Marine, Safety & Environmental Services
Oil Spill Contingency
The Port has in place an Oil Spill Plan as required by the Merchant Shipping Regulations 1998. The Plan contains procedures for responding to small spills internally to dealing with significant spills that utilises external resources.
The Port regularly takes part in training exercises and has 16 staff trained to MCA Level 1 in oil spill response and 7 trained to MCA Level 4 who act as On Scene Commanders and may also call upon external oil spill response contractors if required.
Carbon footprint
Climate change is at the forefront of public opinion and all businesses and industries are under pressure to contribute to the reduction of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) output. However before such changes can be made it is important to understand how the Port is using energy and where CO2 is being produced. To this end the Port has carried out a Carbon Footprinting exercise in conjunction with the Carbon Trust to gain a better understanding of how energy is used in the business and to highlight any areas of improvement.
The Port's annual energy consumption in 2007, excluding the car terminals and International Passenger Terminal, was 6.8Gwh (6,755,474Kwh) with lighting accounting for nearly 70% of usage.
Clean Tyne Project
In 1989, the Port of Tyne joined in partnership with the four riverside councils of Gateshead, Newcastle, South Tyneside and North Tyneside, in an effort to combat the problem of debris and litter in the River Tyne and the Clean Tyne Project was formed.
The Clean Tyne Project carries out surveys of the River Tyne between the sea and Newburn/Ryton, every 3 months. The river is split into 106 zones which are awarded grades of A (least debris) to E (most debris). This allows the Clean Tyne's debris collections vessels, the Clearwater and the SITA Eater, to target debris hotpots.
The Clean Tyne Project also arranges River Bank Raids of which there are a minimum of 8 per year (two in each Council area). Since 2005 there have been 31 River Bank Raids involving around 25 local businesses and 600+ volunteers who have cleared approximately 50 tonnes of rubbish!
For further information on the Clean Tyne Project visit their website.