Humber ports' future laid out for Yorkshire Minister

YORKSHIRE Minister Rosie Winterton will take to the water on Monday to see the latest developments along the River Humber.

The Doncaster MP will visit facilities on both banks of the Humber, Britain’s busiest trading estuary, as a guest of Associated British Ports (ABP). After a meeting in Hull for an update from ABP on its operations and plans for the future, Ms Winterton will be taken in a pilot vessel across the Humber to Immingham.

On the south bank the Minister will be shown around Immingham’s 750,000 Marine Control Centre, which opened in November 2008, and which controls access to the approach to the port for all marine traffic.

The company has invested 250m over the past 10 years on its operations in the Humber, where it employs 900 people and handles more than 40,000 vessel movements each year.

Ms Winterton said: “So much of the country’s trade depends on the Humber which provides a crucial route into global markets. Ports and logistics are important growth sectors and the Humber ports have a vital role in supporting our region and the UK as our economy returns to long term, sustainable growth.”

ABP port director for Grimsby and Immingham John Fitzgerald said he would to tell the minister about future plans for growth.

He said: “The river is this region’s greatest physical asset and we’re proud that the estuary already accounts for 16 per cent of all the UK’s trade, but there is more to come.

“We plan 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.”

ABP is Britain’s largest ports group handling a quarter of Britain’s seaborne trade and employs 2,000 staff. It owns and operates 21 ports.