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The English container port Felixstowe celebrates its 50th anniversary. The facility is thus

the oldest and first of its kind in Great Britain. To process the world’s largest container ships in the future, capacity will be expanded once again. By Thomas Wägener

The Port of Felixstowe, which is part of Hutchison Port Holdings, a company of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited (CK Hutchinson[ds_preview]), has handled a total of 3,745 mill. TEU last year. As a result, the freight volume fell by 7.4% compared to the previous year. One reason for the decline is growing competition in the domestic market in addition to the generally difficult situation in container shipping. As an example London Gateway, the UK›s only deep water container port, has become operational in 2012.

Early expansion of berths

In order to handle the largest container ships in the world, Felixstowe, which was officially opened July 1, 1967, has boosted the capacities at an early stage. While the so-called Trinity Terminal offers a total of seven berths, a terminal length of approximately 2,350m and a terminal area of more than 136ha for an annual capacity of 4mill. TEU, two additional berths for large ships were commissioned in 2011 in a separate area.

Even in the first phase, the 16m deep berths 8 and 9 were equipped with the world›s largest container gantry cranes. With their 62m long boom, they were ready to operate ships with 24 containers in width even then. Such vessels were still in planning stage or just under construction during the commissioning of the two berths which amount to a total of 730m.

Each of these cranes by the Chinese manufacturer ZPMC has a weight of about 2,000t and can hold two containers simultaneously with a total weight of 70t.

In order to meet the ever-growing ship sizes, the port was given the license by the Marine Management Organization (MMO) in 2014 already to extend the two newly built berths by a total of 190 m. Work was completed in November 2015.

According to the port, by extending the quayside to 920m, the flexibility of the berths has increased especially for large ships. As a result, two of the largest container vessels in the world can dock at the same time. According to the data, it was the first two berths in Great Britain ready for such ships as the »MSC Oscar« built in 2014, then the largest container vessel in the world at 19.224TEU.

Beyond the ten container gantry cranes the terminal infrastructure further includes 22 RTGs (rubber-tyred gantry cranes) and five forklift trucks.

The »Eco-RTGs« are announced to consume approximately 40% less fuel and cause significantly less emissions than comparable machines. The port says this helps to ensure that berths 8 and 9 are the most environmentally friendly in the UK. The expansion also led to more container storage area – a growth from 24,000 TEU to 32,000TEU.

If Felixstowe had not taken this step towards the expansion of existing capacities, this would have meant that the container giants had passed over the UK to call other ports, the British are convinced. This would have resulted in an increase in import prices and the exports of the country would no longer be competitive.

Then probably no vessel like the 20.568TEU »Madrid Maersk« would have come to Felixstowe. The ultra large container ship called port at the beginning of June this year. The visit of the world›s third-largest container ship at the time was a new record for the English port. Over 6,000 containers destined for the United Kingdom had left the ship, reports told. The products mainly came from China and Malaysia.

The 399m long and 58.60m wide ship is the first unit of the second generation of the triple E-Class from Maersk, which is also referred to as EEE Mark II. The remaining nine units are to follow until the middle of 2018. The ships of the first generation of the triple E-Class have docked in Felixstowe since 2013.

Since the start of »2M« early in 2015, this service has been serving the English port regularly. In addition to the two main operators, ships from Hamburg Süd and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) Felixstowe have integrated the port in the course of »2M«.

Further upgrades planned

To continue serving the ever-increasing ship classes, a further expansion of the berths 8 and 9 is on the agenda. An extension of the quay to 1,855m is planned as well as a deepening of the berths to 18m. The measures are expected to increase the annual capacity of Felixstowe to 6mill. TEU by 2020.

An expansion of the NorthRail terminal, which has been put into operation in 2013, is also planned for this purpose. Already, some 1 mill. TEU are being handled annually on the approximately 40mill. £ facility. As a result, the proportion of rail transports on modal spilt has increased to 28%, which meant that around 500,000 truck transports were replaced the British say. In total, the port has three different railroad terminals with a total of 20 tracks. All those tracks together measure over 11.5km. Nine portal cranes and five reachstackers are used.

In addition, Hutchinson Ports is working closely with Network Rail to expand the Felixstowe branch line. Work is expected to be completed by 2019. From this point on, up to 45 freight trains will be operated on each route.

By the year 2030 an additional port for further 2mill. TEU per year should be constructed in nearby Harwich, which would increase the annual capacity of Felistowe to 8mill. TEU. The ships calling the English port are then to be served on a quay length of about 5km with a total of 51 container gantry cranes.
Thomas Wägener