PEEL PORTS INVITE MORGAN RYDER TO AN EVENT THAT MARKS START OF THE LIVERPOOL 2 SUPER PORT
Over 300 industry guests gathered at the Port to toast the launch of Peel Ports’ landmark deep water container terminal Liverpool 2
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Sir Bobby Charlton and ‘King Kenny’ launch operations. Over 300 industry guests gathered at the Port to toast the launch of Peel Ports’ landmark deep water container terminal Liverpool2
Sir Bobby Charlton and ‘King’ Kenny Dalglish pushed the button on the start of dredging and launched a dazzling display of fireworks over the site of the new terminal in the Mersey. The two footballing legends were invited to symbolise the great benefits that Liverpool2 – along with Peel Ports’ investments in port hubs along the Manchester Ship Canal – will bring to both the cities of Liverpool and Manchester.
Guests toasted the new terminal from a riverside marquee under blazing blue skies and warm sunshine. They were later treated an afternoon of entertainment and hospitality with music courtesy of international string quartet ‘Bond’ and Heather Small from Manchester band ‘M People’.
Liverpool2 will see post-Panamax vessels of up to 13,500 TEU to call directly at the Port of Liverpool when it opens in 2015 – the same year the widening of the Panama Canal is due to be completed. The deep water terminal will attract some of the world’s largest container vessels to a centrally-located UK distribution hub and a population of 35 million consumers within a radius of 150 miles. Peel Ports’ £300 million investment will enable container ships from around the world to connect directly with the northern half of the UK and Ireland, and so serve a market estimated at around 4 million TEUs a year.
Of the £300 million overall construction cost for Liverpool2 £150 million has been funded with a twenty-year European Investment Bank (EIB) loan. Jonathan Taylor, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, and amongst the guests at the launch celebration, said that the Luxembourg-based organisation is committed to supporting infrastructure investment. He said: “Liverpool2 will enhance operations of the Port of Liverpool, one of Europe’s leading ports, and enable access by the next generation of larger ships.
The construction programme will include: