The decision by the Grand Alliance to consolidate all of its deepsea UK calls through Southampton has been a bitter blow for Thamesport, particularly as the Kent port had been looking forward to another record year in 2006.
However, Hutchison Ports (UK), which owns Thamesport, is actively seeking to replace that business and believes that a series of investments at the port will help in attracting new customers — which would, of course, also benefit from the fact that it has plenty of spare capacity.
Container volumes through Thamesport increased by 18% in 2004 and 11% in 2005, and the port had been heading for a 10% increase for 2006.
The Grand Alliance, made up of Hapag Lloyd, NYK Line, OOCL and MISC, business is thought to have represented 125,000 containers a year for Thamesport, about 30% of its throughput.
“We are having discussions with a number of potential customers,” says Hutchison Ports corporate communications manager Paul Davey.
Thamesport’s remaining major customers include Evergreen, Maersk, United Alliance and Hyundai.
After three years of rapid growth, Thamesport has recently completed a number of improvements.
However, Hutchison Ports (UK), which owns Thamesport, is actively seeking to replace that business and believes that a series of investments at the port will help in attracting new customers — which would, of course, also benefit from the fact that it has plenty of spare capacity.
Container volumes through Thamesport increased by 18% in 2004 and 11% in 2005, and the port had been heading for a 10% increase for 2006.
The Grand Alliance, made up of Hapag Lloyd, NYK Line, OOCL and MISC, business is thought to have represented 125,000 containers a year for Thamesport, about 30% of its throughput.
“We are having discussions with a number of potential customers,” says Hutchison Ports corporate communications manager Paul Davey.
Thamesport’s remaining major customers include Evergreen, Maersk, United Alliance and Hyundai.
After three years of rapid growth, Thamesport has recently completed a number of improvements.