With the much anticipated London Investment Summit opening Monday, the global port operator DP World has confirmed its $1.3 billion investment in the U.K. Last week, there were multiple reports indicating that DP World was considering a halt to funding in Britain, after criticism by a senior British government official. While presenting a new seafarers’ rights at work law last week, the Transport Secretary Louise Haigh described P&O Ferries – a DP World subsidiary – as a “rogue operator.” Haigh was referring to a 2022 scandal in which P&O Ferries fired 800 UK crewmembers and replaced them with foreign seafarers.
Following the remarks, Sky News reported that DP World had decided to review its investment plans in the U.K. Reportedly, DP World’s Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem had opted to skip the Investment Summit, where he is listed as a special guest.
But on Saturday, the Department of Business and Trade said that DP World would attend the summit as scheduled earlier. “We had to have a conversation following some of the press reports. The investment is going ahead and DP World are attending the summit,” added business minister Jonathan Reynolds.
The $1.3 billion investment is part of DP World’s expansion drive in the U.K. This funding will go into building two additional berths to the four already existing at the London Gateway port. In addition, a second rail terminal will also be constructed.
The fourth berth at London Gateway opened in August. According to the operator, the addition boosted nameplate capacity by one million TEU per year for a total of 3.4 million TEU.
The future berths 5 and 6 are scheduled to be operational by 2027 onwards. Upon completion of the planned expansion, London Gateway is poised to become the largest port in the UK, with its capacity accounting for 55 percent of the UK’s cargo flow through the southeast region.