Since the early 1960s the port has been associated with the exploration and recovery of natural gas from the Southern North Sea to attain the status of England's number one port in this sector. The port provides a truly holistic service to the industry with the provision of both port and landside facilities aligned to the various support skills and companies required to create this very successful hub.
 The offshore industry is a very important part of our activities with some 70% of the total revenue of the Company attributable in one way or another to the industry. Revenue is derived not only from traditional port dues but also leases on land, hire of plant and equipment and other ad-hoc services.
All the major 'Energy' companies have used the port, many leading names have dedicated bases at the port. Independent companies also have a major representation in the port.
Within the Port you will find all the facilities necessary to support drilling and production activities, from bunkers to drilling muds and drill pipe to fabrication sites.
The size of 'support' vessel has increased considerably to the latest '755' series ships that most of the companies employ today. The Port Company has adapted quays and working practices to ensure that the vessels can access the port at almost any state of the tide. Indeed this was one of the deciding factors back in the '60s as there are no locks or bridges to negotiate in the main area of the harbour and with a rise and fall in the tide of less than 2 metres movement around the river to collect the various items for delivery offshore is easily achieved.
This year the Port Company is expecting around 1550 offshore support vessel entries totalling nearly 3 million gross tons.
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