Port of Felixstowe Tour

I have always resisted the urge to visit ports or to go aboard one of the mega container vessels that navigate our seas these days. Somewhat arrogantly I always thought that my trade is to load mixed containers, negotiate rates for full containers and air freight and that by visiting a port or a vessel I would be no more ready to ply my trade or to improve the knowledge that I can pass on to my customers. How wrong could I be!

I recently visited the port of Felixstowe in Suffolk, UK at the request of one of our clients using our LCL import services from China. I made the arrangements with Evergreen Shipping Lines and the Port of Felixstowe, both of whom were very helpful.

The day started with a visit to our Felixstowe warehouse, the ever reliable drizzle falling down from on high did little to stir the sinew and get me ready for a day of looking at containers, cartons and ships... The guy's in the warehouse were doing a great job and everything was dry, clean and working like a well oiled machine as usual. We then took a trip to that old Felixstowe favourite, "The Ferry Boat Inn", for some triple cooked chips and a piece of fish more akin to a particular Herman Melville novel than a light lunch. Fed and watered we were ready to head for the largest container port in the UK and third largest in Europe, still I was not feeling butterflies in my belly or daydreaming of captaining a vessel on the high sea's.

On arrival at Felixstowe port we were met by the delightful Debbie Coe who took us to a conference room for refreshments, a short film and an informative tutorial on the Port of Felixstowe computer system which tracks every movement of each container, where each commercial driver and straddle carrier driver are in the dock, which job they are on now and next etc. etc.  This was very big brother, but a thoroughly impressive and useful tool nonetheless. If it could make a good cuppa and rustle up a couple of Jammy Dodgers it would be the near perfect companion for a dock worker.

Next Debbie swung into action and whisked us all off around the terminals of Trinity and Languard. The sheer scale of the operation and the vessels in dock is mind boggling. When I started in this industry some 25 years ago the largest class vessels were carrying up to 4500 TEU's (Twenty foot equivalent units), these are now dwarfed by the current range of 14,000 - 22,000 TEU vessels that dock at the port of Felixstowe on a daily basis. For the port to keep up with the growing scale of these monstrous vessels they are constantly having to invest in new dock side cranes and infrastructure.

We also toured the X-ray park where Customs scan containers pulled for examination at their own leisure and the rail terminal which was complete with a very modern sliding turntable to take an engine from one track to another without having to move further along the sidings. The reason for this addition to the rail terminal was that due to a preservation order the port were not able to extend the tracks. All very impressive and ecologically friendly I am sure you will agree.

All present noticed a few damaged containers that had been pulled aside for insurance assessments, 36 in total. This may at first seem alarming, however when you consider the many thousands of containers in the port and the two very heavy storms over the prevailing weeks it seems more palatable. Also when we all moan regarding port closures due to high winds we need to remember one thing. These containers were all blown off the top of land side stacks. They were all in stacks no more than four high and locked together with the twist locks provided, so all procedure had been followed. When a commercial driver calls at the port to collect a container the port will sen the driver to the stack where the container is sitting and a straddle carrier will meet him there and lift the container onto his / her vehicle. If the dock is open and operating in high winds then how many of these 36 containers may have fallen onto a vehicle / driver who was waiting below? This is something that I had never considered before my visit to the port and immediately made me accept the closures at the port when the wind reaches a high and sustained level.

Our visit was completed with some photo opportunities, a great cup of strong coffee complete with biscuits and a goody bag from the lovely Debbie.

My company, "Mannson Freight Services Limited" bring in 85% of our shipping via the port of Felixstowe and after my visit to this incredibly impressive facility I can say that our freight is in safe hands, and I was glad that I had seen the workings of this mega port and taken some inspiration from it. My eyes are now much more open and bring on the next port tour, wherever it may be!