The Port of Felixstowe is southeast of Ipswich on the east coast of England, fronting on the River Orwell estuary in the historic county of Suffolk. It's the British port nearest to Rotterdam and Europoort. It existed there before the Norman Conquest and was critical to England's defense in 1667 when the Dutch failed to win Landguard Fort. Port History The Port of Felixstowe became an important port in 1886. With the opening of the Felixstowe rail station, it became a popular resort during the Victorian period when the German imperial family visited and remained popular until almost 1940. Before World War II, the Port of Felixstowe's pier was one of the longest in the world and had its own train. During the war, it was intentionally demolished so that enemy troops could not use it as a landing point. After the war, the pier was never repaired and, by the end of the century, it was closed to the public. Felixstowe was one of the few places the Italians bombed during World War II, but the RAF made quick work of Mussolini's airforce. Port Commerce The Port of Felixstowe is among England's top three ports, and it handles 35% of all container traffic. In 2005, it was the 29th busiest port in the world and the 6th busiest in Europe. It can handle over 3.7 million containers a year. The navigation channel is 14.5 meters deep, 15 meters deep along its continuous 2.3 kilometer quay. The deep-water Port of Felixstowe can handle the largest post-Panamax vessels. Hutchison Shampoa Ltd. owns the port, but most of the land is owned by Trinity College in Cambridge. The Port of Felixstowe has its own police department. It is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and one of Europe's largest. The Port of Felixstowe's Trinity Terminal occupies 124.3 hectares and can handle 97 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo. The Landguard Terminal occupies 27.9 hectares and can handle 11 thousand TEUs. The Dooley RO-RO Terminal covers 3.4 hectares and includes two cargo-handling quays. The north and south components of Rail Terminal 45 has capacity to handle 195 tons of cargo. |