To serve the growing trend toward larger container ships, plus challenge competition from giant ports in Europe, UK companies are proposing significant growth in facilities. Simon Jack reports on the plans afoot
A number of proposals in the planning pipeline for major harbour development will enable UK ports to cope with the latest generation of deep-sea vessels and compete with mainland Europe’s largest facilities.
In the past few years, shipping companies have invested in large container ships capable of long-distance trips. These stop only at major ports, with smaller vessels taking the containers to regional ports.
While a number of UK ports are included on the long distance routes, more capacity is needed to cope with growth. Research commissioned by P&O suggests that UK container ports will reach capacity in the next five years.
The proposals include new facilities at the former Shell Haven oil refinery in the Thames Estuary, Bathside Bay in Harwich and Dibden Bay in Southampton.
But these developments will not only provoke objections from environmentalists and local communities. They are likely to end up competing with one another as well as Europe’s biggest container ports, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp.
Paul Orrett of ATIS Real Weatheralls says: “The stakes are high and logic suggests that all three won’t happen.”
At the Shell Haven refinery, two planning applications have been submitted by Shell and P&O. P&O proposes a new port called the London Gateway terminal using 280 acres of land, some of it reclaimed and some owned by Shell.
The development would create a2,300m-long container quay capable of handling annually 3.5m teu (20-ft equivalent unit containers, the measure used by the shipping industry for assessing volumes), and a roll-on/roll-off facility. There would also be a new railfreight terminal.
The other proposal, a joint application from P&O and Shell, is for a 773-acre commercial and logistics park capable of accommodating 10m sq ft of space.
The applications were submitted in January and a public inquiry beginning on 25 February is due to last for up to five months.
Kevin Storey of Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker says: “A lot of land around ports is not necessarily taken up with warehousing but with open land for container or car storage. But Shell Haven is different because it could be used to serve the South East where land is scarce,” he says.
Public inquiry
Paul Spencer of Jones Lang LaSalle says: “The property case for Shell Haven exists almost regardless of the port development.”
At Bathside Bay in Harwich, Hutchison Ports, which also runs the nearby Felixstowe port, wants to build 1,400m of quayside capable of handling 1.7m teu, along with a railfreight terminal. A public inquiry is due to be held next year.
In Felixstowe itself, Hutchison Ports has announced plans to redevelop an area previously used by P&O North Sea Ferries along with the Old Dock Basin area, creating a 1,400m quayside.
The company has applied for a Harbour Revision Order, which will be followed by a public consultation and possibly a public inquiry. This is in addition to the 2,500m Trinity Terminal at the port, for which the secretary of state approved a 270m extension in October. If all the proposed development goes ahead, Felixstowe will have an overall capacity of 5.2m teu a year.
A public inquiry was due to end on 13 December for ABP’s proposals for the Dibden Bay terminal in Southampton. The plans include 1,800m of quayside capable of handling 2.3m teu and an operational area of 500 acres.
Michael Green of King Sturge says: “Dibden Bay is important to Southampton’s ability to compete with ports such as Rotterdam, and it needs a new deep water facility for super-container ships.”
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Key expansions for UK ports |
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SOUTHAMPTON Owner: ABP. Southampton is the UK’s second-largest container port and handles a large amount of other cargo. The first six months of the year saw increases of 29% in vehicles, 16% in containers and 19% in bulk goods. A £4m multideck car terminal opened in April and, on the passenger side, there are plans to open a third cruise terminal next year. |
FELIXSTOWE Owner: Hutchison Ports. Felixstowe is the largest container port in the UK and the fourth-largest in Europe. Plans to extend and redevelop two quaysides at the port would increase container capacity by around 40%. |
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THAMESPORT Owner: Hutchison Ports. A container port, Thamesport is located near the m2 in Kent,35 miles from London. Dredging in 2000 increased the depth of water for vessels coming in and out. A 30,000 sq ft (2,800m2) factory for paper and packaging firm Winpac will be completed at the port in February. |
GRIMSBY, IMMINGHAM, HULL AND GOOLE Owner: ABP. The company has plans to construct riverside terminals at these Humber ports to accommodate increased roll-on/roll-off traffic, coal imports and short-sea container traffic, but only when relevant customer contracts are in place. In August, a £5.6m rail siding to accommodate increased traffic was completed at Immingham. |
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TILBURY Owners: P&O, ABP and Forth Ports. Tilbury is a deep-sea container port within the Port of London. Completion of a second riverside berth has increased its quayside to 600m. Although it is close to the M25, 22% of its throughput is transported by rail. This would increase to 32% if planned improvements to its rail terminal go ahead. |
LIVERPOOL Owner: Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. Liverpool opened a £25m roll-on/roll-off river terminal, called 12 Quays, earlier this year and has made 80 acres close by available for development. This is in addition to the 70 acres being developed at the Liverpool International Freeport Terminal. A 250,000 sq ft (23,250 m2) warehouse for grain trading firm Arkady Feed will be completed in January. |
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HARWICH Owner: Hutchison Ports. This is a general-purpose freight and passenger port offering roll-on/roll-off, container ferry and bulk operations. A public inquiry into the proposed Bathside Bay container terminal opens next year. A four-lane entrance to the port opened in September and there are plans to construct a 51,700 sq ft cement terminal. |
BELFAST Owner: A Trust port, operated by Belfast Harbour Commissioners. The port handles more than 60% of Northern Ireland’s trade and 25% of Ireland’s as a whole. The past two years have seen the reclamation of 60 acres of land for marine terminals, the widening of the port’s main approach and the construction of 377,000 sq ft of space for use by logistics firms. |
