CasperCharteringcastoffwith Off-Roader
Casper Chartering Limited were very pleased to get their first cargo on the move with the barge Off-Roader, now operating with Casper and seen below on the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.
The cargo consisted of 349.50 tonnes of cement in 223 sealed dry bags. Sourced in Portugal, the cargo was transhipped at Kingsferry Wharf at Burton on Stather, a couple of miles up the river Trent from the Humber estuary. Both loading and unloading took three hours each, the single shipment by barge eliminating dozens of lorry loads to and from the port and on local roads, with the consequent saving of fuel and emissions.
The Off-Roader, skippered by Capt Sean Hewitt and his mate Harvey, supervised loading the draft being limited to 1.9m. The second voyage is scheduled to be captained by Matthew Baldock and mate (and father) Andy, accompanied by Neil Guest to gain knowledge of the trip for the future. They expect a similar amount will be carried whilst dredging works are underway, but once completed, they hope to be able to carry up to 550 tonnes per trip
Peter Buffam of Casper Shipping said that although it had been a hectic few weeks beforehand, he was grateful to CRT with their positive and proactive approach in getting the project underway, the infrastructure prepared and permits agreed in such a short timescale. He is also grateful to CBOA and our previous Chairman David Lowe for the positive guidance and support which has been of great assistance
As he concluded “We look forward to further close collaboration to make great economical use of our inland waterways with mutual benefit.”
Off-Roader losded with bagged cement seen just through Burton Ings Bridge, Swinton on the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (Maik Brown)
From the Chairman
Since my last report in the spring, it feels like a lot has changed, we have a new Labour Government with a strong mandate from a landslide election victory and increasing presence of water freight in discussions around sustainable freight transport. Yet at the same time not a lot of progress has yet been made, much of the first half of the year was a period of limbo with the looming question of when the general election would be called, followed by the inevitable period of purdah once it had been. The 4th July election result has at last given us political stability but being little over 100 days into a new government we are yet to really see how things will affect us in the waterways sector.
In fairness to the previous government several positive steps have already been made for water freight including the review of MSRS (Modal Shift Revenue Support). We await with interest to see how these are taken forward by the new government with the MSRS review paused for the election at a relatively key stage. Our initial discussions with civil servants in the post-election period have indicated, albeit tentatively, that there is reason to be positive about water freight and that the incoming government is supportive of the waterways sector and can see its potential for growth as much as was the case before the election, if not more.
How all this will pan out is yet to be seen. At the time of writing the October budget is looming large and perhaps we’ll get more of a feel for the government’s approach to transport infrastructure moving forward with announcements including the future of HS2 expected.
Whilst a positive outcome for water freight from the MSRS review will hopefully be good for supporting future freight transport, with the budget imminent I find myself wondering about the funding of waterways infrastructure itself, ensuring that inland waterways not only survive but are well maintained and usable. The IWA’s strong campaign to “Fund Britain’s Waterways” is fully supported by the CBOA.
Perhaps the most beneficial funding source from a CBOA perspective would be for DfT to play a role in the funding of the waterway infrastructure to support freight transportation alongside the existing funding from DEFRA. Looking at the 2023/24 DfT annual budget published in July, a small sliver of the £18bn Network Rail or £7bn National Highways budgets1 would make a huge difference to the waterways.
The breakdown of spending by mode given by the DfT in 23/24 lumps marine and aviation spend together and amounts to a (comparatively paltry) total of £666m, most of which funds the MCA rather than any infrastructure. This reflects our experience of discussions with DfT – there is some understanding of the potential for some easy wins and scope for growth in the sector from a very low base level. However, with a lack of a defined remit for waterway infrastructure there is currently little to no budget allocated specifically to waterways.
While quoting the unimaginably large numbers above it is of note that the total annual spend by CRT on planned engineering works (as listed in their 2024 Annual Report2) in the last year was £70m (approximately 1/10th of the DfT sector spend on aviation and maritime) so we are not looking at a lot of money to make a noticeable difference to the waterways. Perhaps in an ideal world the ~£20M decrease in annual grant to CRT from DEFRA would be the sort of money DfT could squeeze out of its budget. Far from giving the money to CRT this budget could be a fund specifically targeted at freight first waterway projects.
With a pot of money to allocate, DfT will automatically encourage a greater focus on water freight and hopefully an increase in freight volumes as a result. I could imagine a scenario where CRT bids for funding for projects which deliver a core freight component alongside other benefits to leisure users and wildlife alike, something which water is perhaps uniquely placed to deliver.
Projects could range from automation/centralised operation of locks and bridges on the Commercial waterways to provide safety benefits, more flexible operating hours, and free up staff resources, phased refurbishment of lock operating systems on the Aire & Calder Navigation to provide reliable operation into the future, or many other projects around the country. Rather than just being a fund for CRT I could also see such a fund benefiting operators for capital projects with support in provision or modernisation of wharfage facilities or perhaps support for CBOA members to invest in or modernise craft to be more energy efficient & sustainable to meet the demands of future traffics.
