Located on the north bank of the Mersey, ABP’s Port of Garston specialises in handling a wide array of cargo, from dry bulks to steel products and annually handles around 500,000 tonnes of cargo.
Throughout our network of 21 ports around Britain, our expert and highly-trained teams are ready to work in partnership to deliver the solutions your business needs.
Backed by a programme of ongoing investment, our ports provide leading facilities and equipment, operated by our expert teams who can safely and efficiently handle a wide variety of different cargoes.
From its strategic location, the port supports industries in Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and the Midlands. The port contributes over £350 million to the UK economy each year and supports 5,300 national jobs.
Following a recent £2.5 million investment, Garston’s offering for ABP’s customers has been enhanced, which offers dry bulk storage for a range of cargoes including grain, ores and sand.
Connectivity
Situated on the north bank of the River Mersey, the Port of Garston is seven miles (11km) from Liverpool’s city centre.
The port benefits from easy links to the M56, M62, and M6, making it a natural gateway to the industrial heartlands of North West England and the surrounding counties.
Delivering for customers
ABP’s continuing programme of investment keeps our infrastructure, equipment and people up-to-date, allowing us to provide our customers with the very best services available.
The Port of Garston has over 10,000sqm of common-user flat-stores, 6,000sqm of segregated storage with HM Revenue & Customs duty-free approval. It also provides value-added services, including bagging, blending, rip-and-tip, and stock control.
It also benefits from Soil Association and TASCC accredited grain stores as well as providing open and secure quayside stockpile areas.
With 8,500sqm of multi-purpose cargo storage area, Garston handles wide range of break-bulk, including palletised and other unitised cargoes.
World-class handling equipment allows the teams at the port to handle almost any type of cargo, including heavy-lift and project shipments, often weighing in excess of 200 tonnes.
ABP also has the capability to invest and construct the facilities tailored to suit your business needs.
The port features a bulk scrap export facility for short-sea and deep-sea shipments and has a dedicated terminal for the importing of cement.
Its two steel-coil stores, totalling 2,500sqm, one of which adjacent to a deep-water discharge berth, and its 7,000sqm of conventional covered storage, make Garston the ideal operation to handle various steel products.
Port of Garston handles around
500,000 Tonnes of cargo per yearContributes around
£360 million to the UK economy per yearProvides
8,500sqm of multi-purpose cargo storageKey statistics and berthing information
Total port area = 65 acres
| Normal acceptance dimension of vessels | |||||
| Dock, Jetty or Quay | Quay length | Length | Beam | Draught | Approx. dwt |
| Stalbridge Dock | 975 m | 152.4 m | 19.2 m | 9.0 m | 10,000 |
| Old & North Dock | 1,405 m | 152.4 m | 19.2 m | 7.5 m | 6,500 |
EMERGENCY PLANNING & PROCEDURES
National Contingency Plan
The purpose of this plan is to ensure that there is a timely, measured and effective response to incidents. The owners and masters of ships and the operators of offshore installations bear the primary responsibility for ensuring that they do not pollute the sea.
Harbour authorities are likewise responsible for ensuring that their ports operate in a manner that avoids marine pollution, and for responding to incidents within their limits. However, ships, offshore installations and harbour authorities may face problems that exceed the response capabilities that they can reasonably maintain (especially in the provision of counter pollution equipment).
Similarly, coastal local authorities may face incidents that require equipment or expertise beyond their capabilities. Therefore, the MCA may need to use national assets in the response to a marine pollution incident.
This plan sets out the circumstances in which MCA deploys the UK’s national assets to respond to a marine pollution incident to protect the overriding public interest. It also describes how MCA manages these resources.
Please click here for the National Contingency Plan
Oil Spill Contingency Plan - Garston
The Oil Spill Contingency Plan has been developed to conform to the Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation Convention) Regulations 1998, which entered into effect 15 May 1998. The plan is designed to meet the statutory responsibilities placed on the Harbour Authority for responding to oil pollution within the harbour area.
The plan is provided to assist the Harbour Authority and other organisations in dealing with an accidental discharge of oil. Its primary purpose is to set in motion the necessary actions to stop or minimise the discharge and to mitigate its effects. Effective planning ensures that the necessary actions are taken in a structured, logical and timely manner.
The plan uses a tiered response to oil response incidents. The plan is designed to deal with Tier One and Tier Two incidents, and to provide guidance for the initial response to a Tier Three incident. Where a spillage is associated with a wider emergency, then additional factors involving the safety of personnel will take precedence over the pollution response. In this case reference will be made to Solfire.
A copy of this plan can be downloaded here. Please note that Section 14 (Contact Details) of this document has been omitted.
Marine Manager
Steve Hearn
Assistant Dock Master
Callum Coulbeck
Assistant Dock Master
Daniel Bibby
Port Office:
Dock Road, Garston, Liverpool L19 2JW
+44 (0) 151 427 5971
VHF Channel 20
Find live information for the Port of Garston on Marine Traffic here.
Local Notices to Mariners in force are listed below.
2024
01 Bunkering Operations Fuel & Fresh Water
02 Temporary Closure of Garston, Stalbridge Lock
03 Sound Off in Support of RNLI 200
04 International Catering Waste
05 Lock Operation during Outer Gate Repairs
2022
05 Dredging Operations Extension
06 Queen's Platinum Jubilee - Ships Salute
2021
06 Ship’s Fendering for Dock Ladders
2020
2019
2018
03 Repairs to East Outer Wall at Stalbridge Lock Approach
04 Repairs to East Outer Wall at Stalbridge Lock Approach
05 Repairs to East Outer Wall at Stalbridge Lock Approach
For the latest information relating to rates and charges for the Port of Garston, please click here.
For ABP’s standard terms and conditions, please click here.