As part of a £140m expansion of the Liverpool2 deep water terminal, Peel Ports has installed four new cranes at the Port of Liverpool and is creating 150 new jobs. Tony McDonough reports

Four new cranes are now installed at the Port of Liverpool as part of a £140m upgrade of the Liverpool2 terminal.

Opened in 2016, the £400m Liverpool2 terminal was a game-changer for the port, giving it the capacity to handle 95% of the world’s biggest container vessels. The upgrade of the facility will also see the creation of 150 jobs.

Port owner Peel Ports says the installation of the four new operational cantilever rail-mounted gantry (CRMG) cranes also sees the opening up an additional 15 acres of yard capacity. The expansion is being delivered in partnership with global terminal business, Terminal Investment Limited Sarl (TiL).

David Huck, managing director at Peel Ports, said: “This significant project milestone demonstrates our continued investment in our customers and response to the Port of Liverpool’s growth trajectory as we increase our capacity and market share further.

“The majority of the UK and Ireland live closer to the Port of Liverpool than to Felixstowe, London and Southampton, and this represents a catchment of more than 35m people.

“The Port of Liverpool’s strategic location provides reliable access to major import and export centres at the heart of the UK, and an unrivalled connectivity to Ireland via our Irish Sea hub.”

Intended to help increase throughput and productivity at the port, the new cranes join 12 existing CRMGs and eight ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at Liverpool2, all of which were supplied by Chinese manufacturer, Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC) and delivered in phase one of the project.

From mid-September 2021, work on the third and final phase of the landside project is expected to be fully commissioned. This will see an additional five acres of yard capacity and another six CRMG’s come online, which will total 10 CRMG’s and 20 acres of yard capacity in this second phase.

This will be supported by more than 150 new skilled jobs on Merseyside, with 90 new people already recruited, trained and deployed this year.