The Front Page. - Copy 246 (DFDS/LDA form new company, Emergency Test Docks, new Ship.)
24 March 2012
Just in...
DFDS and shipping group Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) have today entered into an agreement to form a new company that combines DFDS’ and LD Lines' ferry routes in the Channel and one route between France and Tunisia. The new company is expected to start operations on 1 July 2012. DFDS will own 82% and LDA 18% of the new company.
The following routes will be included in the new company:
· Dover-Dunkirk (Currently DFDS)
· Dover-Calais (DFDS & LD Lines in partnership)
· Portsmouth-Le Havre (Currently LD Lines)
· Newhaven-Dieppe (Currently LD Lines)
· Marseille-Tunis (Currently LD Lines)
LD Lines is a French ferry company and a 100% owned subsidiary of LDA. It was established in 2003 and currently operates four routes of which one route, St. Nazaire-Gijon, will not be included in the joint venture. LD Lines will transfer four chartered ships and one owned ship to the joint venture. DFDS operates a network of 25 ferry routes and has extensive logistics activities. In the Channel, DFDS operates three ships on the Dover-Dunkirk route and, in partnership with LD lines, two ships on the newly inaugurated Dover-Calais route. Both operations will be transferred to the new company.
Stronger services.
“The new company expands DFDS’ route network in line with DFDS’ strategy of creating a European shipping and logistics network. By combining the capabilities and operations of LD Lines and DFDS, a new and stronger company is formed that is well positioned to deliver the ferry services that are required by our customers in the very competitive market on the Channel,” says Niels Smedegaard, President & CEO of the DFDS Group.
“This new company confirms our strategy to create a European leader in the Channel ferry business. We strongly believe that this is the right answer to the many challenges the industry has to cope with and are confident this fully integrated network will offer our clients a unique flexibility” says Gildas Maire, President of LD Lines.
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The following information just through from DHB....
Emergency services and key agencies from across Kent have been tested in a major chemical scenario at the...
Port of Dover.
Around 150 staff and specialist equipment could be seen in action at the site on Thursday 22nd March, dealing with the aftermath of a mock incident that had supposedly caused casualties.
The Port of Dover remained open throughout the exercise which was organised by the Kent Resilience Forum, as one of a number of countrywide exercises required by the Government to examine multi-agency planning and preparedness at key UK sites.
Chief Executive, Port of Dover, Bob Goldfield said: “As one of the world’s busiest ferry ports we were pleased to facilitate this exercise and work together with our partners in Kent. We take the safety and security of the Port very seriously and such exercises are a valuable way of preparing for potential major incidents at a key UK gateway.”
Kent Police’s Head of Tactical Operations Command, Chief Superintendent Alasdair Hope, said: "Kent Police resources and expertise are constantly put to the test during everyday policing, special operations and multi-agency exercises like this one. The multi-agency exercises are a valuable tool in our policing armoury because they hone our skills and highlight our strengths and any weaknesses - both as individual organisations and as a team.
“Dover is the busiest port in Europe with thousands of people entering and leaving the country every day. In addition, more than 74,000 freight vehicles travel on Kent roads weekly. Given the high volume of human and vehicle traffic there is a greater than normal potential for things to go wrong.
“Our overriding aim is to keep the people of Kent, and its visitors, safe and enhance their quality of life where possible. We can best achieve that by constantly testing, and improving where necessary, our working practices so that in the unlikely event that we have to manage a major crisis, we can quickly and effectively reduce the impact that it may have."
Based on the scenario of a chemical leak from a lorry which has unloaded from a ferry, Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s Incident Response Unit was used at the scene. The unit has the capability to decontaminate or shower large numbers of people who may have been involved in a release of harmful substances. KFRS Director of Operations, Steve Demetriou, said: “This was a highly visual event but we hope that it has reassured residents that Kent’s agencies are regularly working together to prepare for major incidents and we believe those plans have responded well to testing and scrutiny in Dover.”
Working alongside KFRS, the responsibility for decontaminating people lies with the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb). Senior Contingency Planning and Resilience Manager for SECAmb, Steve Carpenter, said: "It is very rare for us to get such an opportunity to test our response capabilities within the Port of Dover to such a scale, so we are delighted to have this opportunity to not only test our plans but also learn from this exercise moving forward."
