April 30 - Speaking at the Multimodal 2015 conference and exhibition in Birmingham, UK, the HumberPort partnership stressed the important role that the River Humber can play in unlocking the potential of Northern England and the wider UK.
Professor Amar Ramudhin, director of the Logistics Institute at the University of Hull, said ports worldwide were investing vast sums to try to create what the Humber had naturally: "We've got it all in the Humber. We have a huge estuary with lots of ports and there's Liverpool on the other side of the North. We have this natural corridor of trade, between the Humber and Liverpool, with goods coming in and out of the UK through those ports. That is what unlocks the full potential of the Northern powerhouse."
HumberPort is also capitalising on being branded the UK's energy estuary, following a GBP310 million (USD474.4 million) investment made by Siemens into an offshore wind equipment manufacturing plant in Hull.
Peter Aarosin, chief executive of logistics business Danbrit and ports operator RMS Group, said the Humber's key competitive advantage is location, as it is positioned at a mid-point in the UK and faced Northern Europe. This enables it serve 75 percent of the UK within a four-hour drive, while being able to connect with 320 million European customers in less than 24 hours.
John Fitzgerald, Humber director for Associated British Ports (ABP), said the estuary was an asset of national importance and critical to the UK economy. Across the estuary up to GBP1 billion (USD1.54 billion) of investment was being made in ports infrastructure and facilities: "Companies like Siemens, Centrica, DONG and others have seen the opportunity and are moving to the Humber," he noted.
HumberPort is a partnership of port operators, shipping lines and logistics service providers committed to promoting the benefits of the Humber River.
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| Siemens' offshore wind equipment manufacturing plant. |
