Port Guide - 1986
The Port On Industry's Doorstep
Time is money, and today's import and export business runs to tight schedules and even tighter budgets. Delay is always expensive, so it is essential to move freight via the fastest and most economical route possible. Choosing the right port can make all the difference: you will want reliable service, flexible facilities and a convenient location. At the Port of Goole, you will find all of these, and a great deal more besides.
Goole is the East Coast's most inland port, closer to industry than almost any other port. Leeds, Sheffield and Hull are only 50 km away while Manchester, Middlesbrough, Derby and Nottingham all lie within a 100km radius of Goole. Birmingham and the South Midlands are within easy reach.
Cargo can be moved to and from Goole by road, rail or canal. The new Goole by-pass, recently completed, links the port directly to the M62 motorway. British Rail operates a 'Speed Link' freight service from Goole to Hull and London, linking main commercial centres with the Continent. The main line railway network runs directly alongside the dock estate, and a large number of the quays are rail-served.
Goole also offers direct access to the improved South Yorkshire Navlqation which has been extensively modernised and is now the most up-to-date section of the nation's inland waterway network. The waterways system enters the port at the South Dock, and connects Goole to Rotherham, and other centres of Industry.
Bulk Cargoes
Goole established itself, well over 100 years ago, as one of the country's premier coal-handling ports. Goole still ships coal, coke and smokeless fuels in large quantities direct from road, rail or barge transport. Specialised facilities for these operations include two 52-tonne compartment boat hoists, a rail wagon hoist and 50-tonne and 40-tonne heavy duty cranes. These appliances can also handle a range of öther bulk commodities and are supplemented by twelve 7½-tonne grabbing cranes and high-capacity shiploading conveyors.
Goole handles a wide variety of ores, chemicals, fertilizers, scrap, pitch, creosote and tar at the common user berths and two independent companies have suction plants within the port for dealing with grain, grain products and animal feedstuffs.
Goole's proximity to crushing plants has led to the development of 'exotic' trades in palm nut kernels, shea nuts and other oil-bearing seeds.
General Cargo
The versatility of Goole's facilities, and the experience of the workforce, enable the port to handle almost every kind of general cargo, in whatever form the customer may present it.
The port has always maintained a strong tradition in liner services. Important centres served from Goole include Germany, Finland, Sweden, Spain and Morocco while, further afield, there are regular sailings to eastern and western Mediterranean ports and South America. Goole has available heavy lift facilities for unit loads up to 50 tonnes, and these have proved particularly useful for such trades.
Associated British Ports has ensured that facilities for handling liner trade at Goole are kept up to date. The Jubilee Quay, which underwent major redevelopment in the late 70's, currently accommodates Consortium Lines' South American Service, Atlas Navigation Service and Coli Lines' Morocco and Mediterranean Services, as well as the Goole-Finland Line. The PAL Line's east Sweden service is well established at West Dock where, as part of a recent redevelopment, the transit shed has been refurbished and 6,000 sq. metres of open storage area has been provided. The general cargo areas are serviced by a fleet of modern forklift trucks lifting up to 15,000 lb and fitted with a variety of attachments for safe handling of specialised packagings.
The charter business also flourishes at Goole. Iron and steel of all kinds, packaged timber and timber products, bagged fertilizers and chemicals in drums, fresh fruit and vegetables are 'bread and butter' business to the port's dockworkers who are proud to display the traditional stevedoring skills which have disappeared elsewhere.
Vehicle imports and RO/RO
Goole has proved to be ideal for the rapidly-growing Roll-on/RoII-off business. The Port has a constant water level throughout its dock system, and can accommodate stern and side-ramp vessels alike.
Goole has become the northern import centre for Renault cars. ABP's stevedores discharge the vehicles direct from car carriers to the adjacent compounds, whence they are despatched to the company's pre-delivery inspection depot alongside the dock estate. Renault's own depot is served by a special railhead enabling speedy distribution throughout the North.
Another special feature of the port is the roll-on/roll-off ramp developed by ABP in conjunction with the Central Electricity Generating Board for the transhipment of heavy indivisible loads of up to 470 tonnes. By agreement with the CEGB other customers may use this facility to cope with awkward or abnormal loads.
There is an increasing trend at Goole towards side port discharge and loading of palletised cargoes by means of forklift trucks. This makes the best use of traditional transit shed accommodation near the quay edge at various berths.
Containers
The completion of the Goole bypass, linking the M62 motorway to the main general cargo area of the port, has made Goole one of the most effective land/sea bridges on the East Coast.
Container business is expanding rapidly and Associated British Ports' investment programme at Goole is geared to this trend. 1985 saw the completion of further development at the new Boothferry Terminal which now provides 26,000 sq. metres of open standage and an additional deep water ship berth for container and unit load traffic of all descriptions. Two heavy duty fork lift trucks are available to move and stack units up to 35-tonnes in this area. One of the port's two 32-tonne Scotch Derricks is located at the seaward end of the terminal and covered accommodation is available. The whole area is serviced by mobile cranes with capacities of up to 40-tonnes.
The terminal is already the operating base for unit load services operated by Aros Line (East Sweden). Containers and heavy lift requirements of Consortium Lines (serving South America), PAL Line (Eastern Sweden), Coli Line (Mediterranean Ports) and Goole Finland Line are also accommodated at the Boothferry Terminal and at other specialised berths within the port.
Growing Fast
Associated British Ports is now the major stevedoring company in the Port of Goole and provides a full and comprehensive cargo handling service. As a port, Goole has built its success on a tradition of reliability, flexibility and efficiency. In a normal year, the port handles some 2,000 vessels and more than 1½ million tonnes of cargo to and from the industrial heartland of the country. Business continues to grow. Associated British Ports aims to give customers the service they need and facilities at Goole are constantly being modernised and extended to meet the latest trends in freight handling.
Goole is one of the busiest and most popular of the East coast ports. A combination of service, facilities, an experienced workforce and efficient management enables our customers to exploit fully a location right on industry's doorstep. If this is what you want from a port try shipping through Goole.
Contact the Port Manager - he'll be pleased to help.