We’ll soon see what the budget brings and with it hopefully the trajectory for the coming year. Whatever the outcome as the new government continues to find its feet, we’ll continue to press the case for the needs of our members and the sector as a whole. Whilst for the time being we still have a lot more questions than answers I’m hopeful that come my next report in the spring we’ll have the signs of fair winds ahead.
References:
1. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a76c1949b9c0597fdb061a/dft-annual-report-2023-2024.pdf (pp18)
2. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/annual-report-and-accounts
Lee Wilshire
UK News
Railway track access charges waived
In a bid to encourage new traffic onto railways, track access charges will be waived in full for six months whilst new traffic is being established. Apparently, this can be worth up to £1000 for a round trip per train, depending on the length and loading of the train. Network Rail Directors/DfT are very aware of the price sensitive nature of haulage and so by bringing in the discount hope to encourage more freight to transfer to rail. Over 600 trains run every day on Britain’s rails carrying materials, products, finished goods and food.
CBOA officers are currently pursuing if similar discounts can be offered to start up traffics on the waterways. If in direct competition with rail in a proposed new traffic, water transport would be severely disadvantaged without a similar reduction. There is a line of thought in CBOA which is that the DFT should fund the CRT Commercial Waterways.
Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) – report on supply
CBOA Scotland Representative Jonathan Mosse has kindly provided the following report on HVO, from the HVO Joint Working Group, of which he is a member:
Activity on the sourcing and supply of HVO is currently the focus of the HVO Joint Working Group, made up from members of IWA, RYA, CA and British Marine who met on the 16th May.
The Group’s objective is to make ‘subsidised’ HVO readily available, at an affordable price to ALL recreational boaters and not just limited to the inland waterways – Cat A, B and non-tidal Cat C – as is currently the case. At present craft operating in tidal waters cannot benefit from Road Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) two of which are applied to every litre of HVO sold to qualifying craft. Their value varies but they are currently worth £0.17 each, so a litre of HVO effectively attracts a ‘subsidy’ of £0.34.
Volatility in pricing is a real concern and does nothing to encourage boatyards and marinas to stock the fuel. In April, the wholesale price of HVO was only £0.12 (12%) greater than gas oil (red diesel) per litre, today that differential is more like 50%. This is believed to be largely down to fluctuations in commodity markets as fuel prices themselves vary, alongside the raw materials (or feedstock) which are quite separately governed by the agricultural commodity market.
Manipulating the value of a RTFC would, in theory, represent a government ‘device’ for controlling this volatility but with their current low value there is limited room for (pricing) manoeuvre. Two years ago, a RTFC was worth £0.42 so, with an effective subsidy of £0.84 attached to each litre of HVO sold, there was ample room to make an external impact. Those in the fuel industry are therefore suggesting that the time has come to revisit the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 (HODA) – the Act that laid down our current fuel duty mechanisms: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/oils-technical-manual/hcoteg31000
The HVO Joint Working Group are currently building a case for RTFC application to all recreational boating demonstrating that the consumption of diesel fuel (and potentially, HVO should it be made affordable) is extremely small and will therefore have little effect on revenue for HMRC. In addition, we are pointing out that this sector has few other alternatives to decarbonising as the biofuels allocated to both the Coastal and Deep-Sea Maritime sectors are inappropriate for recreational boat users.
Furthermore, the sea-going recreational sector depends on reliable fuelling of their diesel engines, which may well still have a long life ahead of them, making scrapping an environmentally undesirable, unrealistic and an extremely expensive option. The emphasis on ‘reliable’ being a reference to problems with ‘diesel bug’ (and associated mechanical issues) exacerbated by the FAME content of mineral diesel on sale in marinas and boatyards.
HVO sold in the UK is currently supplied by Neste and manufactured in Rotterdam. It is shipped to Stanlow (supplying Crown Oil and its agents and subsidiaries) and to Dagenham from where it is distributed by Certas. It had been mooted that with the refinery element of Grangemouth closing down, Neste (or one of its competitors) should be encouraged to establish a UK HVO manufacturing plant on the site.
Finally, taking the bigger picture, the limiting of RTFC-eligibility to vessels plying Cat A, B and non-tidal Cat C waters is having a negative environmental impact on commercial carrying on the inland waterways, where many craft are transporting bulk cargoes, on tidal rivers into UK towns and cities, where air quality is at a premium. The rivers Thames and Medway being good examples as, indeed, could be the rivers Clyde and Tay.
Not only is HVO 90% carbon neutral, its NOx and particulate emissions are substantially reduced so there are consequently significant health benefits (apart from the obvious carbon reduction) to be gained where water-borne traffic interfaces with dense populations.
