First ship for DP World’s London Gateway

The first scheduled ship to dock at the port, operated by MOL Liner, received exports and delivered containers carrying a variety of cargo, including fruit and automotive parts, which will be distributed across the country over the coming days. The MOL Caledon is part of the South African Europe Container Service (SAECS) which is made up of a consortium of shipping lines including MOL, Maersk, DAL and Safmarine.

According to a company statement the new port is located closer to major population centres of London, Birmingham and Manchester than other ports that are capable of handling the world’s biggest ships and will reduce transport costs for exporters and importers by reducing millions of trucking miles from supply chains.

The port also provides 21^st Century infrastructure for shipping lines that are building bigger ships. The next generation of ships known as ‘ultra large container ships’ (ULCS), are up to 400 m long and can carry more than 18,000 teu.