HISTORY
Fifty years of service at Tees Dock Tees Dock IS THE HUB OF OPERATIONAL ACTIVITY
The Redcar Ore Terminal and the ro-ro terminal opened at Tees
AT TEESPORT. MILLIONS OF TONNES OF CONTAINER,
Dock in 1973, followed by the Steel Export Terminal in 1976, and it
RO-RO, STEEL AND BULK CARGOES PASS THROUGH
soon became the hub for all the port’s general cargo activities.
THE DOCKS EVERY YEAR.
The official opening of No. 2 Quay was undertaken by The Queen
There have been port operations along the River Tees since
when she visited Tees Dock on the Royal Yacht ‘Britannia’ on 14th
the 12th century, first at Yarm, then at Stockton and then at
July 1977. The opening of large chemical processing plants on
Port Darlington, or Middlesbrough as it was later called. As river
the north and south banks generated further business for the
crossings were built, shipping activity moved downstream, closer
port, while Tees Dock took on greater significance in 1980 when
to the mouth of the river.
Middlesbrough Dock closed.
When Tees Dock officially opened on 4th October 1963, operations
In the 1990s the port was privatised along with many other large
were starkly different to those we know today. There were just two
UK Ports. A new riverside ro-ro berth was opened to support the
cranes and a warehouse at No. 1 Quay, as well as an office block and
strong ro-ro and car volumes the port was handling. The growth
maintenance department for the workforce of around 25 people.
in container volumes at Tees Dock brought investment into the facilities at the port. Teesport Container Terminal 1 received a new
Tees Dock grew steadily and by 1965 all five berths on No. 1 Quay
crane and Teesport Container Terminal 2 was built with an official
were open and operational. The 1970s was a period of economic
opening by The Duke of York in 2003. The £12 million second
change in the UK, a fact reflected in the mix of cargoes handled
terminal was one of the largest investments in the port’s history.
at Tees Dock. The decade saw the arrival of imported cars from Japan, with Datsun the forerunner of what is now Nissan in
PD Ports aims to continue growing the port infrastructure to enable
Sunderland.
future success for years to come.
There have been
port operations along the River
Tees since the
12th century 19