Dorset's Portland Port opens £26m deep water berth

Portland Port, in Dorset, has officially opened a new deep-water berth as part of a £26 million development.

The occasion was marked by an event attended by over 150 guests who came together in celebration of the project. A highlight was the Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset, Angus Campbell, unveiling a commemorative plaque in front of port employees, tenants, dignitaries and other attendees.

Work on the redevelopment with Knights Brown started last September and had to be completed against a strict deadline of April- in time for the cruise season.

It involved removal of the existing deep water berth, and creation of a new, extended berth 250m in length with 12m of water depth alongside capable of handling cruise ships up to 350m long.

In addition, the project delivered a 75m extension to port’s Outer Coaling Pier (OCP), used for the handling of dry bulk cargo and also used as a cruise berth, to a length of 250m and 11m water depth alongside.

Overall, the project has provided 16,000 sq m of additional quayside space. It means the port can handle two 350m long cruise ships alongside at the same time. 

Overall, the development has used 380,000 tonnes of locally sourced infill material and 4,800 tonnes of steel.

Chief executive of Portland Port Bill Reeves said: ''This redevelopment is a tremendous vote of confidence in the port and the local economy.

“It is the largest single investment in Portland Port and its infrastructure in its history, and one of the large redevelopment projects in the area in recent years.

“It sets the stage for significant further growth in the future at the port and for the local economy through jobs and local supply chain.

“I wish to thank all of our partners and contractors for their support during the course of the redevelopment, including members of the local community, our tenants at the port and neighbouring businesses as well as our managing contractor Knights Brown for their exceptional project delivery.

“We’re also grateful to HSBC UK for its support with an eight-figure financial package to enable this work to go ahead.”

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Knights Brown co-hosted the opening ceremony with Portland Port. 

Managing director at Knights Brown Kevin Valentine said: “I am delighted to see the berth fully operational having been delivered early and on budget.

“When we embarked on delivering this for the port there were many who thought that it couldn’t be delivered within the required timescale, cost and quality.

“However, through true collaboration between all partners on the project we have achieved everything that we set out to.  I would like to thank all of the partners involved in the success of this scheme but in particular Portland Port who had to foresight to understand that true collaboration really does work.”

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