| Port of Felixstowe | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Interactive map of Port of Felixstowe | |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Location | Felixstowe |
| Coordinates | 51°57′18″N1°18′36″E / 51.955°N 1.310°E /51.955; 1.310 |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1875 |
| Operated by | Felixstowe Dock & Railway Company |
| Owned by | Hutchison Port Holdings |
| Type ofharbour | Container port |
| Size | 3,383 ha (8,360 acres) |
| No. ofberths | 10 (9 Active) |
| Employees | 3,500 approx. (2017) |
| Chief Executive Officer | Clemence Cheng |
| Statistics | |
| Vessel arrivals | 3,000 sea |
| Website portoffelixstowe | |
ThePort of Felixstowe, inFelixstowe,Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's largestcontainer port,[1] dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade.[2][3] In 2017, it was ranked as 43rdbusiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a handled traffic of 3.85 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).[4] In 2019 it was ranked the UK's 7th busiest port.[5]
The port is operated by the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, which was set up under anAct of Parliament, the Felixstowe Railway and Pier Act 1875, and so is one of the fewlimited companies in the UK that do not have the word "Limited" in their name.[6] Much of the land on which it sits is owned byTrinity College, Cambridge, which in the 1930s bought some land near Felixstowe which included a dock that was too small to be included in theNational Dock Labour Scheme. In 1967, it set up Britain's first container terminal for £3.5m in a deal withSea-Land Service.[7] Because container shipping is much more economically efficient in bulk, this early start led to it becoming the UK's largest container port, despite its previous insignificance to the shipping market.
By 1980, Felixstowe had become the largest container port in the UK.[8] In April 1981, Dooley and Walton, two new terminals started operation.[8] Walton was owned byOOCL and operated separately. The port was purchased byP&O in 1987.[8]
Felixstowe is owned byHutchison Port Holdings (HPH) and has always been privately owned. In 1951, Gordon Parker, an agricultural merchant, bought the Felixstowe Dock & Railway Company, which at the time was handling only grain and coal.[citation needed] In 1976, Felixstowe was bought byEuropean Ferries. In June 1991, P&O sold Felixstowe toHutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong for £90m. Walton terminal was amalgamated and OOCL became a 25% shareholder.[8] In June 1994, Hutchison Whampoa's Hutchison International Port Holdings bought out Orient Overseas International's 25% stake in Felixstowe for £50m.[citation needed] On 21 August 2022, the first strike in thirty years occurred when about 1,900Unite members walked out in a dispute over pay.[9]
The port has its ownPort of Felixstowe Police,fire, andambulance services.
The port has two main container terminals,Trinity andLandguard, as well as aroll-on/roll-off terminal.
There is a continuous quay of over 2.3 kilometres (1.4 miles), equipped with 29 ship-to shoregantry cranes. The main navigation channel is dredged to 14.5 m (48 ft) belowchart datum, with a maximum depth of 15 m (49 ft)[citation needed] alongside the quay. This allows Felixstowe to accommodate the world's latest generation of deep-draughtedpost-Panamax vessels and the much largerMaersk Triple E class, launched in 2013 and capable of carrying 18,000TEUs.[3]
TheA14 connects the port to theEnglish Midlands and theM6, the north via the M1 and M6 andA1 and via theA12 to London. The port (as simply "Felixstowe") is signed from as far away as M6 junction 1 forRugby.
Each terminal has its own rail terminal which connects to theFelixstowe Branch Line. The second rail container terminal opened on 16 May 1983.[10]
Seafarers' welfare charityApostleship of the Sea, which provides practical and pastoral support to seafarers, has aport chaplain based at Felixstowe port.
| Location | Felixstowe |
|---|---|
| Proposer | Hutchison Whampoa[citation needed] |
In 2008, work began on the construction and reconfiguration of Felixstowe South terminal creating 1,300 m of quay served by 12 new ship-to-shore gantry cranes. Work will be carried out in two stages with 750 m of sea wall complete by the end of 2010 and stage which is expected to open in 2014.[needs update] This new terminal will have a clearance of 16 m and gantries suited for extra large box carriers.[11]
The railway track between Felixstowe andNuneaton has been upgraded to allow for morefreight trains by clearing the route to W10loading gauge, allowing 'Hi-cube'shipping containers to be carried between the Port of Felixstowe and theWest Coast Main Line at Nuneaton. The West Coast Main Line had previously been cleared to W10 and the route from Nuneaton to Birmingham was already cleared to W12.[12]
This work will accommodate additional freight traffic as a result of 'Felixstowe South' expansion at the Port of Felixstowe. It will also allow the newer high-cube containers to be carried by train - and the percentage of these containers is expected to increase from 30% in 2007 to 50% in 2012.[13]Network Rail completed the gauge enhancement from Ipswich toPeterborough in 2008.[14] Work should be completed by 2014[15] at an estimated cost of £291 million.[16]
As part of the Felixstowe South development, Hutchison Ports will provide financial support intended to increase capacity at theCopdock interchange (J55) between the A14 and the A12.[17]
The dispute followed the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company offering a pay increase of 5%.[18] Unite reported that this equated to a real-terms pay cut with retail price inflation at 11.9%.[19] In 2021, dock workers received a below inflation pay increase of 1.4%. In July 2022,Unite members at Felixstowe voted on industrial action and workers recorded a 92% yes vote on an 81% turnout.[18] In August, dock workers walked out from the site in the first industrial action of its kind in 30 years.[20] Coverage of the industrial action revealed that some Felixstowe dockers relied on the support of food banks and were struggling to make mortgage payments.[21] Trade union communications byUnite used the hashtag #DockersDeserveBetter.[22]
In a press statement, General Secretary ofUnite,Sharon Graham said:[23]
The bottom line is this is an extremely wealthy company that can fully afford to give its workers a pay rise. Instead it chose to give bonanza pay outs to shareholders touching £100 million.
On 24 August footage and photographs recorded a port worker carrying aUnite the Union flag surfed in front of anEvergreen Marine Corp container ship.[24][25][26] The footage was published on Twitter by trade unionist and Labour councillor Lauren Townsend and included a sample fromAC/DC'sBack in Black.[27]
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