Milford Haven is UK’s 5th busiest cargo port

Milford Haven handled the fifth largest amount of cargo of any British port during 2002, according to provisional statistics issued by the Department for Transport.

Against a background of a 1.4% fall in fall in cargo levels as a whole across the UK, Milford Haven’s berths handled 34.5m tonnes over the 12 months of last year, more than Southampton, Liverpool and Dover, and an increase of 2% over the year before.

The four busier UK ports are led by Grimsby and Immingham, which handled over 56m tonnes in the period, followed by London, Tees and Hartlepool and Forth.

Milford Haven Port Authority Chief Executive Ted Sangster said the provisional Government figures, which will be confirmed in October, were excellent news for the reputation of the port and the prospects for employment in West Wales.

“All our staff involved in handling the cargoes we receive here – predominantly oil and LPG, but also timber, aggregates, fish and a variety of general cargo, work extremely hard to give a high quality of service to our various customers,” he said.

“We take nothing for granted, and we are delighted with this ranking, which shows we are up amongst the main players in the UK.

“Coupled with our excellent safety record and procedures, we plan to sustain this level of commitment to ensure that our cargo business remains buoyant, and supports the 240 or so people who are employed here.

“We are delighted that 2003 has started off well, with the shipping figures to May showing a 4% growth on the year before.”