19th April 2012

PORTLAND: Changes at Portland Port

By Harry Walton

Lee Davis has been appointed ad the new business development manager of Portland Port.

Lee joined the company at the end of February and his role is to bring cargo to the port.

He said: “My responsibility lies in developing the ports cargo facilities. The site is currently undeveloped and has a huge amount of potential for the cargo community. We are ideally placed to serve not only the South West but Southern England and the Midlands as well.

“As we move towards a more port centric logistics environment I can see no better place to be than with a port that has no congestion and allows ships to be alongside in twp to two and a half hours.’’

Commercial manager Ian McQuade said: “Lee brings with him 25 years of experience in the freight and logistics industry working within the logistics division of P&O and most latterly for Westerlund the specialist forest products terminal operator.

“We are pleased to have him on board and I look forward to working with him and using his knowledge and experience to strengthen our business.’’

l PORTLAND Port has cemented its place as a top port through a £5 million Queen’s Pier revamp scheme which has boosted berth numbers from six to eight.

The two new berths mean that Portland Port can accommodate larger ships and it brings the total number of large deepwater berths available at Portland from 10 to 12.

This widens the range of ships that can dock at Portland Port to include most Royal Navy and RFA ships subject to draft, large cruise ships and super yachts.

The berth known as Q5/7 can accommodate ships with a 200-metre overall length while the Q6/8 berth can accommodate 220-metre ships. Larger vessels can also be accommodated by arrangement with the duty pilot.

The new berths are already earmarked for use during the Olympic sailing events this summer when super yachts will be able to take advantage of the additional berthing capacity in the run-up to and during the Olympic period.

Commercial general manager Ian McQuade said: “The new berths further enhance the port’s facilities. Portland is an ideal location for the full range of shipping activities and offers the closest available berths to the main EC shipping lanes on the western Channel.”

He thanked nearby residents for their patience during renovation work and said: “We’re aware that the noise of the pile drivers could be heard from quite some distance away, so I want to say thank you to everyone for bearing with us as we made these improvements.

“We believe that the two new berths allow Portland Port to perform better and make an even more meaningful contribution to the South West economy.”