On May 23, His Royal Highness The Duke of York visited Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Southampton, where he opened Empress Terminal – the port’s new multi-deck car terminal.
Before opening Empress Terminal, His Royal Highness was given a briefing on the port’s current commercial operations by Bo Lerenius, CBE, Group Chief Executive of ABP, and Doug Morrison, ABP Port Director for the Port of Southampton.
His Royal Highness was then shown the control room of the port’s Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) Operation – which was re-commissioned with the latest technology by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, in 2002 – and was given a tour of the facility by the port’s Harbour Master, Captain Steven Young. It is from the VTS control room that ABP undertakes its responsibility for the safe movement of all vessels in Southampton Water, the Central Solent and much of the Eastern Solent and its approaches.
After leaving the VTS control room, His Royal Highness proceeded to Empress Terminal, where he opened the new facility in front of local dignitaries and customers of the port.
Empress Terminal was built following a £4.2m investment by ABP and is intended to accommodate the port’s burgeoning deep-sea car trade. As this trade has more than doubled since 2000, the new terminal was an essential investment. In 2005 alone, the port handled 723,000 vehicles with an estimated customs value of £7.5 billion, reaffirming its position as the UK’s leading car-handling port.
Empress Terminal was built to accommodate the increasing number of vehicles carried to deep-sea destinations by carriers such as Hoegh Autoliners AS, K Line, MOL and Eukor. It will thereby enhance export opportunities for well known marques such as Jaguar, Honda, BMW Mini, Land Rover and Ford. The terminal is the port’s second multi-deck car terminal – the first, Southampton International Vehicle Terminal, operated by shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (UK), came on stream in 2002. Together, the two terminals have a storage capacity for 5,200 vehicles.
ABP’s Group Chief Executive, Bo Lerenius, said, “As His Royal Highness is the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade & Investment, he would appreciate that ports like Southampton are essential – not just to their local communities, but also to international trade itself. It was a special honour to welcome him to Southampton today.”
Doug Morrison, ABP Port Director, Port of Southampton, added, “All of us at the port were extremely proud to welcome The Duke of York and we were delighted that he could open our new Empress Terminal. We were also very pleased to show him our VTS control room, which is responsible for the safety of over 100,000 commercial vessel movements and tens of thousands of recreational craft every year, and is therefore vital to Southampton’s vibrant maritime culture.”
