There’s a good reason why Southampton is the port of choice for many of the biggest names in the container shipping industry
We are unquestionably the first port of call into the UK – with the least deviation from shipping routes of all UK ports.
We are only two hours’ steaming from the international shipping lanes of the English Channel and 100 nautical miles from mainland Europe.
Our geography protects us from the prevailing winds and gives us a ‘double tide’, so we have a longer tidal window to handle the deepest draft ships. That means we can guarantee swift access and departure at almost any state of the tide.
As for the weather… it rarely bothers us. Thanks again to our location, our cranes continue to work on some of the largest ships in the world when winds elsewhere are forcing other ports to call a halt. It takes extreme conditions to stop us working.
No wonder we’re recognised as one of Britain’s best maritime locations!
A STRONG and PROUD shipping heritage
Southampton’s been a key trading port as far back as Roman times. The port as we know it today was opened by Queen Victoria in 1890 and was the only port capable of handling the deepest draft vessels afloat at that time. Today the port of Southampton is is the most prestigious deep-sea port in the UK and is the number one port for handling cars and cruises and the most efficient container port in the country.
Southampton has been, and will always be, a major maritime centre playing a key role in global trade. The port has over 40 years’ experience handling container trade and a long history and tradition of serving some.