The development of the giant Teesworks industrial site has reached a significant milestone with the docking of the first operational ship, Prysmian’s cable-laying vessel Leonardo Da Vinci, at the newly built Steel River Quay.
The 171m-long vessel sailed down the River Tees from the Port of Middlesbrough to complete final mobilisation work before setting sail.
This historic event marks the start of operations at the Steel River Quay, on the south bank of the River Tees, which will see up to 140 journeys completed per year to support the region’s offshore wind energy projects.
A total of around £114m has been invested into the quay on the back of a loan by the UK Infrastructure Bank, this amount is to be repaid in full by private partners of Teesworks Ltd, as activity at the quay ramps up.
The quay will help serve SeAH Wind’s huge £850m monopile manufacturing facility, which is currently under construction immediately to the south of the quay.
Teesworks CEO Martin Corney said: “This is a huge milestone for the Teesworks site. The Steel River Quay’s strategic location and direct access to the North Sea offer unparalleled connectivity for supporting offshore wind energy projects and ongoing developments at Teesworks.
“Global companies have shown great enthusiasm since building work completed on our quay. Now operational, we will now advance negotiations for additional projects.”
Garry O’Malley, operations director at Teesworks, said: “The new deep-water quay has been designed to provide load out and marshalling facilities for the next generation of large installation vessels operating in the offshore wind sector.
“With its vast storage facilities and proximity to planned windfarms, we’re ideally positioned to become a hub for the region’s renewable energy sector.”
With its deep-water capabilities and substantial storage, the quay offers direct access for SeAH’s monopiles to be shipped out to offshore wind farms in the North Sea.
The quay also enables components and raw materials to be shipped into SeAH’s plant and the wider Teesworks site for use in the manufacturing process.
Prysmian is a world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, owner and operator of several state-of-the-art cable installation vessels including the Leonardo Di Vinci.
Peter Watson from Prysmian said: “We’re delighted to complete the inaugural docking at the Steel River Quay. Berthing this 171-metre vessel shows the immense deep-water capability of the site.
“We’re proud to be a part of this transformative project and be the first to utilise this state-of-the-art facility.”
The deep water quay, which has taken two years to build by UK contractor GRAHAM using 30,000 tonnes of concrete, will offer at least 13.6 metres of depth for vessels whilst alongside.
Its 450-metre length means that two of the largest offshore wind installation vessels can be comfortably accommodated at the same time.
Plans are currently being considered for phase 2 of the Steel River Quay which could increase the length of the quay by up to 300 metres, depending on demand from potential occupiers and users.
