London Gateway clears final hurdle

The UK’s Department for Transport has issued a Harbour Empowerment Order to London Gateway, delivering official and statutory powers to the new port. Construction work will begin later this year on the 1,850 acre site, 25 miles from central London, near Stanford-le-Hope, South Essex. DP World is investing in excess of £1.5bn in the project, which it claims is the largest capital investment initiative in the UK. The project is also set to become the largest employment creation project in the country.

London Gateway chief executive, Simon Moore, said: “London Gateway will be a port-centric logistics platform of a size and scale unique in the UK. Our customers will be able to cut costs from their supply chains, increase efficiency and reduce their environmental footprints.”

When completed, the port is planned to be the most fully automated in the country, adding an additional 3.5m teu to the national port capacity.

No stranger to high throughput, DP World handled more than 43.3m teu at its ports in 2007, an increase of 18% on 2006.