New warehouse and crane part of £3m investment in Port of King’s Lynn

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A new warehouse and crane are part of a £3.3m investment in the Port of King’s Lynn.

The Port of King's Lynn have a new hydraulic crane. Pictured cutting the ribbon are (from left) chief executive James Cooper, Norfolk County Council chairman David Collins, Borough mayor David Whitby, Sir Henry Bellingham and ABP director Andrew Harston. Picture: Ian Burt The Port of King's Lynn have a new hydraulic crane. Pictured cutting the ribbon are (from left) chief executive James Cooper, Norfolk County Council chairman David Collins, Borough mayor David Whitby, Sir Henry Bellingham and ABP director Andrew Harston. Picture: Ian Burt 
Associated British Ports, which runs the complex, says the £1.1m crane will enable bigger vessels to use the docks.
Today stevedores were unloading a cargo os steel reinforcing rods from the 101m Conger - the widest ship ever to use the port.
The new warehouse will store grain and agri-bulks, enabling the different cargo areas to be re-organised.
Port manager Paul Brooks said when completed later this year it would have six bays, each capable of accommodating a 3,500-tonne ship’s cargo.
The new Mantinsen hydraulic crane in operation at The Port of King's Lynn. Picture: Ian BurtThe new Mantinsen hydraulic crane in operation at The Port of King's Lynn. Picture: Ian Burt
Aging warehouses beside the docks will also be demolished to make way for a new timber yard. 
Mr Brooks said that would enable different cargoes to be handled in separate areas of the port, increasing efficiency.
James Cooper, chief executive of Associated British Ports, said the investment in Lynn had been proposed by managers at the Norfolk port to improve the service it offered to shipping companies.
“I know there are people who think some of the smaller ports face long-term challenges but we see quite a lot of opportunity for King’s Lynn going forward,” he said.
“It can reach into the East Midlands and Peterborough serving the local market 50 miles away.”
North West Norfolk MP Sir Henry Bellingham said: “It’s an exciting day for King’s Lynn. There’s the new crane, the grain shed, the timber yard.
“Conger, the ship we saw being unloaded, is the broadest vessel ever to use the docks. The previous crane didn’t have the ability to reach across her hold.”
Mr Bellingham added a longer-term ambition was to restore the rail link which once connected the docks to the main line at Lynn station. 
Lynn’s Alexandra and Bentinck docks, along with its Riverside Quay, import construction timber and steel and export cargoes including malting grain and scrap metal.
Every job on the docks supports another 10 in the wider community.
Contractors have been on site since early January working on pilings for the new bulk warehouse.
Port staff hope it will be ready to accept its first cargo in August.


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