Having lived in Felixstowe for 21 years, down the road from the UK’s biggest container port, up until last week, I had never been able to have a look around.
To celebrate Maritime week, Felixstowe Port offered bus tours to the public to let them see what happened on the inside!
On our 7-mile tour, we saw multiple mega vessels (which in comparison made the other Vessels look tiny!), train stations, and operating cranes and I was even stunned to see 84 hectares of wildlife on the other side of the port’s fence which is being run by Suffolk wildlife.
It was fantastic to see digital transformation taking form as we captured the sight of 2 autonomous vehicles being trialed. Along with the technological progression, diversity within the port is also increasing too!
Felixstowe Port was the UK’s first purpose-built container terminal and approximately 4 million twenty-foot equivalent containers pass through the port per year. The Port is 2.6km in length and provides employment to just over 2,500 employees.
After returning to Suffolk after 2 and half years spent in New Zealand, I had many shocked responses to the fact I was looking for a job close to home and looking to permanently stay in Suffolk. However, after a short hour tour around the Port, it made me realise how lucky we are to be in Suffolk! Home to one of the biggest ports in Europe, the best football team in League One (at the moment..), and one of the most famous artists Ed Sheeran! What more could you want?!
– Georgia Harrold
