Britain's new container port London Gateway opened on the north bank of the Thames Estuary last Thursday, with the arrival of a ship loaded with cargo from South Africa.

London Gateway features 2.7km of quay, 24 cranes and six deep water berths capable of welcoming the largest of container vessels from around the world.

Over 30% of containers that arrive into the port are set to leave by rail. A new rail freight terminal on site takes cargo to freight terminals in the Midlands and northern England. The port is built on reclaimed land adjacent to the former Shell Haven oil refinery in Essex.

London Gateway chief executive Simon Moore said: "It has taken many years of hard work to get to this point and we remain focused on what we set out to achieve: reduced supply chain costs and more reliability for importers and exporters."

London Gateway is billed as the perfectly situated container port. Fifteen million people live within an 80km radius and a large logistics park is being built alongside to unload the contents of container units for dispatch by road or rail. Bringing port and warehouses closer together could, it has been claimed, take 2000 lorries off the country’s roads every day.

The port is owned by DP World of Dubai and was built without any public finances.

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