DfT tell us that they intend to put out a Call for Evidence around maritime biofuel use but as yet they have offered no time scales. To this end the Group’s energies are predominantly focused on establishing usage data and general fact gathering in the believe that further, individual approaches to the Department, will only be referred to this upcoming consultation process.
A new development (announced 16th May 2024) is that a green hydrogen plant is to be established at Grangemouth Refinery which is shortly to stop production and simply become a storage facility. In the Scottish Cross Party Group (for marine leisure and recreational tourism) we have been suggesting that Grangemouth – being well connected with the rest of the UK via rail and motorway on both east and west sides of the country – would make an excellent site for HVO production. This announcement goes more than halfway to achieving this, resulting in a product that is virtually 100% carbon neutral.
Regional News
Harland and Wolff barge build for Cory – update
Following on from the report on CBOA member Cory’s barge building order in CBOA News Autumn/Winter 2023, on June 14th Harland and Wolff were pleased to announce via their Facebook page the completion of the first Cory Group barge at their Arnish site in Scotland.
New barge Erne built for Cory (Harland and Wolff)
H&W reported that 8 have been completed at Belfast and 6 at Methil, of a total order of 33 for Cory. Albert Allan, General Manager of H&W, Arnish, said: “This ongoing project highlights our commitment to supporting UK industries and contributing to environmental sustainability.” This first barge constructed at Arnish, was named Erne after the Irish river, and Albert Allan was pleased that with modern Health and Safety procedures the build was incident and injury free, congratulating the team on an excellent job done, recognising the skill and dedication of the team bringing pride and quality into every build.
This project considerably assists UK economic growth by supporting the now much smaller UK shipbuilding industry with high quality local employment and with the provision of apprenticeships.
The barge will play a crucial role in Cory's operations, transporting non-recyclable waste via river and removing around 100,000 truck journeys from London's roads each year.
However, in September H&W Group Holdings plc was put into administration, but the 4 shipyards employing 1,500 people (Belfast, Appledore in Devon, Methil and Arnish in Scotland) are in separate operating companies so they can continue trading meanwhile, some with healthy order books Negotiations for the potential sale of the 4 yards to likely buyers is underway. There is discontent apparently about UK government grants of £300m being handed to India and China, whilst the UK government will not support British industry in this instance with a £200m loan guarantee. At the time of going to press the situation was that the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder Navantia was in exclusive talks to buy Harland & Wolff inclusive of the four yards.
In the past Harland and Wolff have built many canal and river craft, especially at the former Woolwich yard on the Thames, where many of the 186 pairs of steel and composite narrow boats were built for the Grand Union Carrying Company during 1935-7.
Terra Marique breaks more records as she delivers multiple loads on the River Dee.
Staffordshire-based specialist shipping company CBOA member Robert Wynn and Sons Ltd. have again been breaking new ground delivering multiple project cargoes via the River Dee to Shotton in Flintshire, North Wales.
Their unique heavy lift ro/ro barge Terra Marique has become the largest commercial vessel in well over 2 decades to transit the river Dee to Shotton through the iconic Flintshire Bridge.
In an operation that has been nearly 12 months in the planning the 80m x 16.5m barge, specifically designed to operate on inland waterways and offload without the need for significant onsite infrastructure, has successfully carried out 2 consecutive transits of the River Dee. Loading at the Port of Mostyn and offloading at the Mid-Way Berth constructed at the Corus Jetty, Shotton – the adjacent Shotton Mill site being the precious cargo’s final destination.
6 pieces, all carried by the Terra Marique earlier in the year in two shipments from Portland Port, were carried with a combined weight of 564t. The cargo was loaded at Mostyn onto a combination of specialist transport provider Allelys’ conventional trailers and SPMT’s for the transit down the Dee, and rolled off in an operation that took less than 60 minutes to complete. The timings on this project were critical as tidal flows on the fast-flowing River Dee restricted offloading windows to less than 90 minutes.
Working for Allelys Robert Wynn and Son’s engineers and crew lead a bespoke team assembled for their expertise and knowledge of the River Dee.
Terra Marique, upstream on the Dee under her own power (reproduced with the kind permission of Gavyn Chitty)
Robert Wynn & Sons Managing Director, Peter Wynn coordinated the operation and commented: “While the Terra Marique is purpose built for such operations, there are several factors unique to this project that has meant that detailed planning and collective working was required to successfully carry out such a complex operation. Our engineers, crew and those from Allelys, Marland Marine, Jenkins Marine, Natural Resources Wales, Port of Mostyn and the Dee Conservancy all worked tirelessly together to ensure this project was delivered as planned.
