Wednesday, September 21, 2016

DP World Continues to Invest in Land and Handling Equipment at Deep Water Freight Container Terminal

Expansion at Southampton Facility with More Space Plus New Cranes and Straddle Carriers
Shipping News Feature
UK – Of the two container freight facilities run by DP World in Britain, London Gateway, the new deep water port and logistics park which is currently under development along the Essex bank of the River Thames naturally gets most of the headlines. The importance however of the group’s Southampton terminal should not be underestimated, it currently serves 34 ports globally, and the site is under development all the better to cope with the new generation of ultra large box vessels with more land, container handling equipment and quayside cranes being made available.

DP World has taken over an extra 11.2 acres of land at the north east edge of the terminal, creating 640 extra ground spaces to store containers and bringing the size of the terminal to almost 100 hectares and this will also support operations at SCT 5, the terminal’s newest and largest deep-water berth, which opened in March 2014. The new land behind this berth enables shorter run distances for straddle carriers taking containers to and from the stack, improving productivity overall. DP World Southampton has five berths capable of handling three ultra large container carriers (ULCCs) simultaneously, served by 15 quayside cranes and a fleet of flexible straddle carriers.

Besides the acquisition of real estate the company is also investing in 17 new Kalmar straddle carriers which are being constructed in Poland and will help modernise the handling fleet, whilst two additional new super post-panamax cranes are scheduled for delivery in early 2018. Nick Loader, Chief Executive Officer, DP World Southampton, said:

“Container ships are getting bigger all the time. The 11.2 acres of new land will allow us to increase the utilisation of SCT 5. It will also help us to be much more efficient so that DP World Southampton can continue to load and unload vessels faster than any other container terminal in the UK. Our customers tell us that we are the most productive terminal in the UK and we intend to stay that way.”

Photo: The new 11.2 acres with a surface upgrade from Earlcoate Construction and Plant Hire.