The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1967–2017
Tiny Felixstowe bet on containers in 1967 and became Britain's biggest port
A small resort-town port opened the UK's first container terminal with one crane in 1967; 50 years later it handles the world's largest container ships.
Port of Felixstowe
the move
In the mid-1960s Britain's big ports were still geared to breakbulk cargo while containerization was taking off in America. Felixstowe, a small private port on the Suffolk coast better known as a seaside resort, chose to invest in the new system.
Its first dedicated container terminal — the UK's first operational one — opened on 1 July 1967 with just 500 feet of quay and a single Paceco Vickers portainer crane. The port was selected for its proximity to main shipping lanes and the major ports of Northern Europe.
The bet paid off: Felixstowe added Landguard Terminal in the 1970s, the UK's first post-panamax Trinity Terminal through the 1980s and 1990s, and Berths 8 and 9 in 2011–2015. Today it is the UK's largest container port, with nine berths, 3,000 metres of quay and 33 cranes, handling ships of more than 21,000 TEU.
why it works
- Early container capacity attracted the first transatlantic container services.
- Deep water and spare land allowed expansion the old ports lacked.
- Proximity to Northern Europe's shipping lanes suited hub traffic.
- Each new terminal arrived just as container volumes were growing.
what transfers
When a new standard is about to win, being early at the right geography captures the network: modest assets plus a first-mover bet can beat incumbents with huge ones.
what came after
Felixstowe became part of Hutchison Ports and remains the UK's biggest container port. The original New South Quay site was absorbed into Berths 8 and 9, where the world's largest container ships now berth.
references
- Celebrating 50 years of the Port of Felixstowe
- Port of Felixstowe celebrates 50 years of container terminals
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