Essex: First Ship Docks At Super Port

7 November 2013, 00:00

The first cargo ship has docked at a new "Super Port" in Essex.

The MOL Caledon arrived at London Gateway in Stanford-le-Hope at around 11pm last night. 

The new port is expected to save millions on imports and exports every year, as well as creating thousands of jobs. 

London Gateway's Commercial Director, Peter Ward said: "The port will, when fully developed, employ about 2000 people. Within the logistics part, we anticipate another 10,000 jobs are to be created." 

It is now Europe's largest logistics park, containing 9.25 million square feet of warehouse capacity. 

It's estimated the port the will take in around 2,000 trucks a day. 

Ward is also happy to see the industry returning to the Thames Estuary: "It's somewhat back to the future in many ways, in so much that London was once the biggest port in the world and of course as vessels have grown in size and had to go further afield in search of deeper water. 

"London gateway is reversing that trend and bringing this major port back into the River Thames", he said. 

The development is predicted to bring an additional £3.2billion annual revenue to the UK economy.