airport.

The Scottish Government has invited expressions of interest for the creation of a Green Port, which is a large, zoned area with a defined boundary within which operators and businesses can benefit from a package of financial and customs incentives which can attract inward investment.

Subject to sight of the Scottish Government’s full Green Ports prospectus, Forth Ports, which has been a port operator for over 50 years, proposes that the Firth of Forth Green Port will encompass strategic locations along the Forth Estuary, including Grangemouth (home to Scotland’s Freight Hub and principal petrochemical cluster) and the Port of Leith, where Forth Ports announced in May that it plans to create a £40 million renewable energy hub.

Fife and the City of Edinburgh are also expected to feature in Forth Ports’ Green Ports bid. Forth Ports are currently evaluating sites in Fife along the North Shore of the Firth of Forth from Longannet to Rosyth. Edinburgh Airport is also expected to feature for its international connectivity. Each of these locations are uniquely placed to deliver on all of the objectives of the proposed Green Ports policy.

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PD Ports, owner and operator of Teesport, has secured a third long-term deal at its recently unveiled state-of-the-art bulks facility, accelerating future expansion plans due to demand from global manufacturers and shippers.

The UK major ports group signed a long-term contract with a third global customer to secure the remaining bays inside the 300,000 sq.ft. Teesport Bulks Terminal based on the port estate.

Opened during pandemic, the £9.2 million investment by PD Ports to renovate and refurbish the former Steel Export Terminal in to the modernised Teesport Bulks Terminal, marked an important milestone in the revival of the Tees Valley, continuing to boost trade, investment and creating 44 new direct jobs with a further 250 jobs in the wider supply chain.

This investment follows the £50M redevelopment of Teesport’s No. One Quay, supported by Regional Growth Funding, to enhance and expand rail-connected bulk handling facilities at Teesport.

Now, less than one year on, the Teesport Bulks Terminal is now planning to extend the facility further.

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Montrose Port Authority will this week stage the inaugural trials in the Project MediDrone initiative.

If successful, it could see drones become a common sight at ports and over the sea.

They could open up the opportunity for Covid-19 tests and other medical supplies to be delivered to and from vessels without them needing to dock or be boarded by harbour pilots.

Experts say the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could cut costs and improve safety and efficiency.

The medical use would further reduce risk of infection being brought back to shore and into the community.

The trials are being coordinated by London-based technology firm Neuron Innovations in partnership with ‘drone-in-a-box’ provider HEROTECH8 LTD and specialist insurance and risk management company, Flock.

The scheme has been funded by a UK government innovation grant.

Montrose is already at the centre of ambitious proposals for the UK’s first drone port.

It is linked to the £500 million Zero Four business development which could bring 2,000 new jobs to Angus.

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A grant has been issued by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Public, under its Green Deal initiative, in support of the first Dutch inland navigation barge powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The project, administered under the Dutch Green Deal for zero-emission shipping and ports, will not just be a flagship of the Dutch maritime hydrogen movement, but will likewise establish a backbone of maritime hydrogen refuelling options in both the Port of Rotterdam and the northern Netherlands Groningen Seaports.

The ‘Antonie’ will be a newly built inland navigation barge operated by Lenten Scheepvaart which will be responsible for transporting salt between the Port of Rotterdam and Groningen Seaports.

Therefore, this will connect two of the Netherlands largest hydrogen sources via inland waterways.

The charter will be issued by Nouryon, which will also be the hydrogen supplier, and contracted by the NPRC Cooperation with the fuel cell power system being provided by Koedood Marine Group.

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