DP World adds four giant UK quay cranes. The first lift comes later.
The cranes are on the quay. The berth isn't built.
What the published crane ratings decide at the berth, and what London Gateway's last crane delivery says about the gap between a crane arriving and a ship using it.
DP World has brought four very large quay cranes to London Gateway and Southampton in the UK. Reach decides which ships a berth can work, and London Gateway's existing cranes already cover the widest ships. So the gain is more big-ship berth, and it arrives only when the cranes are commissioned and the new berth opens in 2027.
DP World has brought four very large ship-to-shore cranes to its two container terminals in the UK. Two arrived on 25 September 2026 at London Gateway, on the Thames estuary east of London. The other two are for Southampton, on England's south coast. The London Gateway pair is for Berth 5, and Berth 5 is still under construction.
That matters because the terminal is nearly full. London Gateway handled more than 3 million TEU last year, against 1.9 million the year before. DP World's specification page gives full capacity as 3.4 million TEU. Last year's volume is about 88% of it. A terminal that full needs more quay.
So what do the two cranes add on the day they arrive? On reach, nothing the terminal lacks. Reach decides which ships a berth can work, and the widest container ships in service carry 24 rows. DP World rates all 16 cranes now on the London Gateway quay for at least 25 rows and 11 tiers on deck. The terminal can already put a 24-row ship on any of its four berths. What the new cranes add is a fifth berth with the same reach.
The gain is therefore the berth, and the berth has only a year against it: 2027. Three things have to happen before it adds capacity. The quay has to be finished. A second pair of cranes, due "in the coming months", has to be delivered. Then all four have to be commissioned. Each crane is moved onto its rails, connected to power, tested under load and tied into the terminal's control and planning systems. Drivers have to be trained on it.
London Gateway's last delivery shows how long that can take. DP World announced the first two cranes for Berth 4 on 22 February 2024 and said the berth would open that summer. It announced the first ship, MSC Sena, on 11 November 2024. The cranes had been on the quay for close to nine months.
Berth 5 follows the same order of events, with the cranes ahead of the quay. Until a ship works there, berth planners have the same four berths and the same crane profiles they hold today.
The thing to watch is DP World naming a quarter for the Berth 5 opening in place of a year. Set that date against 25 September 2026 and compare the gap with the nine months Berth 4 took.
Primary sources
- officialFour of Europe's largest quay cranes arrive at DP World's UK ports DP World, 2026-10-01
- officialLondon Gateway infrastructure and facts (undated page, date is when it was read) DP World, 2026-10-07
- officialSouthampton infrastructure and facts (undated page, date is when it was read) DP World, 2026-10-07
- officialLondon Gateway welcomes Europe's largest quay cranes to service mega vessels DP World, 2024-02-22
- officialLondon Gateway launches new £350m fourth berth with arrival of first ships DP World, 2024-11-11
- Thorough examinations of lifting equipment (undated page, date is when it was read) Health and Safety Executive, 2026-10-07
- Ever Ace (undated page, date is when it was read) Port of Hamburg, 2026-10-07
