The common user facility, the first building constructed by London Gateway operator DP World as the anchor for its logistics park, was opened on 20 July by UK transport minister for shipping Robert Goodwill.
London Gateway deepsea container terminal on the lower Thames began operations in Q1 2014 and is already expanding its quayside handling capacity with a third berth under construction that will come into operation in a year’s time.
Also present for the launch of the common user facility were DP World group chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulaymen and CEO Mohammed Sharaf. The common user facility will give shippers the opportunity to change the way they traditionally operate their businesses, Graeme Clarke, London Gateway implementation director, told IHS Maritime.
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“Many of the base cargo companies here serve major UK supermarket and retail end-users and are using this strategically located facility to cut out a lot of their intermediate transport costs,” he said. The common user facility is also being used to split loads that are intended for different destinations.
Clarke pointed out that it was entirely up to users how they wished to use the space they were renting, “it’s a business in its own right but is also designed to be an incubator of creative logistic solutions, to encourage shippers to use us more”.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
