PEEL Ports boss Jim McSporran says he wants Greenock to become the best port in Scotland - and insists that a major upgrade to the facility will bring a huge boost to Inverclyde's economy.

The port director at Clydeport made the bold claim as two new £25m ship-to-shore cranes were officially unveiled at the site yesterday - and Mr McSporran says the new cranes will have a big part to play in making that dream a reality.

The cranes are Peel Ports' biggest-ever investment in Greenock’s container facilities.

The pair of ship-to-shore cranes arrived at the port in June and have been in operation since July.

Mr McSporran says Clydeport has already noticed a massive increase in productivity.

OTHER NEWS: Ferguson Marine sheds light on Glen Sannox 'blackout'

With its new facilities, the Port of Greenock can now take Post-Panamax II container ships, which are among the largest on the planet.

The Peel Ports chief told the Telegraph that the new cranes would allow the port to access markets such as the Americas, China, the Far East and Turkey.

Jim McSporran. (Image: George Munro)

He added: “We’re getting loads of enquiries on that front.

“These cranes allow us to go ten containers higher and six or eight containers wider.

“The cranes are also much more efficient than the older cranes that were there, and they’re fully electric, so the CO2 emissions are eliminated on the quayside.

“The industry that has really served this terminal well over the years is the whisky trade. Now that the whisky industry sees we can do direct runs from here to anywhere in the world, or via our other ports, it’ll open up markets for them as well.”

The new cranes have been in operation since July. (Image: Peel Ports)

Mr McSporran said the new cranes were part of a larger scheme to invest in the Port of Greenock and promised there would be more to come.

He said: “We’ve had a couple of phases of improvement at the Greenock Terminal. We opened the empty part back in 2023, which was a £1.5m investment to create space for empty containers.

“We put a reefer gantry in and now the cranes as well. It’s all leading up to modernising the port and getting this port to be the best in Scotland.

“We have the best cranes in Scotland, and there will be other phases to the improvements in Greenock to come.

“There’s 97 feet of a difference between the old cranes and the new cranes.

They were old and slow and tired, and very inefficient. We've nowgot state-of-the-art, best-in-class cranes, and our guys have made sure that they’re also oven-ready for full automation in the future.

“We didn’t have a deep water container port in Scotland; the east coast is on locks. and we didn’t have the crane equipment until now.

“This was traditionally the export port for the Americas and beyond. Going back in history we used to do 15,000 vessels every year out the Clyde.

“Two thirds of Scotland’s export or foreign trade came through Clydeport, so this is a step in the right direction to drive some of that volume over our quaysides.”

(Image: Peel Port Group)

A naming competition for the cranes, each of which is 72 metres tall, was launched by Peel Ports Clydeport in partnership with Inverclyde Council, with the winners announced earlier this year.

Avaleigh Lang, 10, of Lady Alice Primary in Greenock, chose Craner Swift as a nod to the US pop icon Taylor Swift, while Frances McFadden, 10, of the town’s St Mary’s Primary School opted for U-Crane Bolt as a tribute to Jamaican gold medallist Usain Bolt.

The port operator believes the cranes will help accommodate increased demand from cargo owners, and support growth in transatlantic trade, as well as future proof the port.

When asked by the Telegraph what he would say to those who are sceptical of the benefits that the company's investment will bring to the surrounding area, Mr McSporran restated his belief the local economy stands to benefit from the port’s growth.

He said: “The investment speaks for itself. We’ve paid for this ourselves. It’s £25m and every pound note is a Peel pound note.

“I think we could double the turnover in Greenock. And if we can draw more business across the quayside in Greenock, then there’s a clear impact on the local economy through increasing jobs and everything that goes with that.

“The whole supply chain benefits from it.

“Now we have the kit to allow us to start that journey.”