Further UK container port capacity required by 2006

One of the UK's largest port operators, Associated British Ports Holdings, has warned that greater container port capacity will be required within two years.

ABP Group Chief Executive, Bo Lerenius, said: “It is now widely recognised that there is an urgent need to deal with the imminent capacity shortage facing the UK ports industry and the wider economy. As the government made clear last week, the national economy would be harmed if we fail to deal with port capacity constraints.”

Responding to environmental groups opposition to the proposed ports, the House of Commons’ Transport Select Committee, said that it would be "unacceptable" to hold up key decisions on port expansion until the formulation of a national ports plan.

ABP said it fully supported the government and its approach that "proposals for port expansion should be treated as far as possible in the same way as other commercial and industrial developments”.

This approach was set out by the Department for Transport’s policy document, Modern Ports, in 1999 and was reaffirmed by the government’s response to the Transport Select Committee report.

Though no date is yet set for a final decision on the inquiry, which was completed in October last year, ABP maintain that the government and the Transport Select Committee are in broad agreement that applications which are already in the system should not be held up.

The government said last week: “The promoters of those applications have a reasonable expectation of early determination and it is widely recognised that port capacity constraints will soon start to impose costs on shippers to the detriment of the national economy.”

A new £600 million port facility planned for Southampton, the subject of an inquiry, is opposed by environmental pressure group Portswatch. The group want existing port facilities to be upgraded rather than additional terminals encroaching on surrounding coastal wildlife areas.

Port operators are also planning other super-terminals for Harwich and Essex.

The port facilities at Felixstowe are currently being redeveloped to handle up to five million containers a year.

(SP)