Liverpool, United Kingdom, has beaten off stiff competition to be named the world’s top port.
Peel Ports, which runs the Port of Liverpool and the linked Manchester Ship Canal, has won Port Authority of the Year for “its operations in Liverpool”.
It saw off other major worldwide ports including Los Angeles, Antwerp and Valencia.
The judges – who read like a Who’s Who of the global shipping industry – cited the Port of Liverpool’s “heavy investment” and “progressive and innovative approach”.
The Port of Liverpool carries more than 33m tonnes of cargo every year and is the UK’s leading west coast port.
When completed in 2015 the Port of Liverpool’s deep-water container terminal will accommodate two of the new breed of super post Panamax container ships at a time.
Currently the Port of Liverpool can handle container ships carrying up to 3,500 TEU (twenty foot equivalent units). With the new deep-water terminal this will increase up to 13,500 TEU.
It will save cost for shipping lines, importers and exporters by reducing emissions and cut congestion on UK roads and rail.
Widely considered the Oscars of global container shipping, the Containerisation International Awards are held yearly to honour the industry’s leading lights.
“We are delighted to receive this award, and see it as recognition of all the hard work put in by the port’s employees over the last few years,” the Port of Liverpool managing director Gary Hodgson, said.
“We have been given tremendous support by businesses across the UK as well as by global shipping lines, and we are truly grateful for it. This award is a timely endorsement of our decision to invest £300million in our new deep-water terminal set to open in 2015.”
In 2011 Lord Heseltine wrote a landmark report with Sir Terry Leahy entitled: ‘Rebalancing Britain: Policy or Slogan? Liverpool City Region – building on its strengths’.
In it he said: “Liverpool’s port…has been growing, is profitable and is in the top five nationally in terms of tonnage. It is poised to grow further as international trade increases. Under the common ownership of Peel Holdings, the very nature of the Port has transformed, with a multi-modal model that spans the river and Manchester Ship Canal.”
And Lord Heseltine welcomed the news.
“It’s fantastic that all this good work and the city itself is being recognised on the world stage. And I am absolutely delighted that the £300million investment is going ahead which will transform the port into one capable of really capitalising on changes in global container shipping over the next few years,” he said.