London, 03 July 2008 – Today, PD Ports (PDP) announced the signing of a 15-year lease with subsea cable manufacturer, JDR Cables Ltd. This new agreement will see JDR, who provide umbilical and cable systems for the offshore oil & gas and wind farm sectors operate from a 100,000 sq ft factory, located on the deep water berth at Hartlepool Dock. An existing PDP warehouse at Hartlepool will be converted into a state of the art umbilical cable manufacturing facility and will employ up to 80 new staff.
This new capability will enable JDR Cables to manufacture umbilical and subsea power cables weighing up to 2200 tonnes. JDR Cables’ existing facility in Ely, Cambridgeshire, which will run in addition to the new Hartlepool facility, will be dedicated to work-over umbilical systems for deep water oil & gas projects and other products that can be transported by road.
JDR selected the PD Ports site at Hartlepool because of its close proximity to a deep water quay. This will allow cables to be spooled directly from the manufacturing facility to offshore cable laying vessels moored on the nearby deep water quay, as well as installation reels up to 9.2m in diameter.
Graham Wall, commercial director of PD Ports, said: “We are delighted to have signed this agreement with JDR Cable Systems at Hartlepool. The town has a long standing history with the offshore sector and is home to various major facilities serving the offshore industry. The signing of this new agreement further cements PD Ports’ growing role in the offshore support sector.â€
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Notes to Editors: July 2008
• PD Ports Limited was formed following the successful takeover of PD Ports plc by Babcock and Brown Infrastructure (ASX: BBI) in February 2006.
• PD Ports is a high performing specialist ports business offering a wide variety of supply chain services to improve customers’ international product and material movements into and out of – as well as within – the UK.
• PD Ports employs over 1350 members of staff, and generates an annual turnover of over £130 million from 30 UK locations.
• PD Ports operates throughout the UK from bases at many key ports and logistics centres.
• The 3 business interests of PD Ports are:
o Port Operations– this includes:
 Teesport: one of the top 3 UK ports, with flows of containers, bulk traffics and finished cars, handling 50 million tonnes of throughput p.a.
 The Northern Gateway Container Terminal: a major new deep sea container terminal planned at Teesport on the South side of the River Tees. The £300+ million development will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) and is anticipated to deliver over 5,500 jobs to the Tees Valley, opening in 2011. Please visit www.thenortherngateway.co.uk
 Portcentric Logistics: a new concept promoted by PD Ports for locating the storage and distribution of imported goods close to the point of arrival at a UK port. This concept avoids the slow handling and return of empty containers as well as eradicating unnecessary UK road mileage, which occurs when delivering to a traditional inland import centre, such as in the Midlands. In 2006 ASDA Wal*Mart opened a 350,000 sq ft import centre at Teesport and has saved more than 2 million road miles by adopting the portcentric concept. Tesco is also building a 1.2 sq ft import centre at Teesport to open in 2009.
 Humber & Small Ports: owners and/or operators of ports on the Humber estuary, Rivers Trent and Ouse, and at Medina Wharf, Isle of Wight. Service offerings include ship’s agency, chartering and stevedoring services.
 Logistics: PD Logistics offers warehousing and distribution services at 15 UK locations throughout the North East, Humberside & East Anglia, including at Felixstowe. Please visit www.pdlogistics.com
o Conservancy – this includes:
 Management of river traffic for the ports of Tees and Hartlepool, ensuring safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.
o Property– this includes:
 Revenue and income from property and facilities owned by PD Ports and used by third party clients on long term leases.
 Land that is not utilised for operational purposes and forms part of the potential for development.
 The redevelopment of part (133 hectares) of Hartlepool docks known as Victoria Harbour.
See also www.pdports.co.uk
For more information, please contact:
Sarah A. Chase
Head of PR for Image Line Communications
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