Stevedoring Services Ltd (SSL) will continue to operate the Hamilton docks for the next five years after today signing a new lease with the Corporation of Hamilton.

However, the Corporation intends to encourage competition for the right to operate the dock in future by inviting any business to bid for the job at the end of the new lease.

The company, a subsidiary of Polaris Holding Company Ltd, has been responsible for dock operations for more than 15 years.

Charles Gosling, the Mayor of Hamilton, said: “The atmosphere on the docks has changed very positively under the management of Warren Jones, Polaris CEO and Cheryl Hayward-Chew, Polaris chairman.

“In the spirit of transparency and fair business practice, this will be the last rollover lease for Stevedoring Services. Within the term of this five-year lease, City of Hamilton will conduct a full independent review and evaluation process which will then form the basis of an RFP [request for proposal], an open invitation to any business to bid for the contract.”

This RFP will be published and awarded a year before this lease expires.

Around 40,000 containers move through the six-acre docks on Hamilton waterfront.