Major Increase in Shipping Services announced as Second Berth Opens at DP World London Gateway

New shipping services are being announced as the second berth at DP World London Gateway opens for business. Britain’s newest port doubled its capacity as the second berth began operations in May. Five new shipping routes to North America, South America East Coast & West Coast, the Middle East, and Europe are starting. New rail, road, and container services are also announced.

The G6, one of the world’s largest shipping alliances, will start a new service at DP World London Gateway on Friday, 16 May. The arrival of APL’s ‘Margrit Rickmers’ will signal the start-up of the PA2 (Pacific Atlantic) service, which will be a further boost to the growing geographic spread of shipping services on offer at DP World London Gateway port and logistics park. The New World Alliance (APL, HMM, and MOL), which previously operated a similar service to the PA2 at Felixstowe port, will now operate through the G6 Alliance (APL, HMM, MOL, Hapag Lloyd, NYK, & OOCL) and call at DP World London Gateway.

Peter Ward, commercial director of DP World London Gateway, said, “We are very pleased to be welcoming the G6 to DP World London Gateway. It’s another milestone for the team. We are focused on delivering the best possible service for cargo owners and shippers and our connections are growing fast.”

Hamburg Sud and Hapag Lloyd services to South America and the Middle East have recently started. On Friday 2 May, DP World London Gateway received the ‘Santa Rosa’ starting the SAEC1 Service (South America East Coast). On Monday 5 May, the Hapag Lloyd ‘Dublin Express’ called at DP World London Gateway, which started the SAWC1 service (South America West Coast). On Tuesday 6 May, the Hapag Lloyd ‘Tabea’ called, starting up the EPIC service (Europe Pakistan India Consortium and also known as Hapag Lloyd Indian Ocean Service).

DP World London Gateway has signed a deal with X-Press Feeders Ltd, which is a weekly service linking London Gateway directly with Dublin and Rotterdam. The first call was on Sunday 11 May and will be calling weekly. Tabare Dominguez, port commercial manager, DP World London Gateway, said: “It’s an important step forward to continue increasing the geographical coverage of London Gateway, in this case to connect DP World London Gateway directly with the Irish market.” X-Press Feeders is one of the largest independent feeder carriers in the world.

New services connecting DP World London Gateway to inland rail destinations were also recently announced. Freightliner and DB Schenker are now providing daily services to more inland rail destinations. DB Schenker is serving Manchester, Daventry, Wakefield, and South Wales from London Gateway. Freightliner is now serving Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, and Glasgow.

Maritime Transport, the country’s largest privately owned container transport operator, has announced a deal to set up a depot at London Gateway. Maritime will take on a site that gives plenty of room for expansion as it serves the growing needs of its customers at the UK’s new deep-water port.

Pentalver, a leading inland container service operator, recently opened a new container facility at DP World London Gateway. Empty storage, dry repair, and reefer services are provided at the new facility.

All these new services come on top of the recently announced Prologis logistics hub on the London Gateway Logistics Park.

Opened in Q4 2013, DP World London Gateway is the UK’s first 21st-century major deep-sea container port and Europe’s largest logistics park. Owned and operated by DP World and situated on the north bank of the River Thames, London Gateway provides unrivalled deep-sea shipping access to the largest consumer markets in the UK. The port’s location, with its superior operational systems and service, ensures ships load and unload as fast as possible, making London Gateway a world-class asset for the UK.

DP World has a portfolio of more than 65 marine terminals across six continents, including new developments underway in India, Africa, Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Container handling is the company’s core business and generates more than three-quarters of its revenue. In 2013, DP World handled 55 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units). With its committed pipeline of developments and expansions, capacity is expected to rise to more than 100 million TEU by 2020, in line with market demand.

DP World has a dedicated, experienced, and professional team of 28,000 people serving its customers around the world, and the company constantly invests in terminal infrastructure, facilities, and people to provide quality services today and tomorrow, when and where customers need them. In taking this customer-centric approach, DP World is building on the established relationships and superior level of service demonstrated at its flagship Jebel Ali facility in Dubai, which has been voted “Best Seaport in the Middle East” for 19 consecutive years.

This article was originally published on Marine & Industrial Report newspaper Vol 36  No.3  Issue last June 30, 2014.