Port welcomes first vessel under new military capability agreement
Associated British Ports (ABP) Port of Immingham has welcomed the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) strategic equipment transport vessel, the 23,000 tonne Eddystone.
The vessel call was the first usage of an agreement signed earlier this year between ABP and the Ministry of Defence providing the Armed Forces with options to use ABP’s ports around Britain.
The Eddystone was transporting hundreds of vehicles and pieces of equipment belonging to 7 Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team (the Desert Rats) back in the UK from this year’s largest NATO deployment, Exercise Steadfast Dart.
Andrew Dawes, regional director of the Humber ports, said: “The Humber ports are in a key strategic position on the UK east coast, and this is a great honour to be offering Immingham to support the UK’s Armed Forces.
“Not only does this port call provide a local and cost-effective operation for the Desert Rats, it also gives all parties valuable experience of operating in different ABP locations and the options our port locations offer to scale up.”
Richard Parkinson, ABP’s senior MoD engagement lead, said: “The discharge of the military hardware was the first since ABP signed the agreement.
“As the UK’s largest port operator, our strategic partnership with the Ministry of Defence gives it additional sea mounting resilience and enables seamless deployment and recovery of military vehicles and equipment across the nation, ensuring readiness for overseas missions.”
Chief of defence logistics and support, Vice Admiral Andy Kyte, added: “I’m pleased to see the first demonstration of the new agreement between MOD and ABP come to life at Immingham port.
“This agreement marks a significant step in boosting the resilience, efficiency, and agility of Defence’s Sea Mounting Capability by leveraging ABP’s national port estate.
“The partnership with ABP plays a pivotal role in fortifying the UK Strategic Base, a cornerstone essential for Defence to effectively deploy, sustain, and recover force elements.”
Up until this new agreement, the military had been focused solely on using the Sea Mounting Centre at Marchwood, near Southampton.
While Marchwood will continue to be developed as a capable location, the agreement means the Armed Forces have a wider choice of locations, providing public spending cost savings, better operational efficiency and capability resilience.
Like many of ABP’s ports, Immingham was constructed to accommodate naval vessels. In 1912 the lock was built for the dreadnought class of battleships, which were used during the First World War.
