Liverpool2 Terminal Open for Business

 

Liverpool2 was officially opened Friday, November 4, 2016 by the U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade, Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP, during an event attended by nearly 300 customers and stakeholders, complete with pyrotechnics and a performance by English singer Alison Moyet.

 

“Today marks the beginning of a new era for the Port of Liverpool. Our investment will help global shippers to transport cargo more efficiently to their end destination with lower costs, congestion and carbon emissions,” said Mark Whitworth, CEO of Peel Ports, one of the U.K.’s biggest port operators who invested £400 million to open the terminal, making the initiative one of the nation’s largest private sector infrastructure projects.

 

The construction for the terminal site, which is large enough to accommodate the stadiums of all four major Liverpool and Manchester football clubs, saw approximately 16 hectares reclaimed from the sea. The terminal now includes a new 854-meter quay wall and land created from 5.5 million metric tons of sand and silt dredged from the Mersey.

 

Developed in response to changing trading patterns and shipping industry trends toward the use of ‘mega’ oceangoing containerships, Liverpool2 will be able to handle the biggest cargo vessels in the world. The terminal will provide an ocean gateway for U.K. importers and exporters with road, rail and canal connections linking directly to the heart of the U.K. mainland, accessing a catchment of more than 35 million people (nearly 58 percent of the U.K. population).

 

“Liverpool is in the right location, providing state-of-the art facilities and technology, and offers a real competitive advantage with a shorter supply chain and providing an all-water route right to the heart of the U.K. via the Manchester Ship Canal,” Whitworth said.

 

Whitworth continued, “Liverpool 2 will create a new trading gateway in the U.K.  We are already exploring and succeeding in creating new opportunities for U.K. exporters, having recently signed a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create a strategic alliance aimed at facilitating international trade and generating new business by promoting trade routes between Liverpool and the west coast of South America via the Panama Canal.”

 

The new deep water facility will complement the existing Royal Seaforth Container Terminal at the existing Port of Liverpool, with each terminal having capacity to handle around 1 million containers per annum. With a 45 percent market share, Liverpool is already the country’s largest transatlantic port and the only major container port in the north or west of the U.K. Liverpool currently has around 8 percent of the container market in the U.K., and this figure is expected to rise to between 15 and 20 percent.

 

“Being able to compete on the scale offered by Liverpool2 is only one aspect of how we’re transforming the port. Our real driving force is a commitment to customers, whether shipping lines or cargo owners, and helping them to achieve their business vision,” said Gary Hodgson, Chief Operating Officer of Peel Ports.

 

The site currently has five ‘megamax’ ship to shore (STS) transfer cranes and 12 quayside container handling cranes (known as CRMGs). Ultimately there will be another three STS cranes and 10 CRMGs. These alone have cost £100 million. The apex of the STS cranes is 92 meters,  four meters short of the height of Westminster’s Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben). When the boom is raised, it is more than 130 meters high. 

 

“As well as investing in the infrastructure and technology, we’re providing a more integrated service to our customers, whether that’s at the quayside, through port-centric logistics facilities or our wider network of ports,” Hodgson said.

 

The 112-kilometer radius around Liverpool has the largest volume and density of large warehousing of any U.K. region; more than 28 percent of the U.K.’s large warehousing is located in that area. The North-west has seen a number of significant investments in supply chain warehousing, including warehouses to serve Waitrose, Aldi, Poundland, B&M, Matalan, Missguided and many others.

 

“Liverpool is ideally located to increase our trade with countries west of the U.K., including the U.S., Canada and South America, and this new port opens up even more opportunities with new markets and export destinations for U.K. businesses,” said U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox.

 

The new expanded port facility is expected to create an estimated 5,000 jobs direct and indirect jobs, stimulate further growth in the North-west and help to rebalance the U.K. economy.

 

“Exporting is vital to the economic health of our nation,” Fox said. “This investment at Liverpool2 will boost crucial cargo capacity, create local jobs and is yet another sign that the U.K. is open for business with the world.