IPC supports Baltic Distribution Ltd at Port of Creeksea

Published: August 2022                                                                          (Download full press release: BDL Creeksea Press Release)

Established in November 1998 and now part of the Swedish-headquartered Bergs Group, Baltic Distribution Ltd operates the Port of Creeksea, on the River Crouch in Essex, UK. The 45-acre facility, located less than 50 miles from central London, handles and stores over 140,000 m3 of forest products a year in the form of sawn timber, poles and panel products, garden fencing and furniture and timber products for the furniture industry, along with 70,000 MT of steel rebar, coil and mesh.

BDL Creeksea offers a wide range of services to ensure a secure and sustainable supply chain and give international customers a bridgehead to the UK. That includes vessel and cargo handling, storage, wood treatment, logistics and inland transport, both through its in-house division and third-party services. BDL also operates the original timber liner service between Riga, Latvia and Creeksea, and regularly runs alternative liner routes from Sweden and other destinations.

Independent Port Consultants (IPC), provider of advisory services to the ports, marine, maritime and logistics sectors, has been supporting BDL Creeksea as owner’s marine advisor since 2020.

The port was originally developed in 1929 and has a jetty of -8m water depth, with onshore open and covered storage – around 19,000m2 of warehousing – for timber and steel products. The jetty is 50 or more years old, and the existing cranes more than 40 years old.

Initial support provided by the IPC team of experts included:

  • A visual assessment of the jetty condition
  • Options to improve the jetty throughput considering a range of possible crane investments with repairs or upgrades to the jetty
  • An overview of the local market, including growth opportunities
  • An operational review to identify limitations and options for improvement
  • An outline business valuation.

Objectives included increasing vessel numbers per month, improving operational reliability, and securing the port assets.

IPC then managed an underwater inspection of the jetty and concrete testing to confirm the existing condition, load capacity, ability to carry existing or upgraded cranes and remaining life.

The next stage was to oversee design and costing of repair and upgrade options for the jetty, guiding selection of the preferred path forward to secure the jetty into the longer term, for upgraded crane use. IPC also recruited an interim terminal manager for 6 months and then managed the selection and appointment of a permanent terminal manager.

“IPC has provided valuable assistance to BDL in future proofing our port assets, including technical expertise regarding jetties and crane,” said BDL Creeksea’s Terminal Manager, Robert Brown. “The team have been extremely responsive and formed a valuable service as BDL advisor. They helped us develop a framework to identify the work needed to enable us to significantly improve the working capacity of our port, upgrade the cranes and improve our profitability. Their wide-reaching network of flexible expertise enabled them join up the dots and bring the right parties together to make the project work.”

For more information:

Visit the IPC website at  https://bit.ly/port-consultants

Follow us on LinkedIn https://bit.ly/IPCLI

Email us at info@port-consultants.com

Or contact Rachael White:

Notes to editors:

IPC team members cover multiple disciplines and issues across ports, marine, maritime and logistics markets and are available for expert comments for editorial research and articles. Contact Rachael White (details above) for more information

About Baltic Distribution Ltd

Established in November 1998 and now part of the Berg Group, Baltic Distribution Ltd operates the Port of Creeksea, on the river Crouch. The 45-acre facility within fifty miles of central London, consists of undercover and outside storage, handling forest products, metal, and other commodities. Services offered range from vessel discharge to inland transportation. Also offered from site are value-added services from cutting to owning and operating a high-pressure timber treatment plant. BDL operates a timber liner service from Riga to the UK, with regular sailings every 2 weeks, helping customers maintain an efficient flow of goods in a cost-effective manner. BDL owner Bergs is an international wood products group, listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. With wood as a raw material, Bergs develops and provides processed wood products from sustainably cultivated forests in the Baltic Sea region. www.bergstimber.com www.balticdistribution.co.uk

 About Independent Port Consultants Ltd

Independent Port Consultants Limited (IPC) delivers consultancy services to the maritime, ports, terminals, and logistics sectors. Its members have worked on projects in over one hundred countries and offer a highly experienced team each with many decades of experience and complementary skills. IPC supports operators, governments, service providers and investors with a wide range of advisory services, providing expert, reliable and impartial advice across strategic decisions and investments, business development, commercial, technical, operational, environmental, safety, HR, and training requirements. https://bit.ly/port-consultants

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