|
After a very difficult 2009, 2010 came as something of a relief to most people in international shipping. The industry was affected to a significant degree by the downturn in world trade but in the last 12 months has shown remarkable resilience as the volume of trade has rebounded.
It has always been easier to predict the past than the future, and whilst 2010 has been generally positive, at the time of writing there is a great deal of uncertainty about what 2011 has in store. The international debt crisis has not been solved, and with many Governments placing severe restrictions on public spending, the possibility of a knock-on effect in the wider economy cannot be discounted.
Whatever the short term may bring, we remain confident about the long term outlook. Over time the economy will return to sustained and sustainable growth and it is essential that the UK has the right port facilities, in the right locations, to serve the trade.
In this respect we are well ahead of the game. The first phase of the reconfiguration of the southern part of the port - to be known as Berths 8&9 - is well advanced and will be formally opened during 2011. Berths 8&9 remain the only fully-committed deep-sea container terminal development in the UK, and with a capacity to handle the next generation of container vessels, puts us in a unique position to meet the demands of the industry.
We will bring forward the second phase of this development, and subsequently the development of Bathside Bay in Harwich, as the market continues to grow.
|