LONDON Gateway is doubling its capacity after the second berth at £1.5billion superport opened.

The opening ties in with numerous recent business announcements which sees various new shipping services operating out of the Stanford-le-Hope port.

Bosses say these announcements show that the port is growing and becoming well established.

Five new shipping routes to North America, South America East Coast & West Coast, the Middle East, and Europe are starting.

New rail, road and container services are also announced.

The G6, one of the world’s largest shipping alliances, will start a new service at DP World London Gateway on Friday, May 16.

This will see a team of shipping firms, formed of APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mitsui O.S.K Lines, Hapag Lloyd, Nippon Yussen Kaisha and Orient Overseas Container Line, stop at London Gateway as part of two routes taking in Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Le Havre, New York, Norfolk and Charleston, Miami, Jacksonville and Savannah.

The arrival of APL’s ‘Margrit Rickmers’ ship, which can carry more than 5,000 containers, will signal the start-up of that service.

Peter Ward, commercial director, DP World London Gateway, said, “We are very pleased to be welcoming the G6 to DP World London Gateway.

"It’s another milestone for the team. We are focused on delivering the best possible service for cargo owners and shippers and our connections are growing fast."

On Sunday, May 11, a weekly service, shipping containers from London Gateway to Dublin and Rotterdam, began sailing from the port. That is operated by X-Press Feeders Ltd.

And at the beginning of May, shipping firms Hamburg Sud and Hapag Lloyd started calling at the port as part of their routes South America and Middle East routes.

Tabare Dominguez, port commercial manager, DP World London Gateway, said: "It’s an important step forward to continue increasing the geographical coverage of London Gateway, in this case to connect DP World London Gateway directly with the Irish market."

Containers are also being moved out of the port by rail, following recent deals with Freightliner and DB Schenker.

DB Schenker is serving Manchester, Daventry, Wakefield and South Wales from London Gateway. 

Freightliner is now serving Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow.

Lorry firm, Maritime Transport, the country’s largest privately owned container transport operator, has also announced a deal to set up a depot at London Gateway.

Maritime will take on a site enabling it to grow as the port becomes busier.

Pentalver, a leading inland container service operator, recently opened a new container facility at DP World London Gateway.

Empty storage, dry repair and reefer services are provided at the new facility.

All these new services come on top of the recently announced Prologis logistics hub on the London Gateway Logistics Park.