A ferry firm has announced it is moving to Shell Haven - the first company to be part of the massive container port.
Dart Line freight ferry services, based at Dartford, will move to the Stanford-le-Hope site in months.
Parent company Jacobs Holdings has agreed an initial deal with developer P&O with the two organisations creating a roll-on, roll-off ferry facility alongside P&O's proposed international container terminal, while at the same time developing Jacobs' 50-acre Dartford site.
The move may see the first new jobs coming to the area with Jacobs' managing director Michael Kingshott saying: "The proposal will provide us with an enlarged facility for our Dart Line operations.
"The inclusion of rail-freight facilities, together with the prospect of a wide range of distribution/logistics companies which will locate within the 1,500-acre Shell Haven site, will provide opportunities to increase the scale of Dart Line's activities."
Dart Line caters for unaccompanied trailer traffic, offering two sailings each weekday to Zeebrugge and two a day to Vlissingen.
The proposal was welcomed by Thurrock Council's cabinet member responsible for investment, John Kent.
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