‘PLENTY Of Interest’ In Inchgreen Dry Dock, Say Peel Ports
From left, Cathal Doherty, director UK, Roadbridge, Stuart MacMillan MSP, Ronnie Cowan MP and Douglas Coleman, project director, Peel Ports
INCHGREEN dry dock operators Peel Ports say there are “many projects” lined up for the Greenock facility.
Local representatives Stuart McMillan MSP and Ronnie Cowan MP were invited to Inchgreen — the largest mainland dry dock in the UK — to see progress on the 200-metre long pontoon for the new cruise ship berth at Greenock Ocean Terminal and to hear about examples of future activity.
Civil engineers Roadbridge UK, the company contracted by Peel Ports Group to build the cruise berth as part of the Inverclyde Council-led city deal project, has a 40-strong team working at the Greenock site and the project is due for completion soon.
Four large watertight containers (caissons), each weighing over 1,000 tonnes, are being fabricated and will be towed to the terminal to form the main elements of the floating cruise pontoon.
Peel Ports has confirmed that it is working on a pipeline of interest for the dry dock beyond the cruise ship berth work.
Andrew Hemphill, ports director, said: “We have a specific long-term plan for Inchgreen and there has been plenty of interest in the facility for future projects.
“Fabrication of the cruise ship pontoon has obviously been an important project for Inchgreen and we are delighted to see it nearing completion. It is however just one of many projects coming on board for Inchgreen, which is an extremely versatile facility.
“The dry dock is multi-purpose and can be used for civil construction, ship-building or repair and decommissioning of ships, which is a growing market and offers a real opportunity for future work.
“Inchgreen is a facility that means a lot to the local area and we are confident that the fabrication of the cruise berth pontoon is just the beginning.”
Other recent activity at Inchgreen has included it acting as a hub to provide support services for the marine industry, with ships and barges using the 300-metre repair quayside and large adjacent area.
Four new large mobile cranes have also been used on site, providing greater lifting capacity than their predecessors with one crane able to lift 400 tonnes.
Local MSP Stuart McMillan said: “It was incredibly encouraging to see the level of activity underway at Inchgreen. The £19million development at Greenock Ocean Terminal will bring significant benefits to the local economy and there appears to be plenty of future activity in the pipeline.”
MP Ronnie Cowan said: “This was an informative and positive visit to the dry dock, which I know is important to my constituents in Inverclyde. The Ocean Terminal development will clearly be a massive boost for the area and the fact that there are future projects in the pipeline is very good news.”
