Port of Dover to Seek private Capital

Dover Harbour Board has announced that it has now made a formal application to the Secretary of State for Transport, for the authority to restructure the organisation in order to introduce private capital. The restructuring means that, should the Secretary of State agree, the port will move fully into the private sector and will no longer be a trust port.

In August 2009 the Department for Transport published Modernising Trust Ports, Edition 2, which mandated each trust port to consider what structure would be most appropriate for their continuing development and success. Dover Harbour Board has considered various options for restructuring and a possible change of status. Following the publication of the Operational Efficiency Programme by HM Treasury in November 2009, where Dover was singled out for comment as the trust port most advanced in its analysis and planning, the Board has confirmed that it has developed an ownership and governance option, whereby private capital could be introduced to the port, while at the same time establishing a locally based charitable trust to channel funds to local community projects over a longer term basis, something that is not possible with the current status as a trust port. This will provide, for the first time in Dover’s history, the opportunity for the local community to have a direct stake in the port’s commercial success and to benefit directly from the sharing in that success.

The Board has stated that such a change in its ownership will ensure that the necessary capital is secured for investment in the port to deliver new capacity as and when it is required, guaranteeing the port’s ability to meet the needs of its customers over the long term and securing the position of the Port of Dover as a key international gateway in the light of forecast growth in ro-ro traffic volumes. The port will also be free to pursue other commercial opportunities to grow the business, both in Dover and elsewhere.

Commenting on the decision to submit the option to the government for consideration, the Chairman of Dover Harbour Board, Roger Mountford said,

“Dover has a port of which it can be very proud. Over recent years the port has grown and broadened its business and improved its efficiency. Like its customers, it has to maintain this momentum. To do this the port needs access to private capital and to benefit from new opportunities. At the same time, the Board wants to respect the special status of a trust port in bringing forward plans that will ensure that the local community, of which the port forms a part, will share in the port’s continuing development and success. The application to restructure the port follows the Board’s recent submission to the government seeking permission to construct a new ferry terminal in the western docks, an investment likely to total some £400 million. The proposed restructuring would give the port access to private capital markets and thus the funding needed to build the new terminal.”

Article from Dover port website