Member Article

Port of Tyne continues record start to the year receiving shipment for Drax Power

The Port of Tyne has recorded its largest ever cargo of wood pellets handled in a single shipment, to continue its impressive start to the year.

Delivering a record 57,845 tonnes of wood pellets into the Port, The MV Agnes bulk cargo vessel has brought the shipment for North Yorkshire-based Drax Power, for one of the UK’s largest energy producers.

Arriving from Virginia in the United States, at 225m long the MV Agnes is also the largest wood pellet vessel ever handled at the Port of Tyne and was successfully was unloaded in 6 days.

The wood pellets will be stored at the Port’s purpose built facility and supplied on demand to Drax via the Port’s direct rail terminal – eliminating road miles and congestion and reducing the carbon footprint.

The port has made a strong start to the year on a number of fronts. Cruise ships scheduled to arrive and depart from its docksare anticipated to reach record numbers during 2016, as major new cruise lines including Disney are set to call for the first time.

Steven Harrison, Chief Operating Officer Port of Tyne, said: “The Port was the first to work in partnership with Drax in handling large volumes of wood pellet as it began to convert from coal derived electricity generation to renewable energy in 2010.

“The significant investments in the Port’s infrastructure in recent years have enabled us to accommodate some of the world’s largest cargo ships and the MV Agnes represents a milestone in terms of our ability to handle such large cargoes on the Tyne.”