The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed

dock The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...

system that runs from Brunswick Dock in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

and the Birkenhead Docks between

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

and

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

on the west side of the river. In 2023, the Port of Liverpool was the UK’s fourth busiest container port, handling around 900,000 TEUs of cargo each year, equivalent to over 30 million tonnes of freight per annum. It handles a wide variety of cargo, including containers, bulk cargoes such as coal, grain and animal feed, and

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

cargoes such as cars, trucks and recycled metals. The port is also home to one of the largest cruise terminals in the UK which handles approximately 200,000 passengers and over 100 cruise ships each year. The port has significant links to North America and the rest of Europe via the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

and

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. It is the most significant port in the UK for transatlantic trade. The port's history spans over 800 years and at its peak in the 19th century, it was the second most important port in the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. In 2016, the port was extended by the building of an in-river container terminal at Seaforth Dock, named

Liverpool2 Liverpool2 is a container terminal extension adjoining the River Mersey in Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, Merseyside. The extension, built by Peel Ports, officially opened on 4 November 2016 and is an expansion of the Seaforth Dock container te ...

. The terminal can berth two 14,000 container Post-Panamax ships. Garston Docks, which are in the city of Liverpool, are not a part of the Port of Liverpool. The working docks are operated by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, while the docks to the south of the

Pier Head The Pier Head (properly, George's Pier Head) is a riverside location in the city centre of Liverpool, England. It was part of the former Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was inscribed in 2004, but revoked in ...

are operated by the Canal & River Trust, the successor to former operator British Waterways.

History

1715-1899

Liverpool's first dock was the world's first enclosed commercial dock, the

Old Dock The Old Dock, originally known as Thomas Steers' dock, was the world's first commercial wet dock. The dock was built on the River Mersey in Liverpool, England, starting in 1710 and completed in 1716. A natural tidal pool off the River Merse ...

, built in 1715. The Lyver Pool, a tidal inlet in the narrows of the estuary, which is now largely under the

Liverpool One Liverpool ONE is a shopping, residential, and leisure complex in Liverpool, England. The project involved the redevelopment of 42 acres (170,000 m2) of land in Liverpool City Centre, the city centre. It is a retail-led development anchored by ...

shopping centre, was converted into the enclosed dock. Further docks were added and eventually all were interconnected by lock gates, extending along the Liverpool bank of the River Mersey. From 1830 onwards, most of the building stone was granite from Kirkmabreck near Creetown, Scotland. The interconnected dock system was the most advanced port system in the world. The docks enabled ship movements within the dock system 24 hours a day, isolated from the high River Mersey tides. Port of Liverpool Building Front

From 1885, the dock system was the hub of a

hydraulic power network A hydraulic power network is a system of interconnected Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes carrying pressurized liquid used to transmit Power (physics), mechanical power from a power source, like a pump, to hydraulic equipment like lifts or Hydrauli ...

that stretched beyond the docks. Both

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

and

Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

were based at the port. It was also the home port of many great ships, including , , , and the ill-starred '' Tayleur'', , , , and the .

20th century

Most of the smaller south end docks were closed in 1971 with Brunswick Dock remaining until closure in 1975. The largest dock on the dock network, Seaforth Dock, was opened in 1972 and deals with grain and containers, accommodating what were the largest containers ships at that time. In 1972,

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

unit CP Ships was the last transatlantic line to operate from Liverpool. Many docks have been filled in to create land for buildings: at the

, an arena at Kings Dock, commercial estates at

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Liverpool, Canning, Dingle, Liverpool, Dingle, and Edge Hill, Merseyside, Edge Hill ...

and Harrington Docks and housing at Herculaneum Dock. In the north, some

branch dock A branch dock is a dock (maritime), dock that forms part of a large harbour system of interlinked docks. Branch docks are terminal branches of a main floating dock (impounded), floating dock. They are ''not'' isolated from the main dock by loc ...

s have been filled in to create land. Sandon and Wellington Docks have been filled in and are now the location of a sewage works. Most of Hornby Dock was filled in to allow Gladstone Dock's coal terminal to expand. Liverpool Freeport Zone was opened in the North Docks 1984, expanding to include some of the Birkenhead Dock system in 1992. The Euro Rail terminal was established at Seaforth Dock in 1994 and the port expanded five years later, including construction of the Liverpool Intermodal Freeport Terminal.

