Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, the world's largest container port operator, has won approval to develop a new container terminal in Britain, at a reported cost of 300 million pounds ($524 million).
A Hutchison Port spokesman in Hong Kong would not disclose a price tag for the project, but the Hong Kong Economic Journal reported on Friday that the development cost would come to about 300 million pounds.
British Transport Minister Derek Twigg said on Wednesday he would grant final approval to proposals for the port at Bathside Bay, Harwich, Essex.
The development, Harwich International Container Port, would have a total capacity of 1.7 million twenty-foot-equivalent units per annum and would be able to handle four large container vessels, Hutchison Ports said.
"Work needs to have begun on the road upgrade before we are allowed to start construction work on the first phase of the Bathside Bay project," Lewis said. "This will not be possible before 2009, at the earliest."