RECORD FIRST QUARTER FOR ACTIVITY
AT ABERDEEN HARBOUR
(02.05.06)
A busy start to the year for the oil and gas industry in the North Sea and increasing international shipments of oilfield equipment has helped raise the tonnage of all cargo and vessels at Aberdeen Harbour to record levels in the first quarter of 2006.
The port handled almost 200,000 more tonnes of oil-related freight - 549,166 tonnes - for the offshore industry between January and March, compared with 349,180 tonnes in the same period in 2005.
A total of 1,304 oil-related vessels called at the port, up from 1,021, while the volume of shipping reached 3.41 million gross tonnes (2.60 million gross tonnes).
The Harbour’s role as the marshalling point for shipment of oilfield equipment for use by the offshore industry continues to develop, including significant increases in cargoes for West Africa and the Caspian.
Annual exports to West Africa have almost doubled in the first half of this decade – from 19,353 tonnes in 2001 to 37,774 tonnes in 2005, with the port’s growing involvement in supporting “hot spot” markets there. Shipments this year so far have topped 8,400 tonnes.
Thirteen large vessels called at Aberdeen in the first quarter to load West Africa bound cargoes. Shipping companies, Safmarine and Universal Africa Lines, have established scheduled services to West Africa , and there are also specific charters. Searoutes, Nor-Cargo and Seletar are involved as local agents in Aberdeen .
Recent days have seen the latest vessels – Safmarine Gabon, and CEC Mistral for UAL- loading for West Africa .
This year’s shipments of around 5,800 tonnes of equipment to the Caspian compares with under 2,500 tonnes in the whole 12 months of each of the previous two years. Agencies supporting services to the Caspian are Euroline, Nor-Cargo and Searoutes.
In 2005, Aberdeen Harbour set successive records for all cargo and shipping for the second and seventh years respectively.
With the commercial sector also contributing to the continuing growth, the port handled a record total of all cargoes for the first quarter 2006 - 1,226,780 tonnes (955,522 tonnes). The tonnage of shipping at 5.32 million gross tonnes (4.44 million gross tonnes) was another first quarter record, with 1,910 (1,658) vessels using the port.
Harbour Board Chief Executive, Colin Parker, said: “The first quarter has been much busier than usual, due in particular to oil-related traffic . It underlines the importance of the offshore industry, not only to the port, but also to the economy generally and the need for every effort to be made to sustain activity.”
|
