Author: Fiona Brunning

The popular, and much used free mooring pontoons, situated at Harwich’s Ha’penny Pier will undergo essential improvement works, which will commence Wednesday 3 January 2018.

As part of Harwich Haven Authority’s continued investment in stakeholder facilities the pontoon at the far end of the mooring berth – see map – will be removed and repaired off site.

The repaired pontoon section will be re-installed at the Ha’penny Pier mooring facility on or before the start of the new sailing season, which begins Friday 30 March 2018.

While repairs are taking place the remaining sections of the pontoon will remain open to the general public. The repairs will not affect the operations of the Harwich Foot Ferry.

Follow us on Facebook @harwichhaven to keep up to date with what’s happening on Ha’penny Pier.

The threatened annual Christmas light display event in Dovercourt High Street, planned for Friday 1 December, will now go ahead thanks to a last minute donation from Harwich Haven Authority.

“After reading in the Harwich and Manningtree Standard that the organisers of the Dovercourt High Street Christmas light display were struggling to raise sufficient funding we were delighted to step in and help,” says Neil Glendinning, CEO, Harwich Haven Authority.

“The Authority is an integral part of the local community and this year we’ve been able to support a number of initiatives and charities in and around the Harwich and Dovercourt area.

“The Christmas light display has traditionally been an event that draws people together from across the area and we didn’t want to see it fail.

“We have been very impressed by the passion and energy of organisers Kirsty Ayling, Les Nicoll and their team at CREATE. They work tirelessly throughout the year to organise and create activities that benefit so many members of the community.”

Kirsti Ayling from CREATE commented: “Myself, Les Nicoll and the rest of the CREATE team are absolutely overwhelmed by the huge generosity of Harwich Haven Authority. The lights cost so much money and it’s a struggle each year to raise the necessary funding.”

Les Nicoll, CREATE added: “The Christmas light turn on is a fantastic community event, which brings friends, neighbours and businesses together in celebration.

“Lots of groups and community clubs will be involved and Santa will also be making a special visit this year.

“It’s a truly fantastic event that we’re delighted to bring to the community of Dovercourt and Harwich.”

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The second phase of a two-year programme of refurbishment works to Ha’penny Pier, Harwich, begins at the end of October 2017.
Harwich Haven Authority has appointed Essex-based Amicus Civil Engineering to carry out essential refurbishment of Harwich’s most iconic landmark and during phase two of the £340,000 project, which started in 2016, worn beams and piles will be replaced.
The planned works will be isolated to the far end of the pier and access to the Harwich Harbour Foot Ferry and the Café on the Pier will not be affected.
“As Harwich’s most loved landmark and one of the last remaining working wooden piers in the UK we’re committed to maintaining and preserving Ha’penny Pier for future generations to enjoy,” says Neil Glendinning, chief executive, Harwich Haven Authority.
“The works have been planned outside of the Summer season to minimise disruption and the pier will be back open to the public in time for the New Year’s Eve Firework display.”
Historical Harwich
Harwich Haven Authority maintains the pier as a community assist, providing a home to the Harwich Society, which runs the visitors centre – a Grade 2 listed building and former ticket office.
Throughout its history Ha’penny Pier has been used by coastal paddle steamers, ferries, pilots boats, the Royal Navy and as a lifeboat station, and it still serves as a pick-up point for the Harwich Harbour Foot Ferry. The pier is named after the original half penny toll charged to gain entry.

Harwich Haven Authority has joined forces with the Harwich and Dovercourt High School (HDHS) to launch a new Reading for Life initiative aimed at year 7 pupils.

“As a school, we need to focus on literacy skills as fundamental, not only to exam success, but to life chances in general,” says Sarah Cross, Lead Practitioner in English at HDHS.

Reading for Life will open up a dialogue with the new Year 7 intake on reading and attitudes to reading. It will encourage students to be honest about difficulties and will aim to create an environment that enables them to do just that. It will provide students, whatever their starting point, with some strategies to deal with challenging text and to understand too that the importance of being able to read is not just about being at school. 

Whilst providing students with strategies that will support them across the curriculum and beyond, the link will also be made between reading for pleasure and being a successful reader.

Sarah, added: “Reading for Life will support students in selecting engaging reading material and also encourage them to take responsibility for this aspect of their reading development. On behalf of the school I would very much like to thank Harwich Haven Authority for their generous contribution to the school and the children of our community.”

“Over the past year we have supported many community initiatives in and around the local area, but the Harwich and Dovercourt High School’s Reading for Life initiative struck a particular chord with us,” says Neil Glendinning, chief executive, Harwich Haven Authority.

“By working in partnership with the school we were able to offer valuable work experience earlier this year to five Year 10 pupils in our marine support, engineering and IT departments.

