Following on from the success of 2017, which saw the largest vessels in the world coming to Southampton and more than 1 mill. containers handled by the port, in 2018 even larger mega-ships are being expected.
ABP Southampton Director, Alastair Welch said: »This is set to be anoth[ds_preview]er important year for the Port. Across automotive, cruise, containers and bulks we are anticipating another record-breaking year.« In terms of investment, ABP will be spending an average of 75,000 £ a day on infrastructure, Welch said. The port’s five year investment programme is worth 1 bn £.
The Port of Southampton is the UK‘s number one export port, handling 40 bn £ of exports every year including 90 % destined for countries outside the EU. The total trade handled by the Port is worth some 75 bn £. The Port of Southampton serves as the UK‘s number one port for automotive exports, it handles over 1.5 mill. vehicles every year. It is also home to the UK‘s second largest container terminal and each year handles around one million containers.
Over the past five years, more than 280 mill. £ haven been invested in the port, including more than 50 mill. £ in new state-of-the-art vehicle export facilities. The Port‘s newest vehicle terminal was recently opened.
Southampton sees over 500 cruise calls each year bringing 2 mill. passengers. In addition, the Port hosts some 3 mill. ferry passengers travelling to and from the Isle of Wight. Ports operator Associated British Ports (ABP) controls 21 ports and other transport related businesses in the UK.
