London Gateway to be ready for Olympics

RAMP UP: DP World said it will be adopting an aggressive construction schedule to get the London Gateway project ready for the 2012 Olympics.

DP World hopes to have the $2.96 billion port and logistics park it is building on the banks of the River Thames in Southeast England operational by 2010, its CEO said in comments published on Monday.

Mohammed Sharaf said the Dubai ports operator will adopt an aggressive construction schedule with the aim of having the London Gateway project up and running in time for when the UK capital hosts the 2012 Olympics, quoted UAE daily The National.

“We’d like to be ready as early as 2010. With the project so close to the city, the Olympics will put a lot of pressure on capacity,” Sharaf told the newspaper.

"The 2012 London Olympics could see four million visitors attend the two-week event and is expected to inject billions of pounds into the UK economy."

He said construction contracts will be awarded later this year, with work on the project to begin before the end of 2008.

The project will be opened in phases over a 15-year period, he said.

The UK government last week gave the green light for work to begin on the project, with the Department for Transport (DfT) issuing a harbour empowerment order to London Gateway, which grants official and statutory powers to the new port.

The London Gateway will be built on part of the site of the former Shell Haven oil refinery in Thurrock, Essex. Land will also be reclaimed from the Thames estuary to help form the port.

DP World inherited the project through its acquisition of UK ports operator P&O in 2006.

DP World's plans include a 2,300-metre long container quay with a fully-developed capacity of 3.5 million standard container units a year, as well as Europe's largest logistics park.

The project was approved in May 2007 following a long battle to develop the site between P&O and local authorities, including a public inquiry and a number of amendments to the original plans, in addition to measures to cope with extra road traffic.

RELATED: DP World's $3bn UK project agreed

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