Meanwhile, the William Harvey Hospital at Ashford received a number of the mock casualties. Peter Johnson, Emergency Planning Manager at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Whilst we deal with emergencies on a daily basis, the exercise has provided us with the opportunity to test specialist equipment and procedures that although rarely needed, would be vital in a real situation. It also gives us the chance to work with other partners and ensure that collectively we can meet the challenges a major emergency might pose."
Ann Sutton, Chief Executive of NHS Kent and Medway said: “The NHS regularly exercises its plans for handling major incidents. Multi-agency events like this are vital to ensure we are all able to work well together, implementing our plans swiftly, smoothly and in a co-ordinated way. NHS Kent and Medway is very pleased to have been involved in this exercise, which has shown that health organisations in the county are well prepared for anything that might occur.”
Dover District Council organised a Survivor Reception Centre in a nearby leisure centre.
Nadeem Aziz, Chief Executive of Dover District Council said: "We are very pleased to be actively involved in this important exercise, and to be supporting this major partnership project. This is part of our ongoing commitment to continue to work with partners, to make sure we work effectively together and stay prepared."
Other agencies playing a key role in the event included the UK Border Agency, Kent County Council, the Health Protection Agency, the Military, ferry operators DFDS and P&O, and the Environment Agency.
* *
are we about to embark on another record breaking Spring? just like the one we had last year? Well it could be.
Weather patterns are fluctuating wildly, snow comes when it is not supposed to, hot sunshine comes when it's not scheduled, and of course as we already know, we have water shortages everywhere with once fertile ground now bone hard.
However all this glorious sunshine concentrates the mind and we focus mostly on one thing... holidaying.
Picture above left shows the hot near-tropical sun sinking over Western Heights recently...I believe we were warmer here than the Sahara at one point. And right on cue to coincide with all this splendiferous weather and thoughts of the annual holiday, LD Lines in partnership with DFDS have announced the acquisition of a new ship for the Dover - Calais run, and here she is..
It is currently called The Barfleur but will experience a name change when it pops up here for service at the end of April.
Full details in our Forum, please click this link here....
http://www.doverforum.com/letters/viewtopic.php?id=9872
For all previous frontpage features ....
Just in...
DFDS and LOUIS DREYFUS ARMATEURS form joint company for Channel ferry routes.
DFDS and shipping group Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) have today entered into an agreement to form a new company that combines DFDS’ and LD Lines' ferry routes in the Channel and one route between France and Tunisia. The new company is expected to start operations on 1 July 2012. DFDS will own 82% and LDA 18% of the new company.
The following routes will be included in the new company:· Dover-Dunkirk (Currently DFDS)
· Dover-Calais (DFDS & LD Lines in partnership)
· Portsmouth-Le Havre (Currently LD Lines)
· Newhaven-Dieppe (Currently LD Lines)
· Marseille-Tunis (Currently LD Lines)
LD Lines is a French ferry company and a 100% owned subsidiary of LDA. It was established in 2003 and currently operates four routes of which one route, St. Nazaire-Gijon, will not be included in the joint venture. LD Lines will transfer four chartered ships and one owned ship to the joint venture.
Stronger services.
“The new company expands DFDS’ route network in line with DFDS’ strategy of creating a European shipping and logistics network. By combining the capabilities and operations of LD Lines and DFDS, a new and stronger company is formed that is well positioned to deliver the ferry services that are required by our customers in the very competitive market on the Channel,” says Niels Smedegaard, President & CEO of the DFDS Group.
“This new company confirms our strategy to create a European leader in the Channel ferry business. We strongly believe that this is the right answer to the many challenges the industry has to cope with and are confident this fully integrated network will offer our clients a unique flexibility” says Gildas Maire, President of LD Lines.
See also news on the new ship below......
********************************************************************************************************
The following information just through from DHB....
Major simulated chemical exercise tests Kent
Emergency services and key agencies from across Kent have been tested in a major chemical scenario at the...
Port of Dover.
