Passengers & Cruises

The UK’s premier cruise port, Southampton is home to the UK fleets of both P&O Cruises and Cunard Line – part of the Carnival Group – and is also used regularly by Royal Caribbean International, Fred Olsen Cruise Line and Saga Holidays. In the last six years, Southampton’s cruise business has seen impressive growth – the number of passengers passing through the port has doubled, ushering in a new heyday of cruising. To cater for this growth, ABP has invested over £22m in major refurbishment programmes at its two existing passenger terminals (the Mayflower and Queen Elizabeth II), as well as providing the new City Cruise Terminal.

In 2007, ABP invested £9m in City Cruise Terminal, following a seven-year deal with Royal Caribbean International. The newly upgraded first-class terminal boasts an enlarged reception area with 50 check-in desks, enhanced security capabilities and larger waiting and baggage-reclaim halls.

In December of the same year, ABP announced plans for a fourth cruise terminal. After signing a major 20-year contract with Carnival, ABP announced that it would invest £19m in the new terminal, which is due to be operational by April 2009.

Ro-Ro

Its superb facilities, handling experience and excellent transport connections make the port an increasingly popular location for ro-ro traffic, especially in the burgeoning deep-sea car trade. One of the UK’s leading ports for vehicle imports and exports, Southampton handles over 664,000 vehicles each year, with the total trade value of its vehicle business estimated at £6bn.

Southampton is highly experienced in handling all sizes of vessel and cargo, including heavy-wheeled vehicles. Regular deep-sea and short-sea services by all major ro-ro lines serve Australasia, the Far East, the Middle East, Africa, USA and South America, as well as the Mediterranean and mainland Europe. A wide range of car manufacturers ship vehicles through Southampton, including Renault, Ford, Land Rover, Jaguar, Toyota and BMW, and the port is Honda’s UK export hub.

The 80 ha of dedicated vehicle storage and distribution compounds are rail-connected to receive regular specialist car trains, and have adjacent deep-water berthing that accommodates all sizes of ro-ro vessel and ramp configuration at any state of tide. ABP has invested over £8m in two multi-deck car terminals – Southampton International Vehicle Terminal and Empress Terminal – the only ones of their kind in the UK, with a combined storage capacity of 5,200 vehicles. The port’s value-added services, including pre-delivery inspections and vehicle-enhancement work, are invaluable to customers. A third multi-deck is currently being constructed in the Eastern Docks.

Containers

Southampton’s five-berth container facility – operated by DP World Southampton (known as Southampton Container Terminals until July 2008) – is the second largest container operation in the UK and one of the fastest-growing in Europe.

The container terminal sits on over 86 ha of operational land, with 1,350 m of continuous quay, which enables four deep-sea vessels to be handled simultaneously, and a fifth berth able to accommodate vessels up to 150 m, with a 100-tonne mobile harbour crane which accommodates feeder vessels.

During 2007, DP World Southampton increased its terminal footprint by 23.5 additional acres, purchased 15 new straddle carriers and recruited over 100 additional operational staff. This year (2008), DP World Southampton will take delivery of two new super post-panamax gantry cranes each with an outreach of 22 containers wide. Both cranes will come into operation in June. An order for a further two new super post-panamax gantry cranes has been placed. These cranes will be the same specification and manufacture and will be delivered into operation in August 2009.

Dry Bulks

Southampton is a growing force in the import and export bulk-cargoes sector. A 5-ha multi-user Bulk Terminal is situated in the port’s Western Docks, dedicated to the handling of dry-bulk cargoes and minerals, including animal feed, fertiliser, scrap, aggregates and marble chippings. It is operated by Solent Stevedores Ltd, a specialist independent stevedoring company.

The volumes of bulk handled at Southampton have soared in recent years and, with growth set to continue, ABP has enhanced the handling and storage facilities at Bulk Terminal. A £6m investment has provided 2 Gottwald mobile harbour crane. The terminal has recently been expanded into the King George V Dry Dock, providing a further 2.8 ha of land for dry-cargo handling.

The bulk-handling terminal at Berths 107 to 109 currently handles around one million tonnes of cargo a year. A purpose-built glass-processing facility operated by Recresco – the first of its kind to be built in a UK port – processes used bottle-glass into refined glass cullet, which is then shipped around the UK and abroad for use in the bottle-making industry.

A flour mill, operated by Rank Hovis, imports and processes around 70,000 tonnes of wheat each year. An export grain-silo terminal is located in the port’s Eastern Docks, operated by Southampton Grain Terminal Ltd. The terminal has a 28,000-tonne capacity and can accommodate vessels of up to 52,000 dwt.

Fresh Produce & Perishables

As the sole UK import port for Canary Islands produce, Southampton has extensive specialist facilities dedicated to this trade. Canary Islands Fruit Terminal provides 14,500 sq m of cool and cold storage with a temperature range of -2ºC to +15ºC, and has deep-water berths capable of accommodating two ships simultaneously. Each year, the port handles around 80,000 tonnes of fresh produce, including tomatoes, peppers, avocados and cucumbers.

Liquid Bulks

Southampton’s liquid-bulk traffic comprises mainly crude oil. The Esso and BP oil refineries at Fawley and Hamble handle over 28 million tonnes of oil and petroleum-related products.

Copyright © Associated British Ports Holdings Ltd 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact us