THE NEW era at Southampton Container Terminals officially began with the commissioning of a £1.7m new harbour crane yesterday.

The 100 tonne crane on berth 203, which can lift the equivalent of 1,250 large plasma TVs, is the port's first specialist provision for small feeder ships, which shuttle containers to other ports.

It's the first step in plans to almost double the capacity of the container port.

Popular with environmentalists because it cuts down on polluting lorry journeys, SCT bosses hope the new feeder business will form more than 10 per cent of their throughput next year.

SCT boss Patrick Walters said: "We estimate that over the years some 8,000 feeder vessels have sailed straight past berth 203 onto our deep water berths, jostling for space among the ever increasing size and number of main liners.

"Conflicting priorities and ever-tighter schedules have led to, dare I say it, feeder operators being treated like second class citizens.

"With Berth 203 now available for SCT's use those days are over.

"Reaction within the industry has been extremely positive. Four new feeder services have already been confirmed to start this month and we remain in discussions with other operators. Our aim is for transhipment to exceed 10 per cent of total throughput in 2007."

Eventually there are plans to build a second crane on the berth to handle two ships at the same time.

Manufactured in Germany, the crane was delivered to Southampton in parts by ship and constructed on the quayside and can be operated on a 24-hour, seven days a week basis.

Feeder ships operator BG Freight, which is part of a group operating 16 vessels, said the new berth had encouraged them to return to Southampton.

A spokesman said: "Now they've got a new berth we have come back and we could put a couple of hundred boxes a week through here easily."

Feeder ships from Southampton supply Spain and Portugal, Dublin and Belfast in Ireland as well as UK mainland ports like Manchester and Liverpool. SCT, the UK's second largest container terminal is a joint venture between Dubai Ports World, which bought P&O earlier this year and has a 51 percent share and Southampton docks owner Associated British Ports.