It is the closest British port to mainland Europe and handles more lorries than all other UK ports put together, allowing for 120 ferry movements and 10,000 trucks per day. The port facilitates up to 11 million passengers, 2.1 million cars and 2.4 million trucks annually.
£144 billion worth of UK trade and a third of all trade with the European Union is handled here.
It is working with Kent Business School and other academic and industrial partners on a project, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, to create a zero-carbon trade route between the UK and France, including zero emission vessels, leisure craft and workboats.
The Green Corridor Short Straits consortium is a partnership that includes the French sister ports of Calais and Dunkirk. The Port of Dover is on course to reach Net Zero (including direct emissions and purchased energy) by 2025.
By 2030 it will have sourced alternative fuels, electrified the Port’s landslide fleet and further reduced carbon-use in development projects. The Dover Western Dock Revival project, meanwhile, continues to regenerate the waterfront including a new cargo terminal opened in 2019. This is supporting the Port’s growth as a major hub for imported construction materials to meet UK housing sector demand.