Port of Felixstowe
careers at Felixstowe
Harwich Haven Authority
You are standing in the middle of the Port of Felixstowe, on Trinity quay, the larger of the two quays at Felixstowe. Click on the links to:
- find out about cargo containers
- discover how the containers are moved about the port
- see how container ships are loaded and unloaded
- visit Harwich to find out how the Harwich Haven Authority uses ICT to help the ships reach Felixstowe.
The Port of Felixstowe specialises in unloading and loading container ships. It is a vast port, like a little city. The quay in the picture above is over two kilometres long.
Felixstowe can load and unload up to 85 ships a week, even though the ships are enormous. Some of them may have 8,000 containers on board. Of course, not all of those containers would need to be unloaded at Felixstowe. Many of them would be staying on board to go to other ports. But, typically, about 2000 of those containers might be unloaded at Felixstowe, and other containers would be loaded onto the ship. Yet normally a large ship like the one in the picture above can be unloaded and loaded in only 24 hours.
The Port of Felixstowe does not just handle containers. It also handles giant rolls of paper which are destined to be newspapers and magazines. Felixstowe recently imported the huge amounts of paper needed to print all the worldwide editions of the latest Harry Potter book. The port also handles bulk liquids – fuel oils for example – which are carried in tanker ships and pumped ashore into vast storage tanks. But its main business is containers.
The complex operations at Felixstowe depend on inter-connected computer systems. Follow the links on this page to find out what happens in the port and how ICT is used to manage the operations.
You can also visit the port's website www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk .
