Hull

The Port of Hull has been in existence since the 12th century and is situated on the North bank of the River Humber and the junction with the River Hull. It has been involved in international trade since, when wool was exported from nearby Meaux Abbey. Between the 14th and 18th centuries Hull became more heavily involved in brisk trade with ports on the Baltic Sea, and import and export continues to this day and has grown dramatically to encompass many commodities to and from many destinations such as Rotterdam.

Hull is the UK’s first fully-enclosed freight handling facility which can operate in all weathers and can handle different cargoes in all weather conditions. The Port can handle a number of different types of freight including:

• Containers – can handle over 100,000 containers each year
• Dry bulk – can handle a wide range of dry bulk freight, including animal feed and cocoa
• Paper and forest products – the Finland Terminal has more than 70,000 sq m of covered storage for paper products
• Fresh produce and perishable – Hull has 24,000 cubic metres of cold storage which can hold 10,000 pallets and can freeze products down to -25°C
• Other general cargo – storage facilities of 230,000 sq m of shed storage and 65 hectares of open storage
• Liquid bulk – the port can handle a wide range of liquids including edible oils and chemical products. The port has also got the facility to transfer liquids directly from ships into road tankers or barges.
• RORO (Roll on, Roll off) and LOLO (Lift on, Lift off) and passenger services – Hull is the only port in the Humber Estuary to operate a passenger service

The size of the port measures approximately 65 hectares of open storage and over a hundred and twenty thousand square metres of covered storage, with refrigerated storage also available. Annual tonnage through the port is over 9 million tonnes. Lifting equipment includes 3 container cranes with a maximum lift of 40 tonnes, and rail and mobile harbour cranes with capacities of 15 tonnes and 100 tonnes respectively.

As well as handling vehicles, Hull boasts capacity to handle many other commodities from grain through to petroleum products, steel and hazardous materials. The enclosed docks can accommodate vessels with a maximum length, beam and draft of 196m, 25.5m and 10.4m respectively.

Connectivity is well served with Humberside airport 40km away, connections to passenger rail only 4km away and close connections to motorway and inland waterway networks, giving good access to the rest of the UK mainland and other smaller ports upstream.

From the 1st of May 2016 ABP took over the operating of the Hull Container Terminal from PD Ports and announced an investment of £15 million into the terminal which is used by Samskip. The Terminal is located in the Queen Elizabeth Dock on the east of the City. The 30-acre terminal handles over 100,000 containers and receives vessels from all the UK and mainland Europe including Grangemouth and Rotterdam. The investment is aimed at improving the infrastructure and equipment at the terminal. To improve the equipment, two thirds of the money (10m) were used for bringing in two Liebherr gantry cranes which will vastly shorten the time it takes to unload and container vessels. Also as part of the investment in the equipment for the terminal 21 reach stackers, tractors and trailers were purchased to aid in cutting down the time it takes to move containers around the terminal. Also the investment allowed ABP to take on 39 staff that had worked in the terminal when it was owned by PD ports.