Teesport, Port of Tees and Hartlepool
August 8, 2021
HM 149. One big chemistry set!
That is how Paul Brooks, the modest HM of Teesport described his patch. He went to sea at 16 but now runs the fifth largest port in the UK with 7 assistant HMs, 34 pilots and two dredgers to keep his busy shipping lanes clear.
Middlesbrough was established as a coal port and the Teesside area is best-known for its chemical industries, but the real lifeblood industry of this area was the making of iron and steel. No longer. Much has changed since the days of iron ore discovery, the Redcar steelworks and ICI Billingham. Other industries have emerged and with Paul's permission we took a trip up the river to see some of them.
The new bulk handling plant at Redcar can export up to a staggering 10 million tonnes of Polyhalite (fertiliser) per annum. Further upstream a huge Renewable Energy Plant turns 2.4 million tonnes of woodchip into electricity, enough for 600,000 homes. BUT the woodchip is all imported by ships burning diesel - so not so renewable? STOP RIGHT THERE - as we sailed out of the Tees we saw an extraordinary ship (photo 6) fitted with two verticle towers which were in fact Rotor Sails, the makers of which say that in good wind conditions, the hybrid vessel can maintain speed by sail alone. Maybe this is the future?
Upstream we saw the magnificent Transporter Bridge, a cross between a ferry and a bridge with vehicles transported across the river by means of a moving car, and just like the Newport Bridge, even further upstream, it was designed to allow the movement of ships.
Just north of all this industry is more genteel Hartlepool. Previously a large port where timber was imported, soaked in huge ponds before being turned into pit props. Now it is a very friendly marina and has a brilliant museum housing the oldest Royal Navy warship still afloat: HMS Trincomalee.
Thank you Paul for your help and insight into this little-visited part of England. @hartlepoolmarina @pdports
That is how Paul Brooks, the modest HM of Teesport described his patch. He went to sea at 16 but now runs the fifth largest port in the UK with 7 assistant HMs, 34 pilots and two dredgers to keep his busy shipping lanes clear.
Middlesbrough was established as a coal port and the Teesside area is best-known for its chemical industries, but the real lifeblood industry of this area was the making of iron and steel. No longer. Much has changed since the days of iron ore discovery, the Redcar steelworks and ICI Billingham. Other industries have emerged and with Paul's permission we took a trip up the river to see some of them.
The new bulk handling plant at Redcar can export up to a staggering 10 million tonnes of Polyhalite (fertiliser) per annum. Further upstream a huge Renewable Energy Plant turns 2.4 million tonnes of woodchip into electricity, enough for 600,000 homes. BUT the woodchip is all imported by ships burning diesel - so not so renewable? STOP RIGHT THERE - as we sailed out of the Tees we saw an extraordinary ship (photo 6) fitted with two verticle towers which were in fact Rotor Sails, the makers of which say that in good wind conditions, the hybrid vessel can maintain speed by sail alone. Maybe this is the future?
Upstream we saw the magnificent Transporter Bridge, a cross between a ferry and a bridge with vehicles transported across the river by means of a moving car, and just like the Newport Bridge, even further upstream, it was designed to allow the movement of ships.
Just north of all this industry is more genteel Hartlepool. Previously a large port where timber was imported, soaked in huge ponds before being turned into pit props. Now it is a very friendly marina and has a brilliant museum housing the oldest Royal Navy warship still afloat: HMS Trincomalee.
Thank you Paul for your help and insight into this little-visited part of England. @hartlepoolmarina @pdports