With the increasing number of containerships reaching 8,500 TEU or more, it is necessary to ensure that the berth facilities at Southampton Container Terminals have the flexibility to meet the shipping lines' requirements.

Recent dredging work carried out on 204 berth has deepened the draft from 12.8m to 13.6m.  SCT now has 1 x 15.0m berth, 2 x 13.6m berths and 1 x 12.8m berth: giving greater flexibility for the shipping lines berthing at Southampton.

The work took 5 days to complete and was carried out by the Bluefin dredger from ABP, which is a suction hopper dredger.

The Bluefin works by picking up the soft mud, which it stores onboard and later deposits at sea in an approved area.  The whole berth area is then ploughed level.  Finally, to ensure that the correct depth of 13.6m was achieved throughout the 300m x 50m area, ABP Hydrography Department surveyed the site.