Seaforth Dock (also known as the Royal Seaforth Dock) is a purpose-built dock and

container terminal A container port, container terminal, or intermodal terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land v ...

, on the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river 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 h ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, at Seaforth, to the north of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. As part of the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of ...

and Liverpool Freeport, it is operated by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. Situated at the northern end of the dock system, it is connected to Gladstone Dock to the south, which via its lock entrance provides maritime access to Seaforth Dock from the river.

History

Despite planning permission having been obtained almost sixty years previously, work commenced during the 1960s on Liverpool's largest dock facility. In part the work was intended to reconstruct or compensate for damage suffered during World War II. The dock was the largest built in the United Kingdom for some time, with of quay and a depth of and world's largest lock gates. Opened in 1971, the site consists of about , of which is water. Technological changes, such as containerization, caused the loss of numerous jobs on the docks. In the 21st century, the dock handles mainly containers, oils,

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, fruit and vegetables,

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

and

animal feed Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock, in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types: fodder and forage. Used alone, the word ''feed'' more often refers to fodder. Animal feed is an important input ...

. The dock became a free port in 1984. A fruit and vegetable terminal opened at the dock in 2008. The terminal primarily received produce from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. However, this facility closed in 2013.

Wind turbines

In 1999, Peel Energy installed six Vestas V44-600 kW

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

s along the river wall for a total nameplate capacity of 3.6 MW.

Rail connection

Seaforth Dock is served by one rail line, the Canada Dock branch line. The Olive Mount rail chord at Edge Hill junction was re-opened early 2009 to increase the throughput of the service to Seaforth Dock, giving direct access for freight from the Port of Liverpool to the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. In May 2016 it was announced that the line's final section into the dock estate would be upgraded to double track from single track to increase capacity to the port. Combined with improved signalling at Earlestown, the improvements will enable up to 48 trains a day to enter the port. Work on the line is expected to be completed by 2019.

Liverpool2

Liverpool2 Liverpool2 is a container terminal extension adjoining the River Mersey in Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, Merseyside. The extension, built by Peel Ports, officially opened on 4 November 2016 and is an expansion of the Seaforth Dock container te ...

is a Post-Panamax container terminal extension which opened in November 2016 as an expansion to Seaforth dock.

Gallery

Royal Seaforth Container Terminal - geograph.org.uk - 467716.jpg, Royal Seaforth Container Terminal (2003) Royal Seaforth Containerterminal.jpg, Royal Seaforth Container Terminal and Dock (2016) Benkid77 Promenade, Wallasey 1 090809.JPG, Wind turbines on the distant Seaforth Dock, seen from the Promenade at Seacombe, Wirral, England Encounter and Sara Borchard.jpg, Container feeders ''Sara Borchard'' and ''Encounter'' at the Royal Seaforth Container Terminal (2021) Federal Champlain (2020).jpg, ''Federal Champlain'' discharging at the Seaforth Grain Terminal (2020)

References

Sources

External links

Peel Ports - Liverpool
{{Port of Liverpool docks Liverpool docks Container terminals Wind farms in England