One of the UK’s biggest private infrastructure projects will be officially unveiled today with the opening of £400m of Liverpool2.
Liverpool2 is one of Europe’s most modern container terminals and will be able to handle some of the world’s biggest ‘megaships’.
BusinessCloud was given an exclusive tour of the facility, which remarkably includes a reclaimed 16-hectare piece of land from the River Mersey that is big enough to house the home grounds of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton.
It’s now the home of five red 92-metre high ship-to-shore cranes that are able to load and unload some of the biggest vessels in the world.
Prior to the opening, Liverpool could only accommodate five per cent of all the world’s vessels but following the investment, which has included a new quay wall and dredging of a new 16.5m deep berthing pocket, Liverpool2 is equipped to handle 95 per cent of the world’s ships.
Even more impressive than the sight of the megaships that will soon be heading for Liverpool2 – which was visited by Transport Minister John Hayes MP recently – is the clever technology you can’t see which will enable lorry drivers to load or unload cargo without having to leave their cab.
Caroline Clark, business and automation process manager at Peel Ports Group, says the project has moved Liverpool2 to “the top of the Premier League” of container terminals.
Prior to the opening, the port could accommodate ships with a maximum capacity of 3,000 containers; however Liverpool2 means it can service vessels with a maximum of 18,500 containers.
Ports measure containers in TEUs (20ft equivalent units) and Liverpool2 will be able to double its capacity to 1.5million TEUs. Only technology enables them to track all the container movements.
Liverpool2 is an investment by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company Limited which is part of the wider Peel Ports Group.
The Peel Ports Group is in turn owned, 50.1 per cent by the Peel Group and 49.9 per cent by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (DAWM) – formerly known as Rreef Infrastructure.