Port of Felixstowe expansion commences

The Port of Felixstowe, UK announced the commencement of construction work on Phase I of its Felixstowe South Reconfiguration scheme.

The first 440 metres of quay are scheduled to be available by April 2010, with the entirety of Phase I being fully operational by September of that year. This initial phase will create an additional 730 metres of deep-water quay, dredged to 16 metres alongside. The quay will be equipped with seven quayside cranes, able to accommodate the largest container ships in the world. "After a lengthy consent process, the port is pleased to finally be able to start construction of the Felixstowe South Reconfiguration," said Chris Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports UK (HPUK), which owns the Port of Felixstowe. "There is a shortage of deep-water container terminal capacity, and this development confirms that Felixstowe will be the first major UK port to provide much-needed additional capacity for deep-sea container operators. Phase II is currently expected to be operational by 2014. The new development, when completed, will create a total of four new deep-water berths, with a total length of 1,285 metres, and will be equipped with 13 ship-to-shore gantry cranes. This will provide overall capacity of 5.3 million TEU per annum at Felixstowe alone. The multi-million-pound construction contract has been awarded to Costain Limited. Landguard Terminal will remain operational during the construction of Phase I, and will continue to service its existing customers.
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