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 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.
Despite planning permission having been obtained almost sixty years previously, work commenced during the 1960s on Liverpool's largest dock facility. The dock was the largest in the United Kingdom at the time of construction with the world's largest lock gates.
Opened in 1972, the site consists of about 500 acres (2.0 km2) and deals mainly in containers, oils, timber, fruit & vegetables, grain and animal feed. The dock became a free port in 1984.[1]
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A fruit and vegetable terminal opened at the dock in 2008. The terminal primarily received produce from Spain.
A planned Post-Panamax container terminal extension will berth the world's largest container ships on the tidal River Mersey side of Seaforth Dock. These ships transport up to 14,000 containers per ship. This facility will increase container throughput by 100%.
Approximately 70% of the North West of England's freight runs through Liverpool. Seaforth container terminal is the prime container terminal for North America. 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 by approximately 100%. The chord gives direct access for freight from the Port of Liverpool to the West Coast Main Line. The chord also releases line capacity for a proposed partial re-use of the line for passengers serving mainly the proposed Liverpool FC Stanley Park Stadium. There are no proposals to extend passenger services to Seaforth Dock.
The reinstatement of the chord was essential for existing port operations and ready for the 100% increase in freight when the planned Post-Panamax container terminal extension is ready at Seaforth Dock. A high throughput on the Canada Dock branch rail line is essential for efficient port operation.
It is hoped the Olive Mount rail chord reinstatement will remove large road vehicles from congested areas around the port and major road junctions, such as Switch Island, giving many environmental benefits.
In 1999, Peel Energy installed six Vestas V44-600kW wind turbines along the river wall for a total nameplate capacity of 3.6MW.[1][2]
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