Operators of southampton port ABP Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Operators of southampton port ABP - Lab Report Example (Atkins, August 2011)Southampton port also handles a wide variety of dry bulk like cement, fertiliser, wheat and glass with around 1.7 million tonnes being transported in 2009. UK which is dependent on oil imports receives a large chunk of oil through the Esso and BP oil terminals at Fawley and Hamble. Although these are located close to the Southampton port, it does not fall under the ABP jurisdiction. Estimates suggest that around 28 million tonnes of oil products is handled every year. (Atkins, August 2011)The Port of Southampton has therefore become an important player in the government’s scheme of things not only because it generates such large revenues but also because it generates significant avenues for employment thus boosting the social sector. The Marchwood Sea Mounting is a Defence facility located in proximity to the Southampton port having both road and rail connectivity. (Atkins, August 2011)Apart from this it also has a significant draught of around 15m which is quite capable of handling cargo and container ships. To sustain the growth of the Southampton port one would need to expand its area of operations and this defence facility c ould provide an ideal foil for its expansion. There is however a host of factors that affects the setting up of a vehicle or container terminal. Converting a defence port that would handle limited amount of cargo and transport into a container terminal would require a significant amount of initial capital investment and one would need to study the pros and cons to ascertain the economic viability of this venture. Some of these external factors are as follows 1. With the increase in competition among hub ports and the tendency of carriers to introduce large vessels of the range of 8000 TEU, it has become essential for ports to expand its wharf capacity to cater to these ships. Malacca-Max range of ships of capacity 18000 TEU and large container ships (ULCS) of capacity 12500 TEU would