|
Future of European logistics lies in new ‘sea motorways’
THE future of
European logistics lies in the promotion of sea transport and the
creation of new ‘sea motorways’, according to research
published by global property adviser DTZ. The impact of the
European Commission’s extended Motorways of the Sea initiative will
also mean that emerging ports will play an increasingly important
role in a European logistics environment that is set to undergo
significant change as sea freight is promoted as a more sustainable
alternative to road transport.
The Motorways of the Sea initiative promotes a shift in traffic to
the sea, which the European Commission has identified as an
underused resource, from Europe’s congested road and rail networks.
In order to achieve this, it is intended that Motorways of the Sea
will become an integral part of the door-to-door logistics chain
within Europe and offer efficient, regular and reliable services
that can compete with road and rail.
Studies funded by the EU
suggest that many seaborne alternative routes could provide both
time and cost competitive alternatives to land transport.
Brian Birtwistle,
Industrial Director at DTZ, comments:- “The future of Europe
lies in its seas. The European Commission predicts an increase of
50% in freight transport by 2020. Growing trade in Europe is a
critical catalyst to growth in the logistics market, with businesses
increasingly operating on a pan-European and global scale. Europe’s
road and rail networks are already heavily congested so there is a
clear need to find alternatives to these modes of transport. As
2/3rds of Europe’s land boundaries face the sea, sea transport is an
area that has the potential for massive development.”
The Motorways of the Sea initiative has been extended to include the
creation of new sea routes to cover the Baltic, Barents, Atlantic,
Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas as well as through the Suez
Canal towards the Red Sea.
The proposal to increase the amount
of freight carried by sea means that ports will inevitably have an
increasingly important role to play in European logistics. The
Motorways of the Sea initiative will require ports connected at
either end of a ‘sea motorway’ to have efficient hinterland
connections with well-developed local logistics markets, rapid
administrative procedures and a high level of service, all of which
are targeted to making Motorways of the Sea operations successful.
Brian Birtwistle comments:- “Increased sea freight equals
busier ports. Ports will play a vital role in ensuring the success
of the Motorways of the Sea initiative. Major ports such as
Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp, are themselves becoming increasingly
congested, due to the high volume of goods shipped. The Motorways of
the Sea initiative aims to respond to the development of these ‘superports’
and reduce congestion by promoting nearby smaller, less
well-developed ports to take a share of the growing market.”
Countries new to EU membership in particular have the potential to
benefit from this policy by adopting greater sea transport.
Currently, 40% of freight in new member countries is carried by
rail, whilst road infrastructure is below the average of the EU.
Brian Birtwistle adds:- “There is a real need to develop port
facilities across Europe and there are significant opportunities for
the logistics sector in locating warehouses and distribution centres
near these emerging ports.
Major operators could potentially benefit
from locating near ports such as Rostovk, Lubeck or Sassnitz in
Germany; Tallin in Estonia or Gdansk, Gdynia or Sczezin in Poland.
However, the supporting infrastructure close to emerging port
locations in some new member states does require significant
improvement.”
Although the
initiative has an ambitious goal, there are issues that need to be
resolved to make them effective, especially for the logistics
sector. Brian Birtwistle says:- “For the transport and
logistics industry, there is concern about the costs involved in
moving freight away from established ports and how all links in the
logistics chain can be brought together.
Short sea shipping requires
efficient and integrated commercial services to be successful. All
elements of the logistics chain need to be considered to ensure
inter-modal transport by sea is as reliable, flexible and easy to
use as road transport.”
Despite these concerns, however, it is clear that the Motorways of
the Sea initiative will transform the European logistics market and
bring new opportunities to the sector. Brian Birtwistle concludes:-
“An estimated 50% increase in European modes of transport by
the year 2020 makes sustainable and competitive mobility essential
yet challenging. One of the most important initiatives helping to
reach these goals is the Motorways of the Sea project.”
John Adlen,
Development Director at DTZ says:- “This research reinforces
and supports Liverpool’s ambition to become a superport. As the
major gateway to the North of England and Midlands, Liverpool will
be vital in delivering the UK’s element of the Motorways of the Sea
initiative.
Peel are already well ahead of the game by joining up
Liverpool with Port Salford via the Manchester Ship Canal and
creating a single cohesive waterway that will take traffic away from
the North West’s congested roads.
This
shift to sea transport could signal a renaissance of the Mersey as
one of Europe’s major seaports”.
|
Thousands of jobs up for grabs in Liverpool ONE
A new shop
offering up to 5,000 jobs opens for business this week in the heart
of Liverpool’s new shopping area. Local people looking for
work in the retail, leisure and tourism sectors can now find work in
a dedicated outlet serving Liverpool’s booming city centre.
Grosvenor’s Liverpool ONE development and the Echo Arena and
Convention Centre, as well as other key developments, are set to
create thousands of jobs during the next 12 months.
The new service,
based in the developer’s offices on Lord Street, will ensure as many
local people as possible have the chance of applying for and gaining
these jobs and brings together the employment and training services
of the city council, Jobcentre Plus and Connexions. And
people, from Tuesday (February 19), will be able to register with
the service to be contacted each time a job is created over the next
few months.
