London Thamesport

London Thamesport is a container seaport on the River Medway, serving the North Sea. It is on the Isle of Grain, in the Medway unitary authority, Kent, England in the United Kingdom.

History

In 1953, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later British Petroleum) developed a large oil refinery, "Kent Oil Refinery", in the south of the Isle of Grain. A fuel depot with an attached port had existed there since 1928. But from 1953 cite web |url=http://www.platinummetalsreview.com/pdf/pmr-v2-i1-023-027.pdf| author=Richards, A.E. | title=New Type Platforming Catalyst Produced and Tested in Europe | publisher=Platinum Metals Review | work=Platinum Metals Rev., 1958, 2, (1) | date=1958 |accessdate=2008-05-21 ] , over ten million tons of crude oil were processed annually on the 4 km² site. This led to the establishment of the oil-fired power station at Grain and dual-fuel capable powerstation at Kingsnorth. In practice, Kingsnorth uses coal.

The refinery was closed on 27 August 1982 cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/history/history/weeklyfacts35.shtml| author= | title=History This week in time | publisher=BBC | work=Where I Live Kent| date= |accessdate=2008-05-21 ] , and work was transferred to other BP locations. The plant was taken over by British Gas (at that time still nationalised), which used a small part of the site for the storage of liquefied natural gas cite web |url=http://www.lngjournal.com/articleJanFeb04p40-43.htm| author=Belmore I.|coauthors=Fuller D.E.| title=The Isle of Grain terminal - The return of LNG to the UK | publisher=Maritime Content Ltd | work=LNG Journal Jan-Feb 2004 p40-43| date=2004 |accessdate=2008-05-21 ] . Three quarters of the site remained unused.

In 1987 British Gas submitted plans to use 0.87 km² of the disused refinery site as a Container port. Building began in 1989. The risk capital financing of the £150 million project, named Thamesport, took place through the operating company Thamesport Ltd. By March 1990 the enterprise had a capacity of approximately 360,000 TEU per year.

Land access to Thamesport was at first exclusively by road. In time the railway line from Gravesend to the Isle of Grain was to be used. A goods station with track and transshipment facilities was developed at Thamesport. A government subsidy of £1.8 million was received. It became operational in January 1992.

By the first half of 1990, the repayment of c. £100 million risk capital put the operator company Thamesport Ltd. into administration. The investment group Rutland Partners LLP acquired 95% of MTS holdings Ltd - the parent company of Thamesport Ltd - in December 1995 for £25 million and took over debts of £27 million. With the new owner, the port was further developed. The capacity increased to approximately 635,000 TEU per year. In 1997, with a turnover of £27.3 million, a profit (before tax)of approximately £2.5 million was made.

In February 1998 Rutland Partners LLP sold their interest in MTS holdings Ltd and small navigation company "Maritime Haulage" for £112 million to the Hutchison Whampoa Group. Hutchison Whampoa also operates two other important ports on the British east coast, Felixstowe and Harwich.

In 2001 Thamesport was developed into a deep-water port. The harbour basin was dredged to a depth of at least 15.5 metres, and the approach to a minimum depth of 12.5 metres, at a cost of £3.5 million. In June 2008, its name was changed to London Thamesport [ [http://www.thamesport.co.uk/ www.thamesport.co.uk] ]

Facilities

The heart of Thamesport is a 655 metre-long deep water dock. It is served by seven crane tracks, and can service vessels with draughts of 14.5m. The temporary storage facility has capacity for 26,000 TEU ; that is 13,000 standard containers. This is fully automatic; 19 cranes automatically move the containers. 635,000 TEU can be processed annually. In the long-term the capacity could be doubled.

Traffic

Thamesport is connected to national road network by the A228. This leads Stoke and Hoo to Strood, where it feeds into A2 towards London and the M2 motorway over the Medway Viaducts to Faversham where it rejoins the A2 which leads to Dover.

The port also benefits from a connection to the single-tracked, standard gauge, freight Hundred of Hoo Railway.

Three British rail freight companies - English, Welsh & Scottish Railway, Fastline Freight and Freightliner - currently have container services to Thamesport. [ [http://www.londonthamesport.co.uk/pressreleases/frmPress.aspx?pid=261 "Thamesport Celebrates Links to the UK's Capital"] : Press Release from Thamesport's owner, Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, dated June 19th, 2008] In the first half of 2005 approximately 25% of traffic to and from Thamesport used the rail link.

External links

* [http://www.londonthamesport.co.uk/ www.londonthamesport.co.uk]

References