This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Container hub site for Scotland
13/10/2003
Developing a container hub in Scotland
where large ships could berth and offload cargo onto
smaller vessels could bring wide ranging benefits,
Transport Minister Nicol Stephen said today.
Mr Stephen today met with local
representatives and visited the proposed container hub site
at Hunterston in Ayrshire.
The feasibility of establishing
international container transhipment hubs is being
investigated at Hunterston and Scapa Flow in Orkney, with
the respective Enterprise bodies and local authorities
assisting the process. Container transhipment involves a
range of different markets that the Scottish projects can
explore.
Mr Stephen said:
"A viable and sustainable hub port
terminal in Ayrshire would provide an economic boost for
the local economy and Scotland as a whole.
"It is encouraging that the results of
the feasibility study have allowed the project partners to
move to the next stage of development. I am pleased to be
here to visit the Hunterston site to hear more about
Clydeport's plans for this facility.
"A number of sites in the UK and
Europe are considering such developments in light of the
expected growth in container transhipment. Scotland has
natural geographic and deep water advantages that would be
ideal for handling large ships as part of the growing
international market.
"We want a safe, successful and
sustainable ports sector in Scotland.
Through the Partnership Agreement we are
committed to considering how best to support the
development of international container hub ports in
Scotland."
The concept at Hunterston is for a hub port for large
"megaships" serving key intercontinental sea
routes. This reflects ship size trebling over the
past decade or so placing increased pressure on existing
port infrastructure.
With container traffic doubling every 15
years and scope for further growth as more bulk cargoes are
containerised, new deep water port capacity is required as
trade grows and ship size increases.
Transhipment involves breaking bulk cargoes
and then transporting them in smaller feeder ships.
The interest shown in Hunterston andScapa Flowfor this type of hub port reflects the capacity
constraints in major western European ports such asRotterdamandAntwerp. In addition to the Scottish bids there is likely to
be interest from otherUKand European ports in establishing container
transhipment facilities. There are several
proposals in the
UK, includingDibdenBaynearSouthampton, and there are potential developments at existing
ports inEuropesuch as the Eurogate terminals inBremerhavenandHamburg.
The Minister visited the proposedScapa Flowsite in August. Highlands and Islands
Enterprise (HIE),
Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and Orkney
Enterprise are taking the project forward, forming the
Scapa Containerport Steering Group to manage the
project.