Southampton ports sees major investment
DP WORLD has unveiled £40m of infrastructure investment for Southampton, Britain’s second largest container terminal, which was recently awarded freeport status.
The spend at DP World Southampton will include:
- The dredging and widening of the berths to ensure that DP World Southampton will be able to continue to accommodate the world’s biggest ships. This project, which was conducted in partnership with Associated British Ports, was completed before Easter.
- A £10m investment in a new class of eleven hybrid straddle carriers. These vehicles, which lift containers moved by the quay cranes and then service onward forms of transport via road and rail, consume up to 40 per cent less fuel than diesel-electric powered machines.
- A planned £3m investment in the redevelopment of the yard for the storage and delivery of customers’ empty containers. Once completed this will increase capacity by 25%.
- A new Border Control Post (BCP), including UK Border Force and port health inspection facilities, to enable multiple government agencies to expedite checks on cargo entering the country.
A £1.5m extension of a quay crane rail by 120 metres to ensure that the world’s biggest cranes can service all berths at the terminal. Additionally, other quay cranes will be relocated or decommissioned in order to maximise utilisation, speed up quayside loading and unloading, and save customers’ time.
DP World UK CEO Ernst Schulze, says: “At DP World we think ahead to create smarter trade solutions and this investment will ensure that our Southampton terminal continues to grow as a major freight and logistics hub. We are already seeing a surge of interest resulting from Southampton becoming a freeport.”
For more information, visit www.dpworldsouthampton.com
