Peel Ports has ordered 30 cranes from Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. The £100 million deal will increase the productivity and efficiency of the Port of Liverpool.

A spokesman said that the deal could create 500 direct jobs and that an additional five indirect jobs could also be created for every one of these. Zhenhua has also decided to locate its UK service centre in Liverpool, to coincide with the arrival of the cranes next year.

Peel Ports chief executive Mark Whitworth said: “This signing represents a significant investment for the long term and the most important investment at the Port of Liverpool in the last 20 years. It will help to position it as one of the fastest most-efficient container ports in the world, allowing over 90% of the global fleet to be handled at Liverpool — this is a real ‘game changer’ for shipping lines.

“Zhenhua is doing much more than supplying cranes. It is helping us to deliver a project aimed at changing the logistics flows in the UK, where the Port of Liverpool is currently the third-largest container port and strategically important to trade with China.”

Zhenhua is to supply eight ship-to-shore mega-max quay cranes and 22 cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes.