Dover.uk.com

The Front Page. - Copy 147 (Minister visits Port)

14 December 2010

Government Minister visits Port of Dover.



It is interesting to note that Dover Harbour Board have spent more than £125,000,000 in the past ten years on direct port investment. Further investment is planned to maintain busy busy capacity at the Eastern Docks, and on top of that a further £400,000,000 investment in a second terminal is awaiting government approval. So nobody is resting on any laurels down at the Port...it's all go go go! With that in mind, the Conservative Minister for Shipping Mike Penning MP dropped down to see the Port in operation just the other day.
 
Withour further ado let me reproduce information just in from DHB so that you can hear it from the horses mouth as it were... yes here we are...


Port welcomes Shipping Minister to Dover


The Port of Dover recently hosted a visit by Shipping Minister, Mike Penning MP, in order for him to see at first hand the UK’s number one international ferry port in operation.

Mr Penning, who was greeted at the port by Dover Harbour Board Chairman Roger Mountford and Chief Executive Bob Goldfield, was taken to Terminal Control in the Eastern Docks from where he was shown how the port processes over 2.3 million freight vehicles each year, handling UK trade valued at some £80 billion.

Roger Mountford said, “it was a great opportunity to demonstrate our world class port in action at this busy period in the run up to Christmas and to highlight the considerable work and investment, past, present and future, ensuring that this essential gateway is fit for purpose now and in coming decades.”

The Minister met some of the port’s key staff who had been involved in managing the repatriation of tens of thousands of additional passengers during the Eurostar and Volcanic Ash Cloud crises which had occurred during the past 12 months. The port was a lifeline for many passengers from all over the world who had been stranded and the ferry services through the Port of Dover provided their only means of travel home.

The Minister praised the efforts of the port, saying
“The Port of Dover is a key international gateway and this was demonstrated even more so during the ash cloud crisis. I congratulate all those involved at the port in taking care of so many displaced passengers and making sure the UK was still open for business.” Mr Penning added, “the Port must be able to continue to fulfill and develop its gateway role which is so critical to the UK economy.

Picture shows... Shipping Minister Mike Penning visiting Terminal Control at the Port of Dover accompanied by Roger Mountford, Chairman Dover Harbour Board on the left and Bob Goldfield, Chief Executive Dover Harbour Board on the right. ENDS.


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