The Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company

04/13/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/13/2021 04:44

Enhanced Deep-Water berth for Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe:

Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe has further enhanced its deep-water berth capacity following the successful completion of strengthening and dredging works to Berth 7 on Trinity Terminal.

Berth 7 - one of the Port of Felixstowe's nine container berths - has been dredged from 15.0m to 16.5 metres below Chart Datum and the berth box widened from 55m to 70m.

Chris Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe, said,

'The Port of Felixstowe is ever progressive and continuously invests in its infrastructure, equipment and people, with the view to enhancing its customer offering. As the number of ultra-large container ships continues to grow we will continue to improve and upgrade our facilities to meet the needs of our customers.

'Berths 8&9 are designed for a maximum depth of 18 metres and the next phase of development will see further increases to the depths at Berths 6, 8 and 9. The deeper berths are being complemented by dredging planned by Harwich Haven Authority to increase the depth of the approach channel to up to 16 metres, further reinforcing Felixstowe's position as the country's No.1 deep-sea container port. '

The berth upgrade, together with a program to extend the outreach of 10 ZPMC quay cranes to 23 boxes wide on Berths 6 & 7, are in direct response to the increasing size and depth of the world's largest container vessels, keeping Felixstowe at the forefront of the UK logistics and supply chain.

The 19,630 TEU Manila Maersk, operated on the 2M AE6/NEU3 service to Asia, was the first vessel to use the deeper berth. With a departure draft of 15.6 metres, the vessel was the deepest ever to be berthed on Trinity Terminal.

Boskalis Westminster Limited was the appointed dredging contractor for the project and used a combination of backhoe dredger, the 'Nordic Giant' with a bucket size of 13 cubic metres, and trailing suction hopper dredgers to undertake the works.

END

Notes to Editors:

For further information, please contact Paul Davey, Head of Corporate Affairs, on Tel No: +44 (0)1394 602063 or E-mail [email protected] / www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk

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Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe is strategically located on the UK's South East coast and within easy reach of major ports in North West continental Europe. As the UK's first purpose-built container-handling facility, it is also the largest and busiest container port in the country. With three rail terminals, it also has the busiest and biggest intermodal rail freight facility in the UK. The latest phase of development, Berths 8&9, provides additional deep-water capacity for the world's largest container ships.

Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe is a member of Hutchison Ports, the port and related services division of CK Hutchison Holdings Limited. Hutchison Ports is the world's leading port investor, developer and operator with a network of port operations in 53 ports spanning 27 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Over the years, Hutchison Ports has expanded into other logistics and transportation-related businesses, including cruise ship terminals, distribution centres, rail services and ship repair facilities.