Mersey Palm Oil Plant Go-ahead
Expect to see more tankers in the River Mersey carrying palm oil in the future as the Port of Liverpool will house a new palm oil plant.
London based New Britain Palm Oils has got the go-ahead to build the plant on a six-acre site near Regent Road, Bootle. Initially, 28 jobs will be created, with perhaps more to follow. New Britain will ship the oil from its plantations in Papua, New Guinea, to the Port of Liverpool, from where it will be transported to the new facility.
Palm Oil is used in thousands of everyday food and non-food products including:
- bread
- biscuits
- margarine
- cosmetic products
Norfolkline Mersey Schedule Unaffected
Ferry operator Norfolkline is to reduce services across its operations in moves to reduce costs due to the ongoing recession. The company is making and is withdrawing services from Heysham in Lancashire as well as the North Sea. The operators Merseyside sailings will not be affected and daily sailings from Twelve Quays to Belfast and Dublin will continue as usual. The company revealed last year that plans to invest millions on the routes from Birkenhead had been hit by the downturn, including the recession in Ireland and a huge backdated rates bill.
This week Norfolkline’s owner Maersk said drastic moves were necessary. Ferry division managing director Kell Robdrup said:
Discussions on the impact on staff are ongoing, but unfortunately it looks like it will be impossible to avoid redundancies in connection with this tonnage reshuffle.
The reduction of tonnage on the North Sea and Irish Sea is in line with our current initiatives to optimise our operations and adapting to the market. Through rationalisation of our resources, Norfolkline will remain competitive in the face of a difficult market situation.
Bauhinia In Mersey
I was lucky enough to be on a Mersey ferry just as the Bauhinia was being guided out of the River Mersey. As I mentioned the other day she’s the biggest ship seen in the Mersey and she was in the river at the same time as HMS Ark Royal.
Although the ship looks big in the photo, only seeing for real do you appreciate just how big the ship actually is. How much steel went into constructing the ship and moreso how much did it all cost?
Biggest Ship In Mersey Due Today
The BBC reports that the biggest ever ship to enter the Port of Liverpool is due to berth later today.
The Bauhinia, which weighs 158,000 gross tonnes, will berth in Tranmere Oil Terminal at 1500 GMT, carrying a cargo of crude oil from West Africa. The vessel is 8,000 tonnes heavier than previous record holder, the Nisa, which berthed into the River Mersey in 1988. Apparently the ship is not fully loaded because that would make it’s draught too deep for sailing up the Mersey.
Wine By Canal
In October 2007, Tesco became the first major retailer to start transporting wine by canal – the Manchester Ship Canal to be exact.
Barges are used to ferry bulk containers (holding 24,000 litres) of wine between Liverpool and Manchester along the Ship Canal that starts at Eastham, Wirral, where locks are used to seal off the tidal estuary of the River Mersey. Using the canal enables Tesco to take 50 lorries off the road every week, saving almost 700,000 road miles each year and cuts carbon emissions by 80%.
In Victorian times, wine from Europe would arrive at Liverpool in wooden barrels and be transported along Britain’s canal network. Today, the wine arriving by sea at Liverpool comes from Australia, California, Chile and Argentina.
The wine is transported along the 40 mile canal three times a week from Eastham to a bottling plant near Manchester.
Cammell Laird To Relaunch
One of the most famous names in world ship building – Cammell Laird – is to be relaunched.
John Syvret, a former apprentice at the yard, is the managing director of Northwestern Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders (website) and he is restoring the Cammell Laird name.
The Birkenhead based ship yard has seen many a ship launched in to the River Mersey since it’s humble beginnings as an iron works way back in 1824. Highlights include the launching of the Mauritania transatlantic liner in 1938. For a more complete history of the yard visit this page.
One of the first new ships the yard is to undertake is the construction of two supply tankers for the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Obviously the company is hoping to win additional contracts to ensure the longterm futures of the yard and it’s skilled workforce.
We wish them every success!