DP World plans to expand London Gateway into Britain’s largest container port within five years with an investment of around £1bn ($1.3bn).
It would increase the capacity of London Gateway’s port by building two new shipping berths, taking the total to six berths able to receive the world’s largest container ships.
The site will also see a second rail terminal added to handle the expected increase in containerised trade.
By the end of the decade, the full quayside stretching more than 2.5km in length will be able to simultaneously receive six vessels, each more than 400 m long, and boast Europe’s tallest quay cranes at the height of the Big Ben.
Subject to planning approval and regulatory requirements, the expansion is expected to significantly increase the volume of trade at the port, which currently handles nearly 2m TEU annually. The expansion will take the total invested by DP World at London Gateway to more than £3bn, converting the site of a former oil refinery into one of the UK’s largest and most important logistics hubs. The site has most recently seen the addition of a £350m fourth berth, the first to be powered entirely by electricity, and which will soon accept its first ship.
