ISS was selected to provide port agency services for the first vessel calling at DP World's London Gateway.

The DP World-chartered container vessel M/V Pictor J is the first to be brought in to the port, arriving from Germany, and is to serve as a training vessel for staff at the port.

ISS handled the arrival formalities of the vessel, and is to provide all husbandry requirements over the charter period, such as reporting requirements, stores, crew changes, crew welfare as well as acting as the interface between the port and the ship.

The DP World terminal is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of this year. The company claims the port will provide 27,700 jobs in London and the South East of the UK, and £2.4bn ($3.8bn) to annual GDP.

"This gargantuan site will create tens of thousands of jobs in our capital and the South East, whilst helping to drive continued prosperity for the rest of the UK," said London Mayor Boris Johnson who visited the site last month. "DP World's investment is a huge boost to the economy and a massive vote of confidence in London's future."