Shoreham

Shoreham and the shipping industry

The port of Shoreham, located on the coast in West Sussex is just 6 miles from Brighton. The port was at its peak in the 1970’s, but trade slackened off during the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. Shoreham is once again a thriving port, now that it has reverted back to bulk cargo traffic, with a vital commodity being container cargo being exported to the Falkland Islands.

In 2010 the port of Shoreham handled 1.8 million tonnes of cargo traffic. All major European ports are destinations facilitated by Shoreham along with Beirut and as mentioned the Falkland Islands, making this port a vital hub for container shipping from the South coast.

The main arterial route leaving the port of Shoreham for containers in transit is the A27. Heading West, this takes you on towards Portsmouth (43 miles), where you can join the motorway network. Transportation in an Eastern direction on the A27 takes you through Brighton (6 miles), and onto Eastbourne (33 miles). Heading North from the port to join the motorway network containers in transit would follow the signs for Crawley where they would join the M23 motorway (26 miles).

For many centuries now, the port of Shoreham has been used for commercial trade. It was first used way back in Roman times, when the port was known as Portus Adurni. The name changed after the Saxons landed on the South coast. It was the greatest port on the South coast for almost three centuries, and during Norman times, Shoreham was used to import wine and export wool.

Shoreham was also known for its shipbuilding, which continued until 1850. Under the reign of Edward III, Shoreham supplied warships for the monarch’s navy to do battle with the French.

The port of Shoreham has had quite a diverse history, and to this day it still has numerous uses. The port caters for leisure users, along with fishing at the port, but its main commodity is the shipping of container cargo.