PORT OF SOUTHAMPTON OPENS MULTIDECK CAR TERMINAL

PORT OF SOUTHAMPTON OPENS MULTIDECK CAR TERMINAL    Associated British Ports' Port of Southampton has opened the United Kingdom's first port-based multideck car terminal.
   The Port of Southampton, which handles more than 500,000 vehicles a year, invested '4 million ($5.8 million) in construction of the terminal. The five-level terminal provides nearly five hectares of car storage on a footprint of about one hectare, and can accommodate up to 3,120 cars at any one time.
   The terminal was built for Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines in Southampton's Eastern Docks as part of a 10-year deal between the two companies. The new terminal and an existing dedicated storage site are expected to increase the roll-on/roll-off carrier's car-handling capacity at the port to 357,000 vehicles per year, from 205,000.
   'The new facility will provide us with enough terminal capacity to cater for the growth of our customers' export programs well into the next decade,' said Lauritz Andersen, president, regional Europe of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines.
   The carrier said it expects to handle up to 130,000 units through the new facility in its first year of operation, of which about 20,000 vehicles will be imports.
   Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines' major vehicle export customers at Southampton include BMW MINI, Honda, Jaguar, Gefco (Peugeot), Land Rover and MG Rover. BMW and Ford also import vehicles through Southampton.