UK PORT IN DOUBT AS DUBAI REVIEWS PLAN

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/104466/UK-port-in-doubt-as-Dubai-reviews-plan

Dubai Ports World, due to build a new £2 billion container port at Shell Haven in the Thames estuary, is believed to have placed all its major projects under review, putting a question mark over the future of the UK development.
The company received planning consent two years ago for a deep-water container terminal at the site in Essex, which is known as London Gateway.
However, the Dubai terminal operator has been forced to review all its development plans after the Gulf Emirate was hit hard by the credit crunch. Sources say it could postpone the development, which is forecast to create more than 14,000 jobs. It will only press ahead with the terminal if it is convinced of its long-term value.
The port was to be part-funded by debt but those markets have closed, putting DP World under more pressure.
If the port is not built, the UK could lose out to Rotterdam as a new fleet of super-sized container ships takes to the seas in the next couple of years. It would also threaten the regeneration of the Thames Gateway area.
Shell Haven is the historic name for the port on the north bank of the Thames Estuary at the eastern end of Thurrock, Essex. For years it was the location of a Shell refinery. During The Second World War the refineries and oil storage tanks at Shell Haven became a sitting target for air raids, notably in September 1940 during the Battle of Britain.
Under DP World’s plan, the 1500-acre Essex site is slated to include the construction of the UK’s largest business and logistics park. The developments are central to the British Government’s wider Thames Gateway regeneration programme. Transport links would be upgraded as part of the plan.
Last week DP World — the world’s fourth-largest container port operator — said at its AGM it had handled 10 per cent less cargo during the first four months of this year than it did in the same period a year ago. This was due to a contraction in maritime trade amid the global recession. The downturn has caused it to review its expansion plans.
DP World confirmed it is in talks to possibly sell aminority stake in itself to a Middle East private equity firm which it has not named.
A successful deal could provide a significant boost to DP World and its shares, which have tumbled more than 70 per cent since they were floated in late 2007. Depending on how it was structured, the buy-in could also give the state-controlled company’s cash-strapped parent a welcome capital injection.