PSA heads to Great Yarmouth

Singapore: PSA International will spend £30m ($59m) with a partner to develop and run a container terminal in the port town of Great Yarmouth in the east of Britain.

The terminal is aimed at providing congestion-free entry to the country's hinterland, PSA International said in a statement.

The Singapore firm holds 60 percent of the shares in a joint venture with International Port Holdings, an investor in small ports.

The venture has a concession to operate the terminal, which is due to be operational late next year, for 30 years with an option for another 30 years.

The terminal at Great Yarmouth Port will be able to handle the equivalent of 250,000 teu.

It will initially have a 200-metre (656 ft) quay and a 12-hectare (30 acres) terminal with an option to double quay length and terminal capacity in the second phase of development.

"There's a growing demand for feeder and short sea capacity in the UK. The Great YarmouthPort offers the lowest transit times from the Northern European mainland, e.g. from Antwerp or Zeebrugge," Pierre Timmermans, chief executive of PSA's European business, said in a statement.

The port will likely go head to head with nearby Felixstowe, run by rival Hutchison Port Holdings. It will also face competition to its north in the area around Hull where five smaller ports have clubbed together to transship containers.  [30/05/07]