Port of Heysham reveals £10m expansion plan

A new link-span bridge at the Port of Heysham is set to increase throughput at the Lancashire port by allowing it to accommodate larger RoRo vessels operating on the Irish Sea.

Work will begin in November and is expected to be completed by October 2017.

The Port of Heysham is one of seven statutory harbour authorities owned and operated by Peel Ports, with deep water harbouring able to accommodate some of the world’s biggest RoRo vessels and numerous daily sailings from providers such as Seatruck, Stena Line and the Isle of Man Steam Packet. Port director, David Huck said: “This is a transformational time for Heysham port. We’ve already been working with local partners to maximise the benefits of the Bay Gateway link road project to the community. Now our major investment to increase capacity and flexibility will further strengthen the port’s role as a logistics hub for the region, particularly for services to Ireland and the Isle of Man. We’ve also built in an element of future-proofing, giving us the ability to accommodate projected volumes for many years to come.”

Alistair Eagles, CEO of Seatruck said: “We’re experiencing a period of unprecedented growth, more than three times the market rate. We recently added a larger vessel on the Dublin-Heysham service to help keep up with demand and a fourth vessel to one of our complementary services running between Dublin and Liverpool.

Road connectivity at the port is soon to be helped by the opening of the Bay Gateway link offering a direct connection to the M6. There is also a branch rail line from the port connected to the North West coastal line.