ABP Marine Environmental Research ltd. (ABPmer) announced that it is delighted with the Marine Management Organisation’s (MMO) decision to grant Associated British Ports (ABP) consent to improve the marine access to the Port of Southampton with a programme of dredging.
ABPmer completed the Environmental Statement (ES) that supported ABP’s application to the MMO. The ES included a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment and involved providing support to consultations with stakeholders and interested parties, including Natural England, the Environment Agency, Cefas, MMO, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and local authorities. These discussions helped to identify the scope of potential impacts and define appropriate impact reduction measures.
The newly granted dredging consent will allow the Port to improve access for deep-draughted vessels by widening and deepening the navigation channel at various locations within Southampton Water. The dredging works will enable the channel to accommodate the latest generation of large container ships currently being brought into service by the world’s major shipping lines.
Stephen Hull, ABPmer’s Technical Director said “ We are delighted that our parent company has been granted the consent required to dredge the Southampton Approach Channel. It’s always good news when a project we have contributed to receives permission to proceed. Our environmental recommendations would have undoubtedly played an important part in the MMO reaching the decision to grant consent” .
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Press Release, February 21, 2013