The British Ports Association (BPA) strongly rejected the EU's claim that shipping lines are diverting container traffic to Britain to avoid carbon costs. The association warned that proposed anti-tax avoidance measures could impact billions of pounds of investment in British terminals.
Real Reasons for Container Traffic Growth in Britain
BPA stated in a new report that about 85% of the growth in container traffic in Britain by 2025 is concentrated in London. This shift follows the opening of DP World's fourth platform worth £350 million ($465 million) at London Gateway in late 2024. Government figures show that British ports managed 11% more containers last year, equivalent to an additional 600,000 units. London accounted for nearly 500,000 of this total, primarily linked to the added capacity at London Gateway.
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Criticism of Spanish Study Methodology
BPA also criticized the findings of a study from Puertos del Estado in Spain, which had increased Britain's share of deep-sea shipping activity in Northern Europe from 17.5% in 2023 to 32.1% by July 2025. The association argues that measurements that assess transport network activity cannot solely represent the actual number of containers moved. Additionally, BPA criticized the interpretation of a 76% increase in route changes as evidence of carbon diversion to Britain, emphasizing that existing analyses do not separate the effects of ETS from structural changes in alliances and new terminal capacities.
While continental European ports are not uniformly losing out, the ports of Rotterdam and Hamburg have seen growth in container volumes of 3.1% and 7.3%, respectively. This disagreement arose after the European Commission proposed tightening regulations to prevent container ships from using non-EU ports to reduce ETS costs.
BPA emphasized the importance of supporting carbon reduction in maritime transport and urged the UK government and the European Commission to reassess evidence before implementing measures that could impact the competitiveness of ports and future investments.
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