By Richard Morton, projects director, Haven Gateway.
In the fast-moving world of ports and logistics, dryports (and the added value they can deliver) are getting higher on the agenda. Dryports offer many virtues: increasing the capacity of sea ports under pressure; enabling cargo to be whisked inland with minimal delay; offering ‘green’ supply chain opportunities; providing critical hubs to serve the import/export needs of landlocked countries; helping to provide trade growth in developing countries.
It’s clear that dryports have many common features but also many differences; when it comes to the detail they are, essentially, what you make them.
For a long time the proposed London Gateway container terminal on the River Thames seemed speculative. Announcements that construction was starting always seemed caveated – but now London Gateway is on the way. After some considerable delays, port owner and operator DP World has confirmed that the new deepwater container facility will open in the fourth quarter 2013. Suddenly a proposal that’s been beyond the distant horizon for longer than most can remember is going to become reality.
What does that mean for the Port of Felixstowe and the wider Haven Gateway’s shipping and logistics sector? Undoubtedly it means new competition – we would always support that. Clearly, it’s also a time when we must redouble our efforts and make sure the world knows what the Haven Gateway has to offer.