Landguard Terminal was opened in 1967, and was the UK’s first purpose built container handling facility. It is able to provide customers with a productive and consistent level of service, particularly those specialising in shipments on South American, East/West African and Mediterranean/Black Sea trades.

The Terminal offers 554 metres of quay, dredged to a maximum depth of 11.9 metres alongside, and is capable of handling 450,000 TEUs per year. It is equipped with three ship-to-shore gantry cranes (one of which has the twinpick facility) and 12 rubber-tyred gantry cranes.

The Terminal is able to provide over 11,000 TEUs of stacking capacity, and has the ability to handle electric reefer containers, with a dedicated area serviced by a reachstacker for empty containers.

Landguard Terminal is to undergo extensive redevelopment as part of the ‘Felixstowe South Reconfiguration’ scheme, which is scheduled to commence in 2008. The scheme involves the conversion of the Terminal, together with the area previously used by P&O North Sea Ferries Limited and the Dock Basin, into a new deep-water container terminal.

The Felixstowe South reconfiguration scheme will increase the quay length available for container handling by close to 1,000 metres, giving a total quay length of 1,350 metres. This will allow the terminal to simultaneously handle three of the world’s largest container vessels. The new Terminal will be equipped with 13 of the most modern quayside cranes all equipped with twinpick facility and 50 rubber-tyred gantry cranes. It will provide a storage capacity of 46,800 TEUs.

Dredged to 16 metres alongside, Felixstowe South will provide the deepest water available at the Port, and will enable Felixstowe to handle more of the latest generation of large container vessels, giving the port 6 deep water berths.

During the construction phases of the Felixstowe South scheme, customers of Landguard Terminal will be accommodated within the other areas of the Port to ensure minimum disruption to their operations.

The TCEF

The examinations presented in the TCEF are usually for products of animal origin. These examinations are predominantly called for by the Port Health Authority. This examination facility is divided into two inspection areas. The first of these is a five-bay facility, which is used to examine cargoes for ‘human consumption’, largely fish and chicken. The remaining facility has two bays, and is for the inspection of cargoes ‘not for human consumption’, such as fishmeal and pet food. To avoid contamination, the two areas in the TCEF are completely segregated, with each area having its own equipment.

The ATEF

The Port has built a designated Ambient Temperature Examination Facility within a large warehouse, known as 70 Shed. The ATEF is split into two areas – one for the examination of products of ‘animal origin’, such as canned tuna, gelatine and corned beef, and the other for the examination of foodstuffs ‘not of animal origin’, such as nuts and fruit. For hygiene purposes, the two areas and all the equipment used are kept completely separate.

Container Freight Station

The Port operates a 6,000m2 Container Freight Station (CFS), located on Trinity Terminal. As well as providing extensive container stripping and stuffing services, the CFS also offers modern, state-of-the-art Border Inspection Post (BIP) facilities. It facilitates the examination of cargoes by Port Health, HMRC, Special Branch, Forestry Commission, Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate, Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate and Trading Standards.

The Port has committed substantial investment in the creation of two BIP areas and Reefer gantries to support the two areas – the Temperature Controlled Examination Facility (TCEF) and the Ambient Temperature Examination Facility (ATEF). These facilities comfortably exceeds the EU guidelines for BIPs.

The BIP areas provide Suffolk Coastal District Council’s Port Health Authority – whose offices are on the Port – with the means to carry out their duties and examinations within a clean, contained environment. The Port works closely with Port Health, and signed a ‘Memorandum of Agreement’ with the authority in September 2005, which commits both parties to a set of objectives for the timely and efficient inspection of containers at the Port.