“These loads have been delivered to site without the need to travel on the public highway. Removing any inconvenience, economic or environmental cost to those locally in Flintshire. The Terra Marique has again proven that with careful planning, a willing client and navigation authority that many of the UK inland waterways can provide a viable and sustainable alternative to road transport for the largest and heaviest abnormal indivisible loads”.
Manchester Ship Canal heralded as the main transport artery in the north west
The Director of ZULU Associates, Antoon van Coillie said that the canal could become the main artery to move goods between Liverpool and Manchester and from hubs along the M6 and M60.
With the supply chain having an artificial centre of gravity towards the SE corner of the country, this results in insufficient rail capacity, congested roads, cargo delays, ineffective landside logistics and extra pollution caused by long, unnecessary road journeys. Importing goods closer to their end destination would reduce emissions from long-haul journeys and enhance efficiency by reducing congestion and transportation costs.
Antoon is advocating a modal shift from road to waterway, Liverpool being the seaport for onward destination to and from Manchester. In 2007 Tesco started to transport freight by canal; wine shipped from Australia, Chile and California was being unloaded at Liverpool on to a barge and ten hours and 40 miles later the wine reached Manchester. This process cut emissions by 80%, it also took 50 lorries per week off the road.
In March, Port Technology pointed out that the UK’s outdated practices lead to unnecessary costs, congestion and carbon emissions. 90% of deep-sea containerised cargo enters the UK via southern ports, despite 60% of these goods being destined for the north.
In 2011, Gary Hodgson, the managing director of the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Ship Canal reported that some 10,000 containers were being shipped down the canal – a service reaping benefits in terms of savings to consumers and the environment, thanks to the barges’ lower carbon emissions, although the traffic has since ceased. With the canal only taking 5% of container traffic handled by the port in Liverpool, there is considerable room for improvement. There are hopes that the canal will take up to 200,000 containers Antoon believes
Terra Marique, upstream on the Dee under her own power (reproduced with the kind permission of Gavyn Chitty)
Freight on Scottish inland waterways
We are grateful to Jonathan Mosse, CBOA Scotland Representative for the following comprehensive report: British Waterways – a Scottish Government quango trading as Scottish Canals – is the navigation authority responsible for the greatest mileage of inland waterways north of the Border.
Five navigations sit under its charge:
• The Monkland Canal – a Remaindered canal, little of which is in water, providing a popular, bank-based leisure resource.
• The Edinburgh & Glasgow Union Canal – a 32-mile Cruiseway and, at a maximum stated depth of 3’ 6”, of little potential commercial use.
• The Forth & Clyde Canal – a 34-mile Cruiseway, now with a recommended draught of 4’ 10”, also currently showing little potential commercial value (apart from licence income from transiting craft).
• The Crinan Canal – a 9-mile Commercial waterway providing an all-weather ‘short cut’ avoiding a potentially stormy 130-mile passage around the exposed Mull of Kintyre.
• The Caledonian Canal – a 59-mile Commercial navigation, following the Great Glen from Scotland’s east to west coast.
Clearly the Monkland Canal no longer has anything to offer as a through navigation, although originally running from the Airdie coalfields into Glasgow and beyond. The Union Canal is a valuable leisure resource, used by the 19-boat hire fleet based below the Falkirk Wheel but with stretches closer to 2’ 6” in depth, it is now a long way from its original carrying potential.
Millennium funding provided £100 million to reopen the Lowland Canals (£18 million short of the required sum) and considerable rationale for this spend was placed on re-establishing the Forth & Clyde Canal as a transit route for blue-water leisure boats moving from the east to west coast and vice versa.
In the early days annual transits were numbered in three figures, last year the total was four and this year (2024) it has dropped to two. Lack of depth (originally restored at 6’ 0”) is largely to blame, alongside weed growth which, in past years, has been allowed to get out of control. This is something that is totally incompatible with sea-going, raw-water-cooled vessels.
The 16-mile summit pound provides access to Glasgow via a 2½-mile branch and is accessed by two 20-lock flights at both its east and western extremities. In both cases some of these locks are life-expired, with Scottish Canals’ 2019 Asset Management Strategy suggesting that the length containing the western flight (Locks 21-40) might be relegated to Remaindered status. More recent information suggests that it is doubtful whether there will be further capital spend on this failing section of the navigation in the foreseeable future.
The only commercial slant on the two Lowland Canals is the hire boat operation for which Scottish Canals are the franchisees to Black Prince, ABC Leisure and Marine Cruises. A week’s hire can realistically embrace two out of the three potential destinations of Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Kelpies: the former making use of the Falkirk Wheel and the latter Locks 2 – 16 which are currently not all operable. Consequently, the only commercial use of the Lowland Canals is already seriously compromised.
