Peel Ports Group, the owner of the Port of Liverpool, has announced the arrival of four new operational cantilever rail-mounted gantry (CRMG) cranes opening up an additional 15 acres of yard capacity as part of the ￡400 million (US$550 million) Liverpool2 project.

As the UK’s only west-facing deep-sea terminal, the multi-million expansion of Liverpool2 is in partnership with global terminal business, Terminal Investment Limited Sarl (TiL), according to an announcement.

Peel Ports said once completed it will provide global shipping companies reliable access to major import and export centres at the heart of the UK, to further increase capabilities and support increased demand.

"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," commented David Huck, Managing Director at Peel Ports. "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 over 35 million people."

The new cranes join 12 existing CRMGs and eight ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at Liverpool2, all of which were supplied by the 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.