2015 Mediterranean box traffic to reach 91.6m TEU

P&O’s investment in Shellhaven on the north bank of the Thames at Thurrock, will be to the tune of £700m to make the former oil refinery Britain’s largest container port. Phased development is planned out for the next decade and beyond. Another £700m is earmarked for the adjacent business park, which is to be self-financing and operate in partnership with Shell UK.

Import-export traffic is expected to rise by 33%-43% by 2015, with transhipment to grow by 41%-50.5% to 33.2m-39.8m TEUs.

Significantly, OSC predicts an explosion in transhipment traffic over the next five years, forecasting growth of between 80% and 97% as terminals handle 23.5m-25.7m TEUs of non-local cargo. This boost will be driven by the continuing globalisation of the world economy, by the introduction of ever larger ships, faster feeder vessels, increasing demand and the expansion of inter-regional markets.