Hire boat trips to Bowling – requiring a 14-day hire – are not encouraged as all the locks are operated by bank staff being too dangerous for the inexperienced boater to operate (no ground paddles, large gate paddles and, without by-washes, considerable volumes of water constantly weiring over the top gates throughout the year).
After a considerable spend on lock gate replacement, works on the Crinan Canal are nearing completion, making it once again a viable commercial waterway for working craft of up to 80’ x 20’ (9’ 6” fresh water draught) and a popular passage for the larger, fixed keel, blue-water vessels. The 13 locks are boater-operated, although a ‘pilot’ can be hired. The perennial shortcoming of the navigation is water shortage to the top pound during the summer months.
Ardrishaig, on the east end of the navigation (where it opens into Loch Gilp and Loch Fyne) is an inland port accommodating sea-going vessels of up to 95 metres and almost exclusively handles outgoing, roundwood timber cargoes harvested from local forests. This can be complimented by mobile jetties floated into position along the Loch shoreline where individual harvesting operations are taking place.
The timber business generally, out of Ardrishaig is returning to levels similar to pre-COVID and Scottish Canals anticipate around £100k of freight through the port this financial year.
Finally, the Caledonian (or Caley) is the grandaddy of them all! No UK canal is more dramatic in the scenery it embraces than this SW–NE-running navigation, diagonally connecting Scotland’s two shores, providing passage for sea-going vessels. Made up of three lochs, linked by four canal sections totalling 22 miles, and running along a geological fault line, the mountainous scenery is unforgettable, while the waterway’s commercial potential is considerable.
Commercial through traffic has dwindled over the last 10 to 15 years but with at least three hire companies based on the waterway, alongside extensive trip boat opportunities, its leisure use is undiminished. Maximum dimensions are 150’ x 35’ with a fresh water draught of 13’ 6” and an air draught of 89’ 7” (119’ for a purely inland passage) under the Kessock Bridge in the Beauly Firth.
Logs arriving at Ardcastle Pier (JST Ltd)
More recently, pumped hydro scheme (PHS) projects are being developed on loch sections of the waterway and there are now at least three in progress, one at Coire Glas, one at Loch Kemp and another called Loch na Creachan (formerly Red John). Scottish Canals expect to be involved in each at different levels and on different timescales.
Scottish Canals are unable to give any more substantial detail and I suspect they don’t have a real grasp of waterways freight and what is entailed. I have also established that there is no-one with sole responsibility for freight at Scottish Canals and it currently sits within the bailiwick of Customer Experience and Delivery!
Further details can be gleaned from the following websites: https://lochkempstorage.co.uk/ https://www.statkraft.co.uk/what-we-do/hydropower/ https://www.coireglas.com/
This article provides further, general insight but at the moment it’s about as much as Scottish Canals can provide by way of information:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/business/24087147.new-future-beckons-scotlands-historic-canals/
Working systematically, clockwise around Scotland’s coastline, looking at commercial inland freight opportunities, the obvious starting point is the River Clyde, which comes under the jurisdiction of Peel Ports as the navigation and harbour authority. Whilst there is regular sea-going traffic coming up to a petroleum wharf at Clydebank, and loading and unloading mixed cargoes (majoring on scrap and aggregates) in and around King George V Dock on the west of the city of Glasgow, there is a complete dearth of commercial inland freight carried on the river. This is despite it being flanked on either bank by busy motorways and often-choked dual carriageways.
CBOA has twice emailed two key players in the freight scene local to the Clyde with well-established businesses, primarily moving timber in the Clyde Estuary from difficult to reach and Island locations. On both occasions we have not had a reply, which raises several key questions worthy of further investigation. We have also instigated conversations with Strathclyde University and the Clyde Docks Preservation Initiative around ways to promote inland freight on the river.
A one-off Abnormal Indivisible Load (AIL) was recently transported on the river. As reported previously Robert Wynn’s specialist barge Terra Marique successfully moved a transformer (190 tonnes) and its trailer totalling 350 tonnes from Rothesay Dock, Clydebank to King George V Dock, Glasgow on 23/04/23 for onward transport to Paisley.
The transformer had been sitting at Windyhill Substation, Bearsden for 15 years as a backup and was being replaced by a larger output device. Whilst it had come in by road, subsequent restrictions imposed on the Clyde bridges by the Highways Authority had meant that using the river was now the only option.
Whilst several ports north of the Clyde handle ferry traffic to the Western Isles, together with seagoing cargo vessels, there are few inland freight opportunities apart from the sea lochs running north/south out of the river itself. So, continuing in an anticlockwise arc we reach Dundee, the River Tay and Perth Harbour.
Perth Harbour is owned by Perth and Kinross Council and they have decided that they no longer want its financial burden and are therefore looking for ways to get rid of it.
