The first container ship is due at DP World London Gateway this week.

Arriving around 23:00 GMT on Wednesday (November 6th), the Mitsui OSK Lines Caledon, which will be transporting fruit and wine shipped from South Africa, will be the first commercial container ship to use the facilities, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Chief executive of DP World London Gateway Simon Moore said: "That's a very visual mark of our progress. It's always been our target to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2013 and that's what we're doing, on schedule and on budget."

Its position close to London lets it compete with Felixstowe, which recently became the first port in the UK to receive the Majestic Maersk with a capacity of 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.

A nine million sq ft logistics park is being built adjacent to the dock, enabling quick transfers from ship to distribution centres - big names such as Marks and Spencers have already invested in facilities at this location.