LOGISTICS
Vision – CEO Frans Calje OBE is keen to transform PD Ports for the challenges that lie ahead .
and history to our business . The first commercial railway that we know about – the Darlington to Stockton Railway – was established right here and , ultimately , became the business that we are today . “ We are continuing that legacy by operating our own dedicated rail terminal at PD Ports , opened in 2014 and now operating over 27 services a week that are offering frequent , cost-effective and environmentally sustainable solutions for our customers .”
Supporting more than 22,000 jobs in the wider supply chain , PD Ports is wholly committed to reaching carbon neutrality across all Tees-based operations within the next four years , continually striving to implement new innovations that demonstrate that the time to act is now .
Earlier this year , PD Ports also successfully collaborated on a project with partners GE Power , Teesside University and Connected Places Catapult on a ground-breaking research project with the aim of further reducing the port ’ s energy usage .
The project , funded by the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition and the Department for Transport , investigated the use of a cloud-based digital solution for managing energy usage and reducing costs and emissions that could be rolled out across the entire industry to reduce the impact of the maritime sector on the
“ Teesport is absolutely integral to the industrial base of the North-East . We are on the cusp of a new green industrial revolution and we couldn ’ t make that happen without the port .”
environment .
The company is also trialling alternative fuels across its fleet of mobile plant equipment including hydrotreated vegetable oil ( HVO ), which gives up to a significant 90 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions , as well as looking at converting on-site vehicles to run on electric power and installing charging stations across its Teesport site .
Sustainability is also at the heart of future developments at the port , with containerisation a key part of PD Ports ’ ambitious future vision .
“ If you had visited here 50 years ago , you will have seen that the Tees Valley was dominated by three major commodities , oil steel and chemicals ,” continued Frans .
“ We soon realised that , eventually , things were going to change , which is why we started the process of diversifying into container handling early .
“ That decision has enabled Teesport to become a major gateway for containers from across the world and forms the basis for future development plans to effectively triple the capacity of our site to handle not just containers , but far larger vessels than we currently can today .
“ This will be a huge boost to the economy because it will mean that global shippers can import their goods far closer to their end destination , rather than into congested ports in the south and then having to rely on road haulage to get the containers to Scotland and the north .” On a recent visit to Teesport , the assistant director of policy at the North East Chamber of Commerce , Rachel Anderson , also praised the efforts made so far by PD Ports in driving a surge in sustainable practice .
“ The foundations have been laid by our industrial forebears , but actually making sure that we maintain and improve on that infrastructure is vital ,” explained Rachel .
“ Teesport is absolutely integral to the industrial base of the North-East . We are on the cusp of a new green industrial revolution and we couldn ’ t make that happen without the port .”
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