Dredging complete at DP World Southampton

DP World announced today that Southampton, Britain’s second largest container terminal, will benefit from a major programme of investment in 2021.

According to the company, the programme is designed to take the Southampton terminal up to the next level as a premier international freight and logistics hub.

DP World Southampton is part of DP World, and one of its two UK deep water ports with freight rail terminals which were awarded Freeport status by the Government last month.

Ernst Schulze, Chief Executive of DP World in the UK, said: “At DP World we think ahead to create smarter trade solutions and this £40m programme of investment will ensure that our Southampton terminal continues to grow as a major freight and logistics hub.”

The new infrastructure investment is designed to provide customers with speed, security, reliability and flexibility and will include:

• The dredging and widening of the berths;
• A £10m investment in a new class of eleven hybrid straddle carriers;
• A planned £3m investment in the redevelopment of the yard for the storage and delivery of customers’ empty containers;
• A new Border Control Post (BCP), including UK Border Force and port health inspection facilities, to enable multiple government agencies to expedite checks on cargo entering the country;
• A £1.5m extension of a quay crane rail by 120 metres to ensure that the world’s biggest cranes can service all berths at the terminal. Additionally, other quay cranes will be relocated or decommissioned in order to maximise utilisation, speed up quayside loading and unloading, and save customers’ time.

The dredging project, which was conducted in partnership with Associated British Ports, was completed before Easter. The contractor for the project (Boskalis) used hopper and backhoe dredgers to complete the works. Thanks to the dredging and widening of the berths, DP World Southampton will continue to accommodate the world’s biggest ships.