Calmac are the Competent Harbour Authority (costing the council a six-figure sum annually) and Calport lease most of the warehouses and some of the adjacent industrial buildings from the local authority. They have majored on importing fish meal and other animal feeds in the past, brought in by coaster. Traffic has, over the last year dwindled to nothing, dredging in the River Tay has fallen into abeyance and a sand bar has built up across half the harbour mouth, restricting vessel access.
Speaking to Ross Howie, current director of Calport, it seems that he is currently in talks with the council along the lines of how closing the harbour could well turn out to be the most expensive option. The buildings he currently leases have little value without a functioning port and he has pointed out that a Harbour Closure (or Revision) Order is both hard to come by and time consuming to achieve.
There is clearly potential for barge traffic carrying a range of bulk materials off-loaded in the Tay Estuary at Dundee from deep sea vessels (as well as a continuation of the previous coastal trade) putting this port within the remit of CBOA. This could, for instance, mimic the Aggregate Industries (AI) virtual quarry on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary.
Together with Hull, Dundee is probably the only other significant port that the self-unloading, AI vessels from Glensanda Quarry don’t currently serve. Ross Howie would be prepared to put in a readymix plant if there was viable aggregate traffic, although Tillicoultry Quarries do have a plant, riverside, immediately upstream of the harbour.
Altogether the position regarding Perth Harbour and the River Tay is about as dismal as the picture generated by a look at the River Clyde and its wasted inland freight-carrying potential.
Moving south we soon come to the Firth of Forth which, as far as seagoing operations are concerned, is very active with the import of LPG and other petroleum products arriving to supply the Grangemouth refinery, alongside general cargoes bound for Grangemouth Dock. Although production at the refinery is scheduled to close in 2025, it will remain as a storage facility with product delivered by pipeline from both Scotland’s west coast alongside more local sources.
Across the river, Rosyth is a busy shipyard with naval contracts but little or no inland waterways traffic is generated by activity on either the north or south sides of the Firth, despite an AIL recently demonstrating the potential.
Again, Robert Wynn’s specialist barge Terra Marique successfully moved AILs composed of two sections of an Air Products oxygen plant from Rosyth Docks to IO Glass at Alloa on 03/05/23 and 06/05/23 respectively. There were three more loads moved in the course of May around suitable tide windows and weather conditions.
The plant was too large to be moved by road so it was divided into five loads for onward transport by barge west up the Firth of Forth. The challenge lay in the two fixed bridges at Kincardine: the Kincardine Bridge (once a swing bridge but fixed closed in 1988) and the more recently constructed (and fixed) Clackmannanshire Bridge.
Tide windows had had to be carefully selected to provide sufficient draught under the vessel, together with sufficient air draught above, taking account of the vessel’s loaded and unloaded draught and the changing water levels between passages up and down river. The operation was conducted within one tide cycle with RO-RO off-loading at the riverside IO factory, four miles or so upstream of the bridges, taking approximately 2½ hours for the first load and an hour or so less for the second.
From this by no means complete account, it is fairly obvious that Scotland’s inland waterways hold tremendous freight-carrying potential, little of which is currently being realized As an easy means of stemming the tide of the effects of global warming, and a pillar in any transport initiative around achieving 2050’s net zero targets, it can provide an easy win, embracing the minimum of capital expenditure.
North East report
We are grateful to David Lowe for providing the following summary of activity in the North East:
Our members based in the Humber area continue to be busy; Mainmast tankers are making short distance movements in Hull docks, while continuing to run up to Rotherham for Exol Lubricants on a regular basis - though long concurrent stoppages have closed the South Yorkshire Navigation until 20th December.
John Dean moved around 5000 tonnes of stone on the lower River Trent for a construction project at West Butterwick. Loading at Grove Port these were the first cargos for the 500 tonner Battlestone since acquisition by Deans Marine Services of Hull.
Casper River & Canal Transport's Off Roader has made two loaded trips up to AMA Rotherham with bagged cement, plus a trial movement in ballast up to a new wharf being refurbished in Leeds.
Humber Barges Ltd's Fusedale H has been upgraded, re-painted and put back into commission ready for work in the new year.
A traffic in aggregate from the new Birkwood quarry (Wakefield Branch, Aire & Calder) up to Knostrop Depot, Leeds, is also expected to start in January.
The Airedale Barge Co's 1929 built 57ft narrow boat Apollo departed Leeds after a spell there and crossed the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in October to start work as a fuel delivery boat, working with Ariel for the Midlands & Coast Canal Carrying Co at Preston Brook.
In the press
Chips via the Wash
In June, the Guardian printed an article about the restored 42ft Wash fishing smack Victorious, carrying potatoes from the Foss Dyke to Eric’s Fish and Chips at King’s Lynn for making chips. The romance of the sailing days abounded in the writing, whether fair weather or foul; not to mention the lore – and reality – of the fast appearing and disappearing thinly-submerged sandbanks, and likewise the mysterious appearing and disappearing mirages over the Wash and views of land
Nevertheless, the objective was a carbon neutral transport method, avoiding the usual long journey by road. The crew apparently were well qualified with experienced from several professional sea sailing backgrounds. This kind of voyage gives visitors and people involved first-hand experience of carriage of freight on these vessels and as a means of continuing their usefulness.
