New terminal approved at Liverpool

The Port of Liverpool, owned and operated by Peel Ports Group, handled 630,000 teu and attracted three new North Atlantic container services in 2006. It now serves more than 100 non-European destinations around the globe. Its Royal Seaforth Container Terminal, which has absorbed £30m of investment over the past five years, has an annual capacity of 800,000 teu.

The new terminal will be created by building a river wall from the corner of the Royal Seaforth Dock to Gladstone Lock, close to the mouth of the Mersey. The triangle will then be filled in to create a 42-acre terminal with an annual capacity of more than 500,000 teu, which will be capable of simultaneously accommodating two post-Panamax ships. Until now, such ships have only been able to use ports in the south of the country.

Tom Allison, chief executive of Peel Ports, said: “This project is a response to the growing recognition of the Port of Liverpool’s strategic position as the gateway to the richest cargo-generating region of the UK outside London. It is also a project which we are convinced will have major long-term economic and strategic benefits for the region, generating significant additional work and wealth.”