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17th March

ABPorts.Rosie

Above: (left to right) John Fitzgerald (ABP Port Director Grimsby & Immingham), Rosie Winterton, MP (Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber) and Matt Jukes (ABP Port Director Hull & Goole) on the pilot launch at the Port of Immingham.

Rosie Winterton, Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber, yesterday (15.3.10) took the helm of a pilot launch as she visited Associated British Ports’ (ABP) major facilities on the River Humber, the UK’s busiest trading estuary.

ABP has invested £250 million in the past ten years on its operations in the Humber, which employ 900 people and handle more than 40,000 vessels each year.

Ms Winterton, who is MP for Doncaster Central and also Minister for Regional Economic Co-ordination, said; “I am very impressed by all that I have seen here today on the Humber. ABP has made a tremendous investment in its facilities and is ensuring the River Humber and its ports are a major gateway for UK trade into global markets.

“The Humber is well placed to become a UK centre of excellence in the developing renewable energy sector including biomass electricity generation projects and potential carbon capture and storage initiatives. Furthermore it is ideally located to support offshore wind developments. The UK offshore industry could be worth £75 billion by 2020 and employ 70,000 people in high value jobs.”

After a meeting on land at the Port of Hull for an update from ABP on its operations and its plans for the future, Ms Winterton was taken on a pilot vessel across the Humber to Immingham, the UK’s most important port in terms of tonnage.

During the crossing, Ms Winterton, a keen sailor, took the helm of the pilot launch as she viewed developments and progress along the Humber from the estuary itself.

Ms Winterton then visited the Port of Immingham’s £750,000 Marine Control Centre, opened in November 2008, which acts like an air traffic control for the approach to the Port, safeguarding commercial and leisure users alike. The Centre provides a 360° viewpoint of the UK’s busiest port as well as overseeing this key junction of the River.

John Fitzgerald, ABP’s Port Director Grimsby and Immingham and Matt Jukes, ABP’s Port Director Hull and Goole jointly hosted the Minister’s visit.

John Fitzgerald said: “The River is this region’s greatest physical asset and we’re proud that the estuary already accounts for 16% of all the UK’s trade, but there is more to come. We took the opportunity to tell the Minister about a number of major renewable energy projects we’re involved in. The jobs and investments that they can bring will significantly contribute to the long term economic prosperity of the Yorkshire and Humber region.”