One aspect not highlighted by the editor was the benefit of both sea and inland water transport and how this might be developed into a more regular useful service both here and elsewhere. Goods could be taken further inland to other destinations if transhipped direct from the sailing barge. This might be feasible even if the traffic was irregular. In the past short coastal routes were very common for getting freight out to sea, along the coast and inland again to destination.
The ill-fated Nicaragua Canal
In an attempt to end shipping chaos on the crowded Panama Canal, as reported by the Express in May, this canal scheme as proposed would be using the inland Lake Nicaragua to reduce the canal construction length by up to a half, but still would have cost a massive £32 billion
Back in colonial times a scheme was proposed by using the San Juan River to access the lake, locks being required on each side accessing the seas. As reported, in the early 20th century the United States decided against building the canal after acquiring the French interests and rights for studies in the project.
In 2013, the Nicaraguan government granted a 50-year concession to a consortium led by a Chinese businessman to finance and manage the project. The claim by the government was that it would transform global shipping with a second linking of the two oceans, boosting of economy and providing tens of thousands of jobs for local people.
However, there has been considerable opposition, both on environmental grounds and that an estimated 120,000 people in rural families would be displaced. Apparently, the backlash was sufficient to have the project cancelled in May this year
Overseas News
Port of Rotterdam freight down
Dry bulk freight was down by 4.5% in the first quarter of this year, due mainly to reduction of coal throughput, amounting to two million tonnes less. This was thought to be due to the reduction of electric power generation from coal. However, imports of iron ore increased owing to the German steelmaking industry picking up. Container freight increased by 3.3%, but nearly 25% fewer ships meaning a 13.7% reduction in freight from Asia due to the situation in the Red Sea.
Port of Rotterdam’s green future
The Port of Rotterdam has a goal of being CO2 neutral by 2050. They intend to do this in a number of ways, one of which is by taking CO2 from industrial companies in the port of Rotterdam and storing it in empty gas fields under the North Sea. 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 Will be captured and stored annually, commencing 2026. Another is a scheme for a hydrogen pipeline construction between the Netherlands ports and the German Rhineland.
Europe’s largest green hydrogen plant is underway at the Maasvlakte conversion park. With a 200 MW electrolyser, the port will be able to produce 60,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day from 2025 onwards.
Hydrogen imports by pressure vessel tanker ship are also being planned.
Samskip engaged in biofuel vessels
Samskip hopes to launch two more biofuel-powered ships. The company is also seriously considering a battery-powered river barge, which they hope to sail between Nijmegen and Hull in 2027, as reported by the Porter Rotterdam. Samskip is looking at and evaluating all alternatives to road transport Including barge transportation using biofuels, shore power or carbon capture where possible. The company intends to make its transport as green as possible.
ZULU zero emission barge development
ZULU Associates have reported to CBOA News that they are developing zero emission inland barges. The main challenge is to be competitive versus fossil fuelled barges as alternative energy carriers are more expensive; the solution is to make the alternatives more efficient. ZULU were recently finalising the hydrodynamic model tank testing of the X barge at Flanders Hydraulics Research, Antwerp, Belgium, where this is showing that the barge will consume far less energy than existing barges for same speed and cargo capacity.
By achieving this, ZULU can use non fossil fuel propulsion and still be price competitive with existing barges, therefore making zero emission barging commercially possible, the company reports. ZULU expect the first barges to be in the water at the end of next year.
Last December, ZULU revealed the concept design of its groundbreaking 200 TEU short sea container vessel, the ZULU MASS, featuring an auxiliary wind assistance system. This vessel is a larger seagoing development of the inland waterways 90 TEU X-Barge, produced by Dutch ship naval architects Conoship International.
Zulu Associates CEO Antoon Van Coillie said he and the team were delighted to be working with Conoship International who share their passion for innovation in producing a fully electric and autonomous barge, also adding wind blades and examining the benefits of wave foil propulsion. He confirmed the designers are looking for the vessel to operate with modular energy containers using batteries and/or hydrogen-based power systems to provide the prime energy sources.
“Autonomy is still in its infancy but we want to show what is possible and support the process of regulation keeping pace with innovation,” Antoon said. “As a result, the Zulu MASS is designed from the outset to be unmanned as a part of a Maritime Autonomy System, which will allow it to compete with fossil fuelled or hybrid vessels.”
