Felixstowe Expansion Commences

Work has started at the port of Felixstowe on the latest expansion of the UK's largest container port.

VSBW joint venture, a consortium of VolkerStevin and Boskalis Westminster, has been appointed as the lead contractor to extend the port's berth 9 by 190 metres. The work will increase the combined lengths of berth 8 and 9  to 920 metres, giving the port even greater flexibility to berth the worlds largest container ships.

The Bpskalis Westminster dreger, Causeway, began dredging the area on 13 April 2014. The initial dredging is in preperation for construction to beging in the summer. The project will involve dredging 1 million cubic metres of material to provide the berth and approaches,and enable a new steel-piled quay wall will be built.

Commenting on the project, Clemence Cheng, Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited Chief Executive Officer, said "The scale of operations at the Port of Felixstowe already gives us the ability to berth more large container ships simultaneously than other ports in the UK. The new extension will increase the berthing permutations we can offer and continue to ensure that we turn our customers' vessels in the quickest possible time."

Ian Cussons, VSBW Project Manager said: "We are ready to mobilise all necessary resources in the very near future. The tubular pile design is very similar to the existing Berths 8 and 9 will be built to allow the water alongside to be dredged to 18 metres depth." Piling of the quay wall for the new extension will start later in the summer with construction due to complete in mid-2015. The new extension will be equipped with three new ship-to-shore gantry cranes, each with a 25-container wide outreach.

Mark Binge comments "This is fantastic news, not just for the Port of Felixstowe, but the UK shipping industry in general. As more and more of the new generation of ULCS enter the market it is imperative that berths are available to cater for their needs and that direct calls are not lost to our European neighbors."