wo major terminal operators have challenged Associated British Ports’ dominant position on the Humber, where the company owns the ports of Hull, Goole, Immingham and Grimsby.

Two major terminal operators have challenged Associated British Ports’ dominant position on the Humber, where the company owns the ports of Hull, Goole, Immingham and Grimsby.

RMS chief executive Peter Aarosin, delivering the annual lecture to the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in London, attacked ABP for its “stranglehold” of the Humber ports, which he said “kills off any entrepreneurial spirit” and handicapped the region’s growth as a maritime hub.

Meanwhile Humber Oil Terminals Trustees (HOTT), the leasehold owner and operator of Immingham Oil Terminal, is planning to seek a harbour revision order to take over the IOT facilities as a harbour authority, removing them from ABP’s control.

It is understood that ABP has not renewed HOTT’s exclusive lease on the terminal. A port masterplan outlines proposals for ABP to take over and make wider use of the facility, which currently serves ConocoPhillips’ Humber Oil Refinery and Total’s Lindsey Oil Refinery – joint partners in Humber Oil Terminals Trustees.