ZULU Associates is active as an initiator, developer and operator of innovations in the marine component of logistic chains. Its goal is to enable zero emission operation of commercial vessels on inland waterways, short sea and coastal routes through autonomous operation and alternative propulsion. For more information see https://www.zulu-associates.com/
Blue Line Logistics nv
Antoon Van Coillie is also a Director of Blue Line Logistics Nv, which was founded 6 years ago to develop the Pallet Shuttle Barge. The Pallet Shuttle Barge was developed to make waterway freight as simple as road freight; on board there is one crew member and all goods are stored on deck which can be loaded/unloaded safely and efficiently via the onboard crane.
In a question-and-answer session with Peel Ports Group about how the great success of the transport model of barging materials on the inland waterways in the Netherlands can be replicated in the North West of the UK, as reported on page 7 Antoon replied that he sees the Manchester Ship Canal as the artery for moving goods between Liverpool and Manchester and from hubs along the M6 and M60.
Antoon said “it is a low carbon solution to deliver products directly into the North West and avoid road miles – helping businesses reduce on their transport costs and carbon emissions. All palletised goods, bagged goods as well as roll or hooklift-containers can be barged. In the past we have also moved cars and heavy or oversized transport goods. We are now starting to implement urban logistics where waterways go into the centre of towns by moving urban delivery bikes, urban containers and vans”
With regular barge traffic flows, given 3 days’ notice of a shipment need, they can execute this within their planning, based on the longer-term contracts.
The testing team! Antoon is to the right (ZULU Associates)
Overhead view of the test tank model (Zulu Associates)
The key benefits of using this logistics model include:
• Reduction of road congestion
• It reduces emissions as the barges have engines comparable to trucks, but carry 10 to 12 times the amount of freight; they are working towards a further reduction of emissions by developing alternative propulsion methods (e.g. H2, batteries) in the near future.
• ETA’s are known and achieved
• The system is far more robust (less chance of an accident that blocks the flows); moreover, it can always be supplemented by road freight if demand is high
• It is cost effective and competitive versus road freight
• For loads in excess of truck size the inbound/outbound procedures are simplified.
River Ganges transport
Outside the summer monsoon season, the Ganges in India is at a low level and in some wide stretches there is less than a metre of depth, with shifting sandbanks making it difficult for helmsmen even when lightly loaded A pilot boat ahead in these places is used to find the deeper water. Although considered as India’s river, further east it flows through Bangladesh, so making the navigation continue instead into the distributary Houghly River through India southwards down to Kolkata and the Bay of Bengal.
The navigation leaves the Ganges and enters the canalised Houghly River at the Farraka dam and lock. There are issues between Bangladesh and India with water supply, the dam construction causing these difficulties. The lock appears to be about 130 metres long and about 20 metres wide, however the usable width is less due to some sort of construction in the chamber leaning against the lock side. It appears from an online document to have been completed and opened in 1975. The lock is manned and operated efficiently, but at first glance it appears semi-derelict, with weed and algae in the lock approaches and chamber giving the impression it is seldom used.
Ferraka lock, early morning (R Horne)
However, a new lock is being built parallel to the operational lock with progress appearing to be slow and not complete, the works having every appearance of taking some time with the appearance of no immediate sense of urgency. With little traffic using the working lock there seems no obvious reason why there is a necessity for the new lock, the dimensions of which appear very similar to the existing, so it appears not for reasons of increased capacity
Regular cargo on both the Ganges and the Houghly Rivers seems to be mainly local short distance traffic with the numerous nouka boats. These boats varying from a few metres to tens of metres long, carrying anything and everything by the local people using the river as their highway. Cargo handling is usually by hand and use of machinery is minimal, sometimes with small tractors with trailers and lorries being loaded or unloaded from, on the sloping bank. There was infrequent evidence of larger freight craft to warrant proper use of the lock, except nearer Kolkata, where the vessels are mainly small estuarial/coaster types, largely at anchor in the river. But with less than a metre draught in some stretches of the Ganges outside the monsoon season, perhaps this explains it.
The river can rise by many metres after heavy rainfall, but apparently, not much increase in the flow, as we are used to in the UK. The scouring of the sandbanks shows this in places, sometimes villagers sadly losing part of their village to the waters. Often this is at the outside of turns, where attempts have been made with cement bags, concrete piles or slabs to reinforce the banks, but sometimes to no avail, the powerful waters undermining the sand and their efforts.
A similar construction scenario as at Farraka new lock can be seen with massive elevated road constructions over the Ganges River and plain It appears that there is no rush to complete them, and with these constructions there is belief locally of financial misappropriation India is a country of contrasts in various ways, not easily comprehensible to the western mind.
An infrequent push tug ferry with a cargo of lorries! Perhaps the roads locally were inadequte for HGVs? ( R Horne)
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Off Roader approaching Talbot Road bridge Swinton, with bagged cement – see front page (Maik Brown)