DP World to invest £1bn at London GatewayDP World to invest £1bn at London Gateway

DP World has announced a £1bn ($1.31bn) investment to add two berths at its London Gateway terminal in the UK, just as the port’s recently-completed fourth berth prepares to receive its first ship.

The company said it will add two berths and a second rail terminal, bringing London Gateway’s quayside to over 2.5 km by the end of the decade, and enabling it to handle simultaneous calls from six vessels of over 400 m in length.

The port currently has a capacity of around 2.4m teu, which will be boosted by around 1m teu once the fully-electric £350m berth four is operational, and “significantly improved” by berths five and six, said DP World. Throughput has been around 2m teu in recent years.

London Gateway is currently the second-largest port in the UK in throughput terms, behind Felixstowe, but aims to take the crown within five years through its ongoing expansion.

DP World said the expansion will create a further 400 permanent new jobs, adding to the 1,200 people currently employed at the site, which was formerly the location of an oil refinery.

The investment at London Gateway was said to be in jeopardy after P&O Ferries, a DP World company, was called a “cowboy operator” by UK Transport Secretary Louise Haigh as worker protections were unveiled to prevent a repeat of P&O Ferries’ sacking of almost 800 workers.

Related:UK Government boosts seafarer employment protections

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman & CEO at DP World said: “DP World London Gateway will help make Britain’s trade flow in the future by connecting domestic exporters with global markets and delivering vital supply chain resilience for the whole economy. I am proud of this major investment which underlines DP World’s long-term commitment to the UK.”

Ernst Schulze, CEO for Ports & Terminals at DP World UK, said: “With extra capacity comes the reliability and supply chain resilience so important to our customers and consumers, especially in uncertain times such as the pandemic and disruption due to geopolitical events.”