Port berth deepened to cope with ultra-large container ships

The port carried out strengthening and dredging works on Berth 7 at Trinity Terminal, deepening it from 15.0m to 16.5m below Chart Datum (water levels taken from low tide) and widening it from 55m to 70m.

Chris Lewis, chief executive officer, Hutchison Ports Port of Felixstowe, said: “The Port of Felixstowe is ever progressive and continuously invests in its infrastructure, equipment and people, with the view to enhancing its customer offering.

“As the number of ultra-large container ships continues to grow we will continue to improve and upgrade our facilities to meet the needs of our customers.

“Berths 8 and 9 are designed for a maximum depth of 18 metres and the next phase of development will see further increases to the depths at Berths 6, 8 and 9.

“The deeper berths are being complemented by dredging planned by Harwich Haven Authority to increase the depth of the approach channel to up to 16 metres, further reinforcing Felixstowe’s position as the country’s No.1 deep-sea container port.”

The port said the berth upgrade and a programme to extend the reach of 10 of its quay cranes (made by engineering firm ZPMC) to 23 boxes wide on Berths 6 and 7 were in direct response to the increasing size and depth of the world’s largest container vessels. The aim is to keep Felixstowe “at the forefront of the UK logistics and supply chain”, it said.

The 19,630 TEU (20ft equivalent unit, or standard container lengths) Manila Maersk, which travels to Asia, was the first vessel to use the deeper berth.

The vessel — which has a departure draft (or distance from the waterline to the keel or hull) of 15.6m — was the deepest ever to be berthed on Trinity Terminal.

Boskalis Westminster Limited was appointed as dredging contractor for the project. The company used a combination of backhoe dredger, a “Nordic Giant” with a bucket size of 13 cubic metres, and trailing suction hopper dredgers to undertake the works.