“As a local employer we’re very keen to support local educators as they equip and enable young people to reach their full potential. It’s beneficial to us too, because they might be applying for a job with us here at Harwich Haven Authority in the future.

“Employers require high levels of education, particularly in literacy when recruiting into the workplace. So, we hope that the new Harwich and Dovercourt High School Year 7 students embrace the Reading for Life initiative and enjoy their learning journey.”  

 

We need your feedback!
Stakeholder consultation survey
Following recommendations made by Department for Transport we are conducting a consultation with our stakeholders to ascertain your views on the effectiveness of our trust port model.

About Harwich Haven Authority
As a trust port we have no shareholders, which means any surplus that we make is reinvested into the business for the benefit of stakeholders. Our income is generated from conservancy and pilotage tariffs levied on commercial port users – and we do not receive financial support from Government.

We are committed to delivering stakeholder services in the most efficient and cost effective way. We do this by continuously reviewing our operations to ensure we deliver high quality and good value for money services.

Your feedback is really important to us
When we have gathered the views of all stakeholders we will publish, via our website, a full and comprehensive report of our findings in early 2018.

The short, easy to complete survey will be live until 27 October, 2017. We are not collecting personal information but we do ask you to let us know what type of stakeholder you believe you are.

COMPLETE THE SURVEY

 

Harwich Haven Authority is delighted to announce the appointment of Jake Storey as chief financial officer.

Jake has over 25 years’ experience in the shipping industry and prior to joining the Authority he was a strategic advisor to the anti-bribery business TRACE International.
Starting his career in the maritime industry working for Hill Samuel Merchant Bank, he worked for, and advised Wallems, Escombe Lambert, Gellaty, Lambert Brothers, Lavino Shipping and the Wescol group.

Jake has also held senior positions with Gearbulk Group as their chief risk officer and with  Inchcape Shipping Services UK as chief financial officer.
He holds a MBA from Manchester Business School and is a chartered accountant and a qualified corporate treasurer. He also has a BA Hons in History and Politics from Keele University.

Last month the then largest container ship Madrid Maersk arrived at the Port of Felixstowe’s newest quay on her maiden voyage.

To manage her, and future generations of mega vessels, Harwich Haven Authority pilots and Svitzer Tug Masters use HR Wallingford’s UK Ship Simulation Centre to train and develop the best methods to handle these ships. The collaboration also determines the limits of the conditions in which vessels can enter and leave the port safely.

Neil Glendinning, CEO of Harwich Haven Authority, said: “Harwich Haven Authority Pilots safely conducted the Madrid Maersk on her inaugural visit to the Port of Felixstowe in very challenging environmental conditions.

“Preparation for the arrival of this first of the second generation Maersk Triple E Class vessel had included detailed feasibility simulation studies at HR Wallingford, which gave our Pilots the confidence to safely handle the largest vessel in operation in such challenging conditions, and to deliver the highest level of service to one of our major customers.“

Pilotage on entry into Felixstowe was carried out by Captain Ian Love in adverse weather, with wind speeds of between 28 and 35 knots with occasional gusts above 40 knots, which had been shown to be feasible in the simulator.  Initially two Svitzer tugs provided escort towage from the end of the main channel to the harbour where they were joined by a further two Svitzer tugs to conduct harbour towage and safely berth the vessel.  Text book transit was achieved with one tug towing indirect and the other pushing indirect, using methods developed and training provided using the simulators.

HR Wallingford used data provided by Maersk to construct an accurate hydrodynamic model of the Madrid Maersk prior to the ship build being completed.  Harwich Haven Authority Special Category Ship pilots carried out familiarisation sessions with the Pilots working alongside Svitzer Tug Masters in integrated tug simulators within HR Wallingford’s UK Ship Simulation Centre in Oxfordshire, to determine how the ship would handle in comparison to other large container ships, and to determine the limits within which the new vessel could be manoeuvred safely.

Captain Love commented: “The hydrodynamic forces acting on these mega container vessels are enormous, often peaking at 900 tonnes. For a pilot, the ability to understand, quantify, and use these forces to their advantage has never been greater. For the Ship Owner and Captain the knowledge that a full and accurate feasibility study has been carried out goes a long way to fulfilling their risk assessment and placing them at ease.”

Dr Mark McBride, HR Wallingford’s Ships Group Manager, said: “The state-of-the-art Ship Simulation Centre at HR Wallingford provides the perfect platform for the Harwich Haven Authority Pilots and Svitzer Tug Masters to carry out feasibility and design studies for the ever increasing size of container ships arriving at the port.  We have developed accurate ship manoeuvring models to simulate close quarters operations, with the Pilots and Tug Masters using the integrated ship and tug simulators for their continued training and development.  This level of precision enables us to continue to provide the highest level of service to satisfy the demanding requirements of the container ship industry.”

Ends