Statistics

The Ports Authority of the Velocity Interoperability Network publishes statistics on the traffic and the work of its ports: vessel calls by type, throughput by terminal and by class of cargo, the dwell time of import cargo, the performance of the terminals and the capacity available at each port. This first release covers the transition period from 10 August to 5 September 2026, during which the ports operated under interim arrangements while their terminals, staff and records were transferred to the Authority, and records the position at establishment on 6 September 2026.

The figures are drawn from the harbour master's log at each port, from the terminal tally, from the gate records and from the register of shipping agents. Figures for the transition period are provisional: they were compiled under the interim arrangements and will be revised in the first quarterly report where late returns are received. Tonnages are metric tonnes and container volumes are twenty-foot equivalent units.

The position at establishment. The figures below record the ports as the Authority took them into its management on 6 September 2026.

7

Terminals taken into the Authority's management at establishment

17

Berths in service, with 3,540 metres of quay

612

Staff employed by the Authority at establishment

63

Shipping agents registered with the Authority at establishment

Of the 612 staff, 41 are crane operators, 17 are pilots, 84 are wardens and gate staff, and the remainder are stevedores, checkers, engineers, tug crews and the staff of the harbour master's offices and terminal offices. The Eastfield Reach Terminal, which is under construction, is not included in the seven terminals or the seventeen berths; its two berths and 560 metres of quay will be added to the register when it opens. The register itself is set out on the Terminals page.

Traffic during the transition period. The four ports received 186 vessel calls in the four weeks to 5 September 2026, together with 54 sailings of the scheduled ferry service, which are recorded separately and are not counted as calls.

186

Vessel calls at the four ports, 10 August to 5 September 2026

41,300

Twenty-foot equivalent units of containers handled

612,000

Tonnes of dry and liquid bulk cargo handled

3.1

Days, the average dwell time of an import container

Calls rose by nine per cent between the two halves of the period. The increase is accounted for by container and roll-on roll-off traffic, and reflects the publication of the opening arrangements for the Authority's terminals and the resumption of services that had been held back during the earlier part of the transition.

Throughput by terminal. The cargo worked at each terminal during the transition period is set out below. A dash indicates a class of cargo that the terminal does not handle. The Southbank Ferry Terminal also handled 28,700 passengers on the scheduled service.

The Port of Southbank accounted for 82 per cent of container throughput and for the whole of the Network's break-bulk and project cargo other than the coastal traffic at Westbrook Wharf. Bulk cargo passed entirely through Northgate Harbour: 388,000 tonnes of dry bulk, chiefly aggregates, grain and fertiliser, and 224,000 tonnes of liquid bulk through the jetty pipelines.

Performance of the container terminals. Dwell time is counted from the discharge of a container to its release at the gate. Crane moves are counted across all working hours, including those in which a crane was idle awaiting road transport.

The longer dwell time at Meridian Basin reflects the shorter gate hours there and the distance of the terminal from the main road network. The Authority expects both measures to improve once its own gate arrangements replace the interim ones, and will report on them in every quarterly release.

Capacity from September 2026. The figures below record the capacity the Authority holds for its first months of operation.

8

Ship-to-shore gantry cranes across the container terminals

288

Refrigerated container points at Southbank and Meridian Basin

17

Pilots and six tugs available to the four ports

94%

Import containers released at the gate within 48 hours of discharge

Reporting schedule. The Authority will publish statistics quarterly. Quarterly reports will carry vessel calls, throughput, dwell time and terminal performance on the same definitions as this release, so that the series is continuous, together with a summary of incidents reported under the safety rules. Each release is announced in the Newsroom on the day it is published.

Questions about these figures, requests for a definition and requests for a series not published here may be sent to contact@ports.gov.vin. For the charges levied on the traffic reported above, see Port Charges; for the rules under which the cargo was handled, see Cargo and Handling; and for the milestones of the reporting cycle, see History.