The Port of Dover remained open throughout the exercise which was organised by the Kent Resilience Forum, as one of a number of countrywide exercises required by the Government to examine multi-agency planning and preparedness at key UK sites.
Chief Executive, Port of Dover, Bob Goldfield said: “As one of the world’s busiest ferry ports we were pleased to facilitate this exercise and work together with our partners in Kent. We take the safety and security of the Port very seriously and such exercises are a valuable way of preparing for potential major incidents at a key UK gateway.”
Kent Police’s Head of Tactical Operations Command, Chief Superintendent Alasdair Hope, said: "Kent Police resources and expertise are constantly put to the test during everyday policing, special operations and multi-agency exercises like this one. The multi-agency exercises are a valuable tool in our policing armoury because they hone our skills and highlight our strengths and any weaknesses - both as individual organisations and as a team.
“Dover is the busiest port in Europe with thousands of people entering and leaving the country every day. In addition, more than 74,000 freight vehicles travel on Kent roads weekly. Given the high volume of human and vehicle traffic there is a greater than normal potential for things to go wrong.
“Our overriding aim is to keep the people of Kent, and its visitors, safe and enhance their quality of life where possible. We can best achieve that by constantly testing, and improving where necessary, our working practices so that in the unlikely event that we have to manage a major crisis, we can quickly and effectively reduce the impact that it may have."
Based on the scenario of a chemical leak from a lorry which has unloaded from a ferry, Kent Fire and Rescue Service’s Incident Response Unit was used at the scene. The unit has the capability to decontaminate or shower large numbers of people who may have been involved in a release of harmful substances. KFRS Director of Operations, Steve Demetriou, said: “This was a highly visual event but we hope that it has reassured residents that Kent’s agencies are regularly working together to prepare for major incidents and we believe those plans have responded well to testing and scrutiny in Dover.”
Working alongside KFRS, the responsibility for decontaminating people lies with the South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb). Senior Contingency Planning and Resilience Manager for SECAmb, Steve Carpenter, said: "It is very rare for us to get such an opportunity to test our response capabilities within the Port of Dover to such a scale, so we are delighted to have this opportunity to not only test our plans but also learn from this exercise moving forward."
Meanwhile, the William Harvey Hospital at Ashford received a number of the mock casualties. Peter Johnson, Emergency Planning Manager at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Whilst we deal with emergencies on a daily basis, the exercise has provided us with the opportunity to test specialist equipment and procedures that although rarely needed, would be vital in a real situation. It also gives us the chance to work with other partners and ensure that collectively we can meet the challenges a major emergency might pose."
Ann Sutton, Chief Executive of NHS Kent and Medway said: “The NHS regularly exercises its plans for handling major incidents. Multi-agency events like this are vital to ensure we are all able to work well together, implementing our plans swiftly, smoothly and in a co-ordinated way. NHS Kent and Medway is very pleased to have been involved in this exercise, which has shown that health organisations in the county are well prepared for anything that might occur.”
Dover District Council organised a Survivor Reception Centre in a nearby leisure centre.
Nadeem Aziz, Chief Executive of Dover District Council said: "We are very pleased to be actively involved in this important exercise, and to be supporting this major partnership project. This is part of our ongoing commitment to continue to work with partners, to make sure we work effectively together and stay prepared."
Other agencies playing a key role in the event included the UK Border Agency, Kent County Council, the Health Protection Agency, the Military, ferry operators DFDS and P&O, and the Environment Agency.
* *
Dover is enjoying some gorgeous Spring weather..
are we about to embark on another record breaking Spring? just like the one we had last year? Well it could be.
Weather patterns are fluctuating wildly, snow comes when it is not supposed to, hot sunshine comes when it's not scheduled, and of course as we already know, we have water shortages everywhere with once fertile ground now bone hard.
Picture above left shows the hot near-tropical sun sinking over Western Heights recently...I believe we were warmer here than the Sahara at one point. And right on cue to coincide with all this splendiferous weather and thoughts of the annual holiday, LD Lines in partnership with DFDS have announced the acquisition of a new ship for the Dover - Calais run, and here she is..
Full details in our Forum, please click this link here....
http://www.doverforum.com/letters/viewtopic.php?id=9872