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1951 The Port was acquired by Mr. Gordon Parker, an agricultural merchant. New warehouses were erected for copra, wheat, maize and sugar. RN oil tanks were leased for the storage of linseed, ground-nut and palm oils.
1953 The Port suffered a severe set-back, when the disastrous East coast floods swept over the entire Dock area, causing extensive damage, and destroying the two wooden piers at the basin entrance.
1959 Work commenced on the new East Quay. Bulk grain and liquid tanks were added.
1961 Felixstowe Tank Developments Ltd. was formed. More tanks were added.
1963 Two million cubic feet of warehousing were added. The Felixstowe Cold Store was opened.
1964 The Oil Jetty was constructed, extending 1,100 feet into the waters of Harwich Harbour.
1965 No.1 Ro/Ro berth was completed, and made available at all states of the tide.
1966 Building work commenced on Landguard Container Terminal.
1967-68 The first 500 feet of Landguard Container Terminal, together with one Paceco Vickers Portainer Crane, was completed and in use by 1st July. By March 1968, the remainder of the new container quay (a further 800 feet) had been completed, including one extra Paceco crane, and Ro/