Pendleton positive on port plan

THE new post-panamax facility at Liverpool is great news for the region and the industry, says David Pendleton, business development director of the umbrella group Mersey Maritime.

Lloyds List via NewsEdge Corporation :

THE new post-panamax facility at Liverpool is great news for the region and the industry, says David Pendleton, business development director of the umbrella group Mersey Maritime.

'This new facility can only enhance the port's impact in a positive and significant way, providing business opportunities for existing companies and encouraging further investment by new firms in the region as they realise the advantages of using the port,' says Mr Pendleton (below).

The port of Liverpool is a key economic driver for the Merseyside region and northwest England.

'Its expansion is seen as one of a number of key transformational projects by the North West Regional Development Agency, which has already worked with Mersey Maritime, Peel Ports, Merseytravel, the Northern Way and Network Rail on a GBP10m ($20.4m) project to increase rail freight capacity into the port, allowing further modal shift from road to rail,' Mr Pendleton says.

'With regard to other sustainable distribution advantages, Liverpool has a major positive over other ports. It is centrally located on the west coast of Great Britain and its close proximity to the main centres of consumption and production compared with its rivals means shorter average inland hauls and so lower costs.

'The post-panamax facility will allow shippers to take more advantage of this.'

The long-term vision is to make Merseyside the best business environment in Britain for the ports and maritime sector by 2020, with the River Mersey a key global gateway and a national distribution and logistics centre.

'This new facility will go a long way in helping us achieve this,' he declares.

The present economic impact of the maritime industry on Merseyside supports 19,000 jobs across 830 businesses and contributes GBP1.9bn to the local economy, according to figures from Mersey Maritime.