Shipping agent and logistics company Armitt Group is to build a new 120,000-square-metre multimodal terminal at London Thamesport, which could starting handling cargo by the end of the year.
Construction of Armitt Multimodal Terminal South, as the facility will be known, is due to commence this month. Once completed, the operator hopes the facility will handle up to 2m tonnes of high-quality steel products every year, and attract up to 50 port calls from deep-sea vessels of up to handysize, and up to 100 calls from short-sea vessels.
Armitt has signed a long-term heads of terms agreement for the development with Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group, which owns Thamesport. The two are also discussing the prospect of Armitt developing an additional area that would handle aggregates for consumption within Greater London.
“We see the deal as a great opportunity to open up a new supply chain corridor to service European and Far Eastern markets, and it is a crucial link in our plans to develop a fully integrated supply chain across the UK. The investment also ensures we have access to an excellent deep water, rail-connected and uncongested facility that is important to the needs of our clients,” Nicholas Marshall, Armitt’s commercial director, said in a release.
The operator has plans to develop multimodal terminals similar to Armitt Multimodal Terminal South in the Midlands and north of the UK by 2019.
This is not a silly idea – there is a need for such a facility, and Thamesport – with remarkably good road and rail access, plenty of space, and deep water, is well placed to provide it.
Much will depend, as it always does in breakbulk port operations, on the quality of the equipment and the skill and enthusiasm of the work force.