Felixstowe to extend berth 9


Damian Brett | Tuesday, 27 August 2013
The Port of Felixstowe is planning to extend one of its recently opened berths in order to enable it to handle two 18,000 teu ships simultaneously.

The Port of Felixstowe is planning to extend one of its recently opened berths in order to enable it to handle two 18,000 teu ships simultaneously.

The Hutchison Ports UK facility has applied for a harbour revision order that will enable it to extend berth 9 by 190 m as a finger quay.

Felixstowe’s berths 8 and 9 were opened in 2011, adding 1m teu of capacity to the UK’s busiest port. In 2003, at the time of submitting applications for the berths, which were part of the Felixstowe South Reconfiguration project, ships of 18,000 teu were not on the horizon.

“Since 2003, when the original applications for FSR were made, there has been a significant increase in containership dimensions,” the application said.

“In addition, the number of these larger vessels deployed on the key shipping routes calling at the Port of Felixstowe has increased. Consequently the port is experiencing a significant shift in the profile of ships that its customers are seeking to service at Felixstowe and this trend is set to continue.

“Berths 8 and 9 were constructed to provide a two-berth container handling facility. However, it has become apparent that, in order to maintain the capability of the berths to handle two of the largest containerships due to operate in the market from 2013/2014, each of approximately 400 m in length, simultaneously, berth 9 needs to be extended by some 190 m.”

The project requires construction of a new quay wall and dredging alongside the extension to 16 m and approaches to 14.5 m. The proposal has already been approved by the local council.

It is understood that the port hopes work on the project will begin next year and it is estimated that dredging and construction work will take 11 months to complete.

The news comes as the port celebrates handling its 70 millionth teu. To celebrate the milestone, the port arranged for UK Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin to load the 70 millionth container on MSC Bettina under guidance of a crane-driving instructor.

Mr McLoughlin said: “I’m proud to help celebrate this milestone for the port — 70m containers is a truly staggering amount and is a testament to the important role Felixstowe continues to play in driving growth.”

Last year, the port handled record volumes of 3.7m teu on the back of 8.8% year-on-year growth.

However, the 1.6m teu London Gateway terminal is set to open in the fourth quarter of the year, adding new capacity and extra competition to the UK’s deepsea terminal industry.

DP World Southampton will add 600,000 teu of new capacity next year as part of a £150m ($233.5m) project.
The extra capacity is already having an impact on the market and several services have switched their UK port of call.


UK's Felixstowe Port Plans Expansion To Handle Super-sized Container Ships




Felixstowe, the U.K.'s biggest container port in terms of capacity, plans to extend one of its berths so it can handle two of the new generation of extra-large container ship at the same time, the latest indication of growing competition among British container terminals for business from owners of the so-called Triple-E vessels.
The port, a unit of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (0013.HK), applied this month to extend one of its newest berths by 190 meters to handle the new ships.
The vessels are typically 1,300 feet long--equivalent to four soccer fields put end to end--20 stories high and with a capacity of up to 18,000 containers can carry 11% more cargo than the world's biggest current vessels.
The new ships offer potential fuel savings of around 35% over the 14,000-capacity vessels that make up much of the world's current container fleet. But for port operators, they require new infrastructure, including taller cranes to load and discharge the containers, to cope with the new ships.
Felixstowe, which handles about 3.5 million 20-foot containers annually, is in fierce competition with DP World's London Gateway and Southampton ports to attract shipping companies and distribution services.
The port, situated around 113 kilometers north east of London, said in its application to the U.K.'s Marine Management Organisation, that it has seen "a significant increase in containership dimensions."
"In addition, the number of these larger vessels deployed on the key shipping routes calling at the Port of Felixstowe has increased. Consequently the port is experiencing a significant shift in the profile of ships that its customers are seeking to service at Felixstowe and this trend is set to continue," the application said.
Work on the project is expected to start early next year and will be completed in around 11 months.
Felixstowe's decision comes amid a flurry of activity at other U.K. ports.
The London Gateway terminal which is set to open later this year recently announced that U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer would be its first customer, taking up a 900,000 square foot storage facility at the port's logistics park. Southampton has also announced dredging works that will allow it to boost its container-handling capacity by around 600,000 units and berth larger vessels.
"Handling the Triple Es and other large container ships will become a must for European ports if they want to compete," said Lars Jensen, chief executive of Copenhagen-based SeaIntel Maritime Analysis. "In the next few years only ships above 12,000 TEU's [20-foot containers] will operate in the main Asia to Europe trading route."
Danish giant Maersk Line has ordered 20 Triple Es with one ship already in operation. China Shipping Container Lines has ordered five and United Arab Shipping Co. is due to announce its own order this week.



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