Port operator in joint venture to develop key Liverpool asset

Peel Ports is further developing its £400m Liverpool2 container terminal, in a joint venture deal with Swiss shipping line MSC’s Terminal Investment Limited (TiL).

The proposed joint venture will be subject to regulatory clearance.

It has been described by Peel as an “incredibly positive development” for the port of Liverpool, although the group did not disclose specific details on the planned investment.

“It will enable the business to accelerate its ambitious growth plans,” Peel Ports said.

Work has already begun on the second phase of Liverpool2 to provide additional capacity for the expected increase in volumes, the company said.

TiL is active in 29 countries and handles 45 million container units annually.

MSC is the world’s second-biggest container line and this year launched a service between the Mediterranean and Canada including a Liverpool stop.

This is in addition to a separate service from Liverpool to New York that began last year and is run jointly with the world’s number one player, Maersk Line.

Peel created a deep water in-river berth at its Seaforth operation when it built Liverpool2 with the aim of attracting some of the world’s biggest container vessels. The ‘post-panamax’ ships can use the recently widened Panama Canal route.

It is also aiming to attract business from ports in the South of England, arguing that it would give shipping lines and carriers easier access to markets in the North of the country, and also reduce road journeys by trucks transporting containers around the UK from southern ports.

Liverpool and the wider North west area account for about 70% of Peel Ports’ overall profits.

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