MP praises ships’ safety at Barrow welcome event
Barrow-in-Furness and Dalton Member of Parliament and shadow transport minister, John Woodcock MP, has praised the safety of a new fleet of nuclear material transport ships.
Members of the community of Barrow-in-Furness and nuclear industry helped welcome to the town the most recent arrivals of the Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL) fleet, Pacific Grebe and Pacific Egret.
John Woodcock MP, who attended the event, said: “It’s great to see first-hand how impressive the vessels are and how seriously you take your safety obligations.”
International Nuclear Services (INS) and its subsidiary PNTL are the world’s leading marine transporters of nuclear materials and have recently completed a fleet replacement programme that has seen three new state-of-the-art vessels arrive in Barrow.
The new vessels mark a £100m investment in the transportation of nuclear materials from the UK and France to Japan over the next 25 years.
Managing Director of INS, Mark Jervis, said: “The vessels are a blend of our home-grown nuclear transport expertise and excellent Japanese ship-building. We have never had an incident involving the release of radioactivity during 40 years and more than five million miles of travel.
“The quality of the vessels shows that we intend to maintain that record and the vessels show we are never complacent about safety and security in either the design, operation or support of our the transport side of our business
“I’d like to pay tribute to INS’s project team for its professionalism and commitment for delivering the three new vessels over the last few years and I’d also like to thank the Barrow community for its support over so many years.”
Guests were invited to the Barrow Dock Museum for a small function before touring the vessels and INS’s Marine Terminal at Ramsden Dock.
Photo Caption: L to R: NDA Chairman, Stephen Henwood, Captain David Hadfield, John Woodcock MP, and INS Managing Director Mark Jervis
