Across the Irish Sea at the Port of Liverpool, the owners Peel Ports Group have welcomed an additional five cantilever rail-mounted gantry (CRMG) container shipping cranes that arrived at the UK port from China.

The delivery which was completed last week forms part of the next phase of growth at Liverpool2, the Merseyside port’s deep-water container terminal (which last month Afloat adds broke its own volume handling record twice). 

Produced by leading Chinese manufacturer, Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC), the five new cranes are the first of two deliveries in 2021, which will complete the set of 22 CRMG cranes operating as part of the £400 million Liverpool2 project, and will provide additional capacity for growing volumes of cargo.

Ready for installing and commissioning, the arrival of this consignment marks the end of a 46 day journey of over 11,831 nautical miles from Shanghai, China. Each crane measures 35 metres in height with a weight of around 500 tonnes. Once completed, the site will have a total of eight STS and 22 CRMG cranes.

David Huck, Managing Director, Peel Ports Group said: “The dynamism and strength of the business gives us the confidence to continue to grow and invest. Throughout 2021, future-proofing will be at the forefront of our business model, driving forward with planned investments in our people, processes and technology.

“We are on course to achieve our ambitious growth plans to drive UK container market share to 20% by 2025. Liverpool2 is already one of the world’s most modern shipping terminals and we have no plans of slowing down any time soon. This recent delivery is testament to this and adds to three additional ship-to-shore cranes already delivered into live operations in December 2019.”

As one of the most operationally efficient and modern terminals in Northern Europe, the deep-water terminal offers ‘future-proof’ facilities, giving global shipping companies reliable access to major import and export centres at the heart of the UK.

David added: “The combination of Brexit-related changes and the impetus provided by COVID-19 has highlighted the vulnerability of supply chains to disruption, prompting a significant number of businesses to look at bringing more activity back to the UK.

“Working closely with the world’s leading shipping lines, we hope to encourage more services to the Port of Liverpool to help alleviate some of the pinch points on supply chains that have previously relied on Southern ports. Improving supply chain resilience could help to support the UK Government’s levelling up agenda by rebalancing economic activity away from the South towards areas in the North.”

Peel Ports Group, in conjunction with its partner global terminal business, Terminal Investment Limited Sarl (TiL), is continuing to develop the deep-water terminal which includes the multi-million expansion at Liverpool2, to further increase capabilities and support increased demand.

Once completed, the £400m container terminal will be capable of handling the largest ships in the world, whilst supporting the UK haulage sector via the very latest landside automated gates and vehicle booking systems.

Work on this second phase of the landside project is expected to be fully completed in the summer 2021 and will be supported by over 150 new skilled jobs on Merseyside.