The berths in the Eastern Docks and Calais are being extended for the two new P&O superferries. One is due at the end of this year and one at the end of next. At 49,000 tons they are a bit larger than the present 35,000 ton Maersk ferries. The main difference is the length, 212 metres as against 186 metres, but the berths can already accommodate the long and thin SeaFrance Moliere at 203 metres. The new ships will be here many years before any contemplated berths are completed in the Western Docks.
There is no urgency for Terminal 2 as the original projections for predicted traffic through the port have been rendered irrelevant by the recession and it will be many years before the Eastern Docks capacity is exceeded, if ever. There are other ways for freight to travel between the UK and the Continent and Dover may well be bypassed, things can change quickly in the shipping world.
We have discussed the Terminal 2 proposals at length on the previous occasions that glossy brochures were produced. The main difference now is that Bob Goldfield always said categorically that the port would finance the expansion but now proposes to flog it off abroad.
My favourite flight of fancy in the previous expositions was the millionaires paradise postulated for the Wellington Dock. The only fault I can find with the view of same shown below is that it would obscure the glittering developments eagerly anticipated in the DTIZ.