| Yarmouth port expansion underway |
| Written by Business Weekly | |
| Wednesday, 30 May 2007 | |
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A start is being made on the £30 million first phase of expansion at the Great Yarmouth Port after legal formalities were completed this week.
International Port Holdings (IPH), a company set up to acquire and invest in smaller port assets, confirmed that it had entered into agreements through which it would invest in and operate the port. Through the agreement with the Great Yarmouth Port Authority, the existing port business will transfer to an IPH subsidiary, Great Yarmouth Port Company (GYPC). GYPC will construct a new outer harbour at Great Yarmouth which will provide enhanced port facilities to cater for larger vessels and a wider range of trades. IPH has also entered into a joint venture with PSA International to develop and operate a short sea container terminal in the new harbour at Great Yarmouth. Great Yarmouth is the principal port servicing the Southern North Sea oil and gas industry. Together with general cargo including forest products, agribulk and aggregates it handles 1.3 million tonnes per annum. IPH chairman Alistair Baillie said construction would now be started and was scheduled to be completed in autumn 2008. “Together with the existing port, we believe that the outer harbour provides good potential to expand existing trades and to expand into short sea, ferry, car, wind farm and oil and gas decommissioning activities,” he said. PSA International and IPHH recently formed a joint-venture company to operate a short sea container terminal at the port. PSA will hold 60 per cent of the shares, IPH 40 per cent. They plan to invest over £30m to develop the first phase of the terminal. When completed, the terminal will have a quay length of 200 metres and a terminal area of 12 ha. The yearly capacity will be 250.000 TEU. In a second phase, the quay length and the terminal capacity can be doubled. Pierre Timmermans, CEO PSA Europe said: “There’s a growing demand for feeder and shortsea capacity in the UK. The Great Yarmouth Port offering the lowest transit times from the Northern European mainland is ideally located. “By starting a short sea container terminal in this port, we can offer our customers a fast, congestion free entry to the UK hinterland.” Estimates have varied but the scheme is projected to create 1,000 new jobs and bring thousands of additional visitors to Yarmouth each year.
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