The CASP was initiated with the realization that the Port Authority has an important role in facilitating and encouraging significant emission reductions and promoting air quality awareness along the Houston Ship Channel and throughout the region.

The purpose of the CASP is to develop and implement a voluntary plan to reduce emissions from maritime and associated transportation sources servicing ship channel industries. This plan benefits the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria community; assisting the state of Texas and EPA in reducing the harmful health effects of multiple pollutants and potential economic repercussions.

The focus of the CASP is to strategically develop economically feasible ways to implement emission reductions from maritime-related interests in the greater Port of Houston area. As a distinction, the Port of Houston includes the Port Authority as well as 150-plus private industries along the Houston Ship Channel. The majority of the properties along the Houston Ship Channel are privately owned by industries that create the second-largest petrochemical complex in the world.

For further information, please visit the Port of Houston Authority Web site to download a copy of the CASP, available at http://www.portofhouston.com/pdf/environmental/CASP2011.pdf

Mr Clegg was accompanied on the visit by the Leader of Hull City Council, Councillor Carl Minns. Hull City Council fully supports the project which could eventually generate thousands of jobs for the area, providing a much needed boost for the local economy. During the visit, Mr Clegg met Matt Jukes, ABP’s Port Director Hull and Goole, Dan McGrail, Project Manager UK Offshore, Siemens Wind Power, and other ABP staff, who discussed the proposed development.

Mr Clegg said; “Hull is ideally located to support offshore wind developments and is well placed to become a UK centre of excellence in the developing renewable energy sector. There is huge potential here to create jobs and apprenticeships and help us create the new, green economy Britain needs for the 21st century.”

Matt Jukes, ABP’s Port Director Hull and Goole said: “We took the opportunity to tell the Deputy Prime Minister about our Green Port Hull project as well as a number of other potential renewable energy projects we are currently working on. Green Port Hull presents a once in a lifetime opportunity for Hull to play a leading role in the UK’s green energy revolution.”

He added: “The Green Port Hull scheme, and the jobs it will generate, will significantly contribute to the long term economic prosperity of the Yorkshire and Humber region. It is vital that we are able to work together with both local and national stakeholders in order to deliver the development which will lead to many long term, high quality, manufacturing employment opportunities across our region in the rapidly growing offshore wind sector.”

Dan McGrail, Project Manager at Siemens said: “Siemens has been very encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response the project has received in Hull. We are working closely together with the Council and local community on the detailed elements of the planning application and are on track with our project schedule. We are very pleased with progress so far and optimistic about the outcome. We would like to thank everyone for their input and contributions to date.”

Left to right – Mike Sellers (Deputy Port Manager, Hull & Goole, ABP), Nick Clegg (Deputy Prime Minister and MP for Sheffield Hallam), Matt Jukes (Port Director, Hull & Goole, ABP), Cllr Carl Minns (Leader, Hull City Council), Dan McGrail (Project Manager, UK Offshore, Siemens)

Dr Brian Boso, Smiths Detection Chief Scientist, said: “RadSeeker puts the most powerful and accurate radiation detection capabilities literally in the palm of the hand. We believe it will greatly increase accuracy, efficiency, and versatility in finding and identifying rad-nuc threats. Smiths Detection is now able to provide technology that can detect threats in all major areas of concern to national and homeland security, including: chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive.”

Designed to meet the requirements of both the industry’s ANSI N42.34 (2006) performance standard and the Department of the US Homeland Security (DHS) Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO), Radseeker offers greater speed and accuracy in detecting and identifying rad-nuc threat materials, including masked and shielded Special Nuclear Materials (SNMs). It maintains accuracy in all operating conditions through a patent-pending automatic stabilization process that eliminates the need for field or periodic recalibration.

RadSeeker is a lightweight instrument for use in all field operating conditions, since it is ruggedized against the effects of impact as well as extreme temperatures and weather conditions. Manufactured in Smiths Detection’s facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the RadSeeker has passed extensive testing by government and test laboratories.

The utilization rate of the hopper and cutter fleet has been in decline since the end of 2009 and this trend continued in the first quarter of 2011. This decline is a reflection of a lower level of activity in the market. The remaining shares in SMIT Rebras in Brazil were acquired in the first few months of the year, thus strengthening the position of SMIT Harbour Towage in this growth region.

Salvage, Transport & Heavy Lift showed a mixed picture in the first quarter. The workload at Salvage for wreck clearance activities was high. Ongoing (long-term) contracts at Transport & Heavy Lift made a good contribution, although continued weakness in the spot market is creating challenging market conditions. Activities at both Terminal Services and Maritime Infrastructure developed in line with expectations, but US dollar weakness had a negative effect on revenue.  The size of the group order book was around € 3.1 billion at the end of March, slightly lower than the level recorded at end-2010 (€ 3.2 billion). The financial position of Boskalis was strong at the end of the first quarter, showing no material change compared to the end of 2010.

Market developments

The markets in which Boskalis operates are driven by factors such as growth in world trade, energy consumption, an increase in global population and the effects of climate change.

The cyclical downturn at the end of 2008 meant that Boskalis has been faced with stagnating demand for the past few years. At the same time the company has seen new production capacity coming onto the market. This puts pressure on both volumes and margins of new projects and in certain segments of the market. However, recent market studies indicate that structural growth factors for the medium term remain positive. In various regions and market segments clients are developing new initiatives for new and in many cases large maritime infrastructure projects. Many of these projects are expected to come to the market in the next two years.

Demand for harbour towage services is developing favorably. Freight volumes are picking up after dropping off in 2009. The further growth of terminal services is related to the completion of new oil and LNG import and export terminals which are expected to come on stream from 2012. The development of the salvage market is difficult to predict due to the nature of the activities. Developments in Transport & Heavy Lift are in particular dependent on an upturn in the spot market, especially in the offshore spot market, which is not expected to occur before 2012.

Outlook

Given the current market conditions and the project-based nature of a large part of its activities Boskalis is unable to provide a specific forecast for the current year at this time. As previously announced, the company does not expect that it will be able to match the 2010 record result in 2011. Based on presently available information, Boskalis sees the current period as a transitional phase, from pressing market conditions to more positive prospects for the medium term.