The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company (MDHC), formerly the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board (MDHB), owns and administers the

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

facilities of the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks between ...

, on the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

, England. These include the operation of the enclosed northern dock system that runs from Prince's Dock to

Seaforth Dock Seaforth Dock (also known as the Royal Seaforth Dock) is a purpose-built dock and container terminal, on the River Mersey, England, at Seaforth, to the north of Liverpool. As part of the Port of Liverpool and Liverpool Freeport, it is operated ...

, in the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and the dock facilities built around the

Great Float The Great Float is a body of water on the Wirral Peninsula, England, formed from the natural tidal inlet, the Wallasey Pool. It is split into two large docks, East Float and West Float, both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex. The docks ru ...

of the

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...

, located on the west side of the river.

Peel Ports The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

, the MDHC's parent company, owns other maritime facilities in the area, including the

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

shipyard,

Tranmere Oil Terminal Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the River Mersey, south of Birkenhead. It was opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tons, at two berths (North and South). It is connected to the Stanlow Oil Refinery by a pipeline. Part o ...

and the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

History

Liverpool Common Council's Dock Committee was the original port authority. In 1709, it had been authorised to construct Liverpool's first enclosed ship basin, the

Old Dock The Old Dock, originally known as Thomas Steers' dock, was the world's first commercial wet dock. The dock was built on the River Mersey in Liverpool, England, starting in 1710 and completed in 1716. A natural tidal pool off the River Mersey ...

, which was the world's first commercial

wet dock Wet may refer to: * Moisture, the condition of containing liquid or being covered or saturated in liquid * Wetting (or wetness), a measure of how well a liquid sticks to a solid rather than forming a sphere on the surface Wet or WET may also refe ...

. By 1750, the old Dock Committee was replaced by the Liverpool Dock Trustees. In order to provide stone for the construction of the expanded dock system, from 1830 the trustees (and later the MDHB) operated large quarries at

Creetown Creetown (, sometimes ) is a small seaside town in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in Galloway in the Dumfries and Galloway council area in south-west Scotland. Its population is about 750 people. It is situated near the head of Wigtown Bay, we ...

, Scotland. The MDHB took over running of Liverpool's docks from the trustees in 1858. The need for Liverpool Corporation to divest its dock interests to a new public body was as a result of pressure from Parliament, dock merchants and some rival port operators. At one point the MDHB railway totalled 104 miles (166 km) of line, with connections to many other railways. A section of the line ran, unsegregated from other road traffic, along the dock road. Today only the

Canada Dock Branch The Canada Dock Branch is a 4-mile 59 chain (7.62 kilometre) long railway line in Liverpool, England. The line's route is from the large Edge Hill rail junction in the east of Liverpool to Seaforth Dock to the north. The line was originally b ...

is used. In 1972, the MDHB was reconstituted as a company to allow it to raise money for new building initiatives and projects, including the new container dock at Seaforth. Four

lightvessels A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, ...

in the approaches to the River Mersey were maintained by the MDHB until 1973. The company operated a private lifeboat station that was involved in a number of incidents over the years.

Management

The MDHC was accused of "macho management" by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' regarding its treatment of some of its staff in the 1990s, which resulted in the Liverpool dockers' strike. On 22 September 2005, the MDHC was acquired by Peel Ports, part of the property and transport group

Peel Group The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

, which owns a minority stake in

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport in Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are operated fr ...

Facilities

Cammell Laird Dock is a

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, on the Wirral Peninsula. It exits directly onto the

. The dock was built as part of an expansion of the

shipyard at the turn of the 20th century by enclosing what was once Tranmere Pool. Following the closure of the original Cammell Laird shipyard in 1993, the dock and the four remaining

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

s at the site are owned by the MDHC. All were subsequently leased, firstly to the

A&P Group A&P Group Ltd is the largest ship repair and conversion company in the UK, with three shipyards located in Hebburn, Middlesbrough and Falmouth. The company undertakes a wide variety of maintenance and repair work on commercial and military shi ...

and then to

Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders was a British shiprepair company based in Birkenhead on the River Mersey. History The Company was founded by John Syvret, a former Cammell Laird manager, in 2001. In 2002 50% of the business was sold t ...

, which officially renamed itself Cammell Laird Shiprepairers and Shipbuilders Ltd on 17 November 2008.

References

External links

Peel Ports: Port of Liverpool
{{Authority control Mersey docks Transport in Liverpool Companies based in Liverpool Transport operators of England Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Port operating companies Peel Ports 1709 establishments in England Organizations established in 1709 British companies established in 1709 Transport companies established in 1709

History

Management

Facilities

See also

References

External links