Text 2b

PORTS OF BRITAIN

Almost all of the Britain’s trade is handled at a comparatively small number of ports. Most of these are old established and have been involved in trade for several hundred years.

The majority of ports have grown up in the mouths of rivers, which give sheltered water, deep enough to take the comparatively small ships, which were common before supertankers came into use. Thanks to the high tides many of the towns, which are situated dozens kilometres from the coast (London – 64, Glasgow – 35, Hull – 32, and many others) have become sea ports.

Many of the dock systems built during the XIXth and early XXth centuries became too small to handle the larger vessels afloat today and this resulted in the abandonment of old port areas and the building of new docks nearer the open sea or even the construction of entirely new ports (called outports). It is at these new sites that most of the modern facilities have been installed.

Another type of port, which has grown rapidly in recent years, is the ferry port. Originally designed to handle passengers and mail, the leading ferry ports provide regular sailings, often at very short intervals. Most ferry ports are old establishments. They grew up to provide services to Europe and Ireland and the sites chosen were usually those controlling the shortest crossing points, e.g. Dover, Folkestone, Holyhead, etc.

Traffic through the ports of Britain amounted to about 457 million tons in 1989 comprising 153 mln t of imports, 150 mln t of exports and 154 mln t of coastal traffic (mostly petroleum and coal). About 61 per cent of the traffic was in fuels, mainly petroleum products.

Britain’s main ports in terms of total tonnage handled, are as follows: Sullom Voe, London, Tees and Hartlepool, Milford Haven, Grimsby, Forth, Southampton, Orkney, Liverpool and others. Offshore oil developments have a substantial effect on port traffic by greatly increasing the flow through certain North Sea ports (Tees, Hartlepool and the Forth); creating new oil ports (Flotta in Orkney and Sullom Voe in Shetland); and reducing oil traffic at traditional oil terminals (Milford Haven and the Clyde). It also should be noted that there has been a decline in the volume of conventional cargo handled by traditional ports, such as London and Manchester. Liverpool, once Britain’s leading port, is in deep decline. But from the other hand the shift from Liverpool reflects Britain’s increased contacts with Europe.

Ex. 13. Answer the questions:

1. Are there a lot of ports in Britain? 2. What are the preferable sites for port construction in Great Britain? 3. What are the reasons for the modernization of British ports? 4. Can you explain what an outport is? 5. What type of ports has grown rapidly in recent years? 6. Where are ferry ports usually situated? 7. What are ferry ports originally designed for? 8. What constitutes the major part of British port traffic? 9. What are the main British ports? 10. How can offshore oil developments affect the port traffic?

Ex. 14. Explain why:

1) British inland river towns could become sea ports;

2) there is a need for the building of new docks nearer the open sea or even the construction of entirely new ports;

3) oil traffic at traditional oil terminals has considerably reduced;

4) some of the traditional ports are in deep decline nowadays.

Ex. 15. Develop the idea:

a) Britain has a comparatively small number of ports, originally grown up in the mouths of rivers;

b) there is a strong need of modernization and construction of new ports;

c) there is a decline in the volume of cargo handled by traditional ports.

Ex. 16. Read and translate the text. Try to answer the following: Can London be considered a typical British port and why?