THE long-awaited £1.5billion London Gateway superport will open for business today, after the first cargo ship docked last night.

Its arrival heralds a new era for south Essex with the beginning of operations at the port’s first berth.

The superport, in Stanford-le- Hope, will be up-and-running after ten years of planning, building and developing at the brownfield site, which was home to an oil refinery until 1999.

Eventually, 32,000-plus jobs will be created – and tonight’s symbolic arrival of the 58,000 tonne vessel from South Africa laden with wine and fruit has been a long time coming. Kamal Aggarwal, a partner at law firm Thomson Snell and Passmore, which has been heavily involved at all levels of regeneration in the Thames Gateway, said: “The ship’s arrival is a landmark in the development of the UK’s first deep water port for generations and also for the regeneration of the Thames Gateway.

“The development represents a huge opportunity for job creation and economic development, at local and national level.”

Labour councillor Andy Smith, Thurrock councillor for regeneration, said: “The project is of enormous importance to the economy and regeneration of this borough. Together, the port and logistics park will provide thousands of jobs. It is one of the largest investment projects in the UK.”

MOL UK logistics, the port’s first customer, owns the vessel MOL Caledon, which will be shipping in goods on behalf of wine importer JF Hillebrand and fruit importer Chingford Fruits. It is due to arrive at about 11 tonight and will be unloaded throughout tomorrow.