Councillor Warren Bradley, Council leader and Liverpool’s business
champion, who is helping to launch the initiative said:-
“Literally thousands of jobs are being created in the city centre
and it is our duty to ensure that local people are in the best
position to take advantage of them. The real regeneration of
Liverpool will be seen in the opportunities it offers to the people
who live and work here.” And he added:- “This
partnership of public and private sectors is key to Liverpool’s
increased prosperity and will reap rewards for both local people and
businesses that are investing in our city – either by setting up new
ventures, or continuing to employ staff here.”
Shop for Jobs was launched to businesses last May, but thanks to
Grosvenor and Liverpool ONE there are now city centre offices from
which to offer a range of guidance and job services.
Rod Holmes, Grosvenor’s Liverpool One project director, said:-
“Liverpool ONE is at the forefront of physical regeneration in
the city centre and we are keen to see local people benefit from the
investment that Grosvenor and our partners are making in the city,
not least in terms of job opportunities. We are delighted to
be supporting Shop for Jobs at Liverpool ONE for this fantastic
service.”
Shop for Jobs has worked with a variety of employers and training
providers to develop and deliver relevant training programmes and
short courses, with nearly 300 people to date receiving job specific
training. The team has supported the likes of Primark,
Debenhams, the Liverpool One management company, the Liverpool Echo
Arena, and Hard Days Night Hotel to fill more than 2000 vacancies.
Targeting Liverpool residents, the Shop for Jobs team have more than
a 1000 people registered on their database, with direct access to
more than 30,000 other applicants via the city council’s JET
service, Connexions and Jobcentre Plus. These individuals are
then matched to training or employment opportunities, and many
receive one-to-one guidance interviews.
The launch of Shop for Jobs will also be attended by employers that
have received support through the initiative, as well as local
people who have been helped into training and work.
Senzillo Martins, one of the successful job seekers who will be
working in the food services department at the new Debenhams store,
endorsed the Shop for Jobs team’s work:- “The Shop for Jobs
team was very helpful and the information which I received during my
training was very useful, especially for our interview preparation.
The team’s guidance helped me to have the confidence to carry out my
interview with Debenhams and I am so delighted to have been offered
a permanent job.”
Rosie Cooper, MP
visits Spinal Unit at Southport
ROSIE Cooper,
MP for West Lancashire made a private visit to the North West
Regional Spinal Injuries Centre to see the facilities, meet some of
the patients and learn about the incredible work being carried out
at the work of the centre.
As a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ben Bradshaw MP, Minister of
State at the Department for Health, Rosie is keen to see the various
health facilities available to the residents of West Lancashire and
the North West. She was shown round the unit by the Clinical
Director, Dr Clive Glass and the Director of Operations Janette
Brookes.
Rosie met a number of patients within the various parts of the unit,
from the centre's intensive care unit, the high dependency unit and
the general wards. One patient she met was Dr Iain Kewley who was a
GP at Railway Road Surgery in Ormskirk between 1990 and 2003. Iain
is now a GP in Douglas, Isle of Man but was unfortunately involved
in a road traffic accident last November and has been at the spinal
injuries centre since then. His mother is well known and respected
Ormskirk resident Jean Kewley.
Later Rosie met some of the patients in the later stages of
rehabilitation as they enjoyed a game of 'wheelchair rugby' in the
gym.
Rosie said:- "I was delighted to visit the Spinal Injuries
Centre and meet such a dedicated team, led by Dr Clive Glass, for
whom the patient was at the centre of all the services they provide.
The unit boasts wonderful facilities, all of which are much
appreciated by the patients at the centre - for whom a big problem
appears to be getting the right accommodation that meets their needs
and enables them to live near their families when they are ready to
leave the care of the unit".
SOUTHPORT MEP WARNS EU NOT TO TURN AWAY FROM THE SUN
THE potential
for Southport homes to be powered by green electricity generated by
the desert sun is being ignored by the European Commission, claims a
local MEP.
Concentrated solar power (CSP) uses mirrors to concentrate the sun's
rays and heat a gas or liquid that can power conventional steam
turbines. Scientists estimate that covering just 0.5% of the
planets hot deserts with the mirrors CSP would provide the world's
entire electricity needs.
Campaigners for 'Clean Power from Deserts' say that Europe
should link CSP into a new electricity grid to allow the transport
of electricity across North Africa and Europe from a variety of
renewable sources. They claim that by doing this the region
could provide all its electricity needs by 2050 with barely any
fossil fuels, allowing a 70% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
But in response to a parliamentary question tabled by Liberal
Democrat MEP Chris Davies, EU energy chief Andris Pielbalgs says
that the European Commission has not investigated the use of CSP as
an option in its strategy to reduce CO2 emissions.
It's a missed opportunity, says Chris Davies:- "The potential
is vast. We may have some way to go before it can be realised but I
think it high time that we started to take some serious steps
forward."
Europe's first commercial power station to use the sun's energy
opened recently in Spain and should one day provide the electricity
for the 600,000 people of Seville.
CSP is not new and there
has been a plant in the Mojave Desert in California for 15 years. |
