EUROPE

PORT BOSSES EXPRESS URGENCY

22 years ago

There is an urgent need for more deepsea container port capacity in the UK. Port operators have expressed their fear that without substantial expansion the UKs major ports will run out of capacity within six years. According to Drewry Shipping, 99% of the UKs imports (in volume terms) enter by sea. Capacity constraints lead to well publicised congestion at peak times and loss of business to European ports.

“Something has to be done and soon, ” Steve Cuthbert, chairman of the UK Major Ports Group, said recently. “There are only two berths in the UK that will take the very biggest container ships, one at Southampton, one at Felixstowe. When the extension of the Trinity III terminal is completed, Felixstowe will have two.”

Richard Pearson, md of HPUK, said:

“The UK will run out of deepwater container capacity towards the end of the decade. UK importers and exporters will increasingly have to ship via the Continent, reducing the competitiveness of UK industry.”