Heysham and the shipping industry

The port of Heysham is located close to Morecambe Bay, and only 4 miles from the centre of the town of Morecambe itself. It is a thriving port for ferry crossings to the Isle of Man, Dublin, Belfast and Warrenpoint. In 2010 the port of Heysham handled 3.5 million tonnes of cargo traffic. The town of Heysham itself is only tiny, but this doesn’t detract from the importance of the port, for cargo shipping from here to Ireland is very fast and easy. The port handles a diverse range of cargos, and is also a major offshore supply base for one of the largest gas fields in UK waters.
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Transportation inland is well linked to the motorway. The A683 arterial road, takes cargo straight out of the port and onto the M6 at Lancaster (7 miles). From here containers can be transported north or south. Transportation North will take cargo through the Lake District to Carlisle (73 miles) and on into Scotland to Glasgow (167 miles). Travelling south from Heysham on the M6 motorway will carry any cargo through Wigan (50 miles), down to Stoke-on-Trent (96 miles), and on into the Midlands, and Birmingham (138 miles).

Heysham harbour was built in 1900, and has served the North West of England well over the past century, with its freight services to the main ports of Ireland and the Isle of Man. In recent years the port of Heysham has been a story of continuing expansion and investment. With this investment and the fact that the port is a 24 hour gateway to Ireland, the ports cargo traffic is growing daily and Heysham should surpass its 2010 figure of 3.5 tonnes in the coming years. Within the port, Heysham has all of the facilities needed to achieve this, and can accommodate a high amount of shipping containers in its storage facilities.