21st century

In 2004 UNESCO announced

Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a former UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in Liverpool, England, that comprised six locations in the Liverpool city centre, city centre including the Pier Head, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, Albert Dock ...

. Parts of the port were a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

from 2004 until 2021.

Port statistics

In 2020 Liverpool was the United Kingdom's fourth largest port by tonnage of freight, handling 31.1 million tonnes.

Marina

Liverpool Marina is in Coburg Dock and has 340 berths.

Cruise terminal

Cruise ships once sailed from Langton Dock, part of the enclosed north docks system. Departures and arrivals were subject to tides. Cruise ships returned to Liverpool's

in 2008, berthing at a newly constructed cruise terminal, enabling departures and arrivals at any time. Until 2012, any cruises beginning in Liverpool still departed from Langton Dock but, since 2012, the terminal has been used as the start and end of voyages, and not merely a stop-off point. This led to a dispute with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

due to the large public subsidy provided for the new terminal, which

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. Liverpool has had a local authority since 1207, which has been reformed on numerous ...

has agreed to repay. Ships which have called at Liverpool Cruise Terminal include ''

Queen Elizabeth 2 ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner. Built for the Cunard Line, the ship was operated as a transatlantic liner and cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. She was laid up until converted into a floating hotel, operating sin ...

'' (QE2), '' Grand Princess'', '' Caribbean Princess'' and RMS ''Queen Mary 2''. A number of large

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

vessels, such as and , have also visited the terminal.

Rail connections

At one point the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company freight railway totalled of rail track, with connections to many other railways. A section of freight rail line ran under the Liverpool Overhead passenger railway, with trains constantly crossing the Dock Road from the docks into the freight terminals. Today, only the Canada Dock branch line is used to serve the docks, using diesel locomotives. The first rail link to the docks was the construction of the 1830 Park Lane railway goods station opposite the Queen's Dock in the south of the city. The terminal was accessed via the Wapping Tunnel from Edge Hill rail junction in the east of the city. The station was demolished in 1972. The tunnel is still intact. Until 1971, Liverpool Riverside railway station served the liner terminal at the Pier Head. Today, for passengers disembarking from the new cruise terminal, city centre circular buses call at the terminal directly, while

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its London Wall, northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting a ...

and James Street are the nearest

Merseyrail Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...

stations. On the opposite side of the river, the Birkenhead Dock Branch served the docks between 1847 and 1993. This route remains intact, albeit disused.

Quotes about Liverpool docks

Image gallery

File:Dkbkpl26.jpg File:Dkbkpl27.jpg File:Dkbkpl28.jpg File:Dkbkpl29.jpg File:Dkbkpl30.jpg File:Queens Dock, Liverpool.jpg File:Wapping Dock buildings 1.jpg File:Canning Half Tide Dock.jpg File:Ship in Canning Half Tiide Dock.jpg File:Albert Dock3.JPG File:Boat in Victoria Dock.jpg File:Princes dock, Liverpool.jpg File:Clarence Graving Dock's Enterance .jpg File:Dock Clock Tower.jpg File:Nelson Dock sign.jpg File:Wellington Dock sign.jpg File:Waterloo dock gates.jpg File:Liverpool - Wellington Dock and the Tall Ships - geograph.org.uk - 472478.jpg File:Bramley Dock Dock sign.jpg File:Sandon Dock sign.jpg File:Sandon Dock gates 2019-2.jpg File:Collingwood Dock sign.jpg File:HornbyDock.jpg File:Stanley Dock sign.jpg File:Stanley Dock 2.jpg File:Dock in Port of Liverpool 2.jpg File:North Docks Clock.jpg File:GladstoneLock.jpg File:GladstoneDocks-June2009.jpg File:Balmoral (cruise ship).jpg,

References

External links

Port of Liverpool Official Website

UKHO nautical charts of Liverpool Docks and approaches via Queens and Crosby Channels'Liverpool: The docks', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 41-43.
Date accessed: 16 November 2009.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Port Of Liverpool Transport in Liverpool Peel Ports Mersey docks Economy of Liverpool