Member Article

SuperPort boost to Liverpool’s international shipping trade

Increased international trade between the Port of Liverpool and countries across Asia could be opened up even further, an event organised by Mersey Maritime has heard.

Bernard Molloy, chairman of the Liverpool SuperPort committee, said a second phase of the £300m Liverpool2 project will be able to host even larger ships.

Work is already underway on developing Peel Ports’ Liverpool2 project at the Royal Seaforth Container Terminal which is on target to host large ‘post panamax’ ships, accommodating two vessels of up to 13,500 TEU at a time.

This phase is due for completion in 2015 but Mr Molloy said a second phase would be able to accommodate even bigger vessels when it opens in the future.

Mr Molloy was speaking at November’s ‘Face-2-Face’ event which is organised by membership body Mersey Maritime and addressed an audience from across the sector, as well as a wider cross-section of members engaged in activity including legal, manufacturing and sport.

He said: “From 2015, Liverpool will be able to handle some of the world’s largest ships which means we will be able to bring vessels in from China and across Asia. Mexico is also set to become a major shipper, particularly for the engineering sector, while the widening of the Panama Canal will also open up trade opportunities from further afield.”

Liverpool2 is part of the wider SuperPort project which includes the new £600m Mersey Gateway toll over the River Mersey in Halton and the International Trade Centre at Wirral Waters.

Mr Molloy, who is Unipart Global Industrial Logistics Director and a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Logistics and Transport, said the logistics sector for the Liverpool City Region was currently worth £2.6bn, employing circa 46,000 people and representing 7% of the city region’s economic value.

SuperPort will bring in more than £1bn worth of investment in new logistics infrastructure to Merseyside and aims to redress the balance of ships which currently enter southern ports instead of travelling up to Liverpool.

Mr Molloy added: “We need to send out the right messages and make a big case for investment into the North West. SuperPort can create 20,000 new jobs but we must invest significantly into our infrastructure. We’re issuing a call to arms to businesses to support our work and SuperPort.”

Mersey Maritime chief executive Jim Teasdale welcomed Mr Molloy’s upbeat message regarding SuperPort and the opportunities it will bring for both Merseyside and the North West.

“It is great news that even larger vessels will be able to dock in Liverpool and shows the potentially massive beneficial effect both Liverpool2 and SuperPort will have on Merseyside and the wider North West region. Mersey Maritime is here to support all businesses, both large and small, to access the opportunities which will arise over the coming years and decades.

“We are focused on helping companies tap into the growing maritime sector which employs 28,000 people and is worth £2.6bn to the Merseyside economy every year. Mersey Maritime is the lead body for the Maritime, Logistics and Energy week, which is part of the 2014 International Festival for Business in Liverpool, and we look forward to meeting as many new businesses as we can.”

Also speaking at Face-2-Face was Ewen Macdonald, director with Sea Vision, which aims to engage young people aged 11 to 22 in the maritime sector and promote career options.

He was joined by Mark Wood from Go4SET, a programme run by charity EDT, which links school pupils between 12 and 14 years old with companies and universities to offer 10-week programmes in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .