General Description
Location: The port of Dover is located in the Dover Straits, in the English Channel. General overview: The port is divided into two halves, the Eastern Docks and Western Docks. The Eastern Docks comprise a car ferry terminal with eight Ro-Ro berths and three deep water general cargo berths. The Western Docks comprise a SeaCat Terminal, two small enclosed docks offering yacht berths and two dedicated purpose built cruise liner terminals. The port is synonymous with cross channel traffic and is the busiest international drive-on, drive-off terminal in the world. Ferries and SeaCats flow out of the port entrances on average every 20 minutes destined for, and returning from, three other major European ports. Dover is also Britain's premier S coast port for fresh produce and can handle a wide range of cargoes from a terminal at Eastern Docks. It is also one of Northern Europe's busiest cruise ports for turn round calls and is also a popular port of call for cruise vessels. Traffic figures: Approx 13,700,000 passengers, 2,837,000 cars, 105,000 coaches and over 2,363,000 freight vehicles use the port, with approx 25,080,000t of cargo being handled annually. Load line zone: North Atlantic Winter Seasonal Zone II, Winter Nov 1 to Mar 31, Summer Apr 1 to Oct 31. Max size: LOA 300m, draught 10.0m. Largest vessel handled: "Norrisia" (Shell tanker).