Maritime experts have unveiled a floating container port plan for Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands.
The blueprint for the transhipment port, which could also become the greenest in the world, has been drawn up by researchers from Edinburgh Napier University’s Transport Research Institute (TRI). They estimate that the floating hub, which consists of a large storage vessel fitted with cranes, could increase the current value of Scotland’s exports of manufactured goods. Spin-off jobs would also be created for Scotland as the hub’s host nation.
Professor Alf Baird, a maritime business expert, led the university’s involvement in the EU-funded project* (The project is led by regional government agencies in Norway, and has 27 partners including the Flanders government, plus the ports of Hamburg and Amsterdam) in collaboration with German crane manufacturer, Gottwald Port Technology. He said: “The hub could handle goods for perhaps over 20 countries in Europe, including the UK, which would then be transhipped via the new terminal. For example seafood is produced nearby in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Russia and Greenland – this traffic could be consolidated in Scotland into refrigerated containers for distribution worldwide via the container hub.
The hub could also become the “ultimate green port” due in part to its proximity to Orkney’s burgeoning marine renewable energy sector, said Professor Baird.
The partners behind the project will now bid for further EU funding, as well as Scottish Government support, to help develop a full-scale demo terminal in tandem with interested maritime companies.
The blueprint for the transhipment port, which could also become the greenest in the world, has been drawn up by researchers from Edinburgh Napier University’s Transport Research Institute (TRI). They estimate that the floating hub, which consists of a large storage vessel fitted with cranes, could increase the current value of Scotland’s exports of manufactured goods. Spin-off jobs would also be created for Scotland as the hub’s host nation.
Professor Alf Baird, a maritime business expert, led the university’s involvement in the EU-funded project* (The project is led by regional government agencies in Norway, and has 27 partners including the Flanders government, plus the ports of Hamburg and Amsterdam) in collaboration with German crane manufacturer, Gottwald Port Technology. He said: “The hub could handle goods for perhaps over 20 countries in Europe, including the UK, which would then be transhipped via the new terminal. For example seafood is produced nearby in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway, Russia and Greenland – this traffic could be consolidated in Scotland into refrigerated containers for distribution worldwide via the container hub.
The hub could also become the “ultimate green port” due in part to its proximity to Orkney’s burgeoning marine renewable energy sector, said Professor Baird.
The partners behind the project will now bid for further EU funding, as well as Scottish Government support, to help develop a full-scale demo terminal in tandem with interested maritime companies.
No comments:
Post a Comment