Global logistics giant DP World today announced a £1-billion expansion of London Gateway to make it Britain’s largest container port within five years. The company will increase the capacity of the port by building two new shipping berths, taking the total to six berths able to receive the world’s largest container ships. The site will also see a second rail terminal added to handle the expected increase in containerised trade.
By the end of the decade, the full quayside, stretching more than 2.5km in length, will be able to simultaneously receive six vessels, each more than 400 metres long, and provide Europe’s tallest quay cranes, as high as Big Ben.
The expansion will take the total invested by DP World at London Gateway to more than £3bn, converting the site of a former oil refinery into one of the UK’s largest and most important logistics hubs, says Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group chairman and chief executive officer at DP World.
The site has most recently seen the addition of a £350m fourth berth, the first to be powered entirely by electricity, and which will soon accept its first ship.
Ernst Schulze, chief executive officer for ports and terminals at DP World UK, said London Gateway’s location and transport infrastructure were ideally placed for expansion.
Subject to planning approval and regulatory requirements, the expansion is expected to significantly increase the volume of trade at the port, which currently handles approximately nearly two million TEUs annually.
