19th July 2010


Transport Minister Mike Penning will today (Monday 19th July) visit the Port of Felixstowe, Britain’s premier container port.

Mike Penning will be shown the latest progress in the port’s Felixstowe South Reconfiguration, the only fully-committed deep water container terminal currently under construction in the UK. When completed, Felixstowe South will offer 1,285m of additional quay capable of accommodating the largest ships on the market. Phase 1, currently under construction, will provide 730m of quay, served by seven state-of-the-art ZPMC Ship-to-Shore gantry cranes, capable of handling the world’s largest containerships.

During his visit to the port, he will also have discussions with port management, tour the new and existing terminals at Felixstowe, and board a vessel for a guided tour, before crossing the estuary to Harwich, for a tour of Harwich International Port to discuss the port’s increasing involvement as a key player in the offshore renewable energy sector.

David Gledhill, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, which owns the Port of Felixstowe and Harwich International Port, commented:

“It is a pleasure to welcome the new minister to the Port of Felixstowe. Our development here is of major national strategic importance and will allow the UK to be included on the schedules of the next generation of container vessels for years to come. We are also delighted for the opportunity to show out latest investments to improve rail facilities at the port. We are already putting more containers on the rail network than any other UK port and this is destined to grow still further in the future.”

Mike Penning said:
"Britain has a proud legacy of first class port facilities which have played a major part in our economic strength.
"Felixstowe is a great example of British industry building on that legacy, attracting real investment and creating real jobs though these impressive new facilities.”

ENDS

Note to Editors:

Mike Penning is the Member of Parliament for the Hemel Hempstead constituency. He was first elected in May 2005. After the May 2010 election he was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport. His responsibilities include Freight and Logistics, Maritime and Dangerous Goods and Road Safety and Standards. He has previously served on the Health Select Committee and as executive member of the Conservative 1922 Committee. He was a Shadow Minister for Health from 2007 to 2010.

Additional note:

For further information, please contact Paul Davey, Head of Corporate Affairs, on Tel. No: +44 (0)1394 602063, Fax No: +44 (0)1394 604943 or E-mail: daveyps@hpuk.co.uk www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk

Port of Felixstowe (PFL) is the largest container port in the UK, and one of the largest in Europe. PFL is a member of the Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group. HPH, a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL), is the world's leading port investor, developer and operator with interests in a total of 51 ports, spanning 25 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia. HPH also owns a number of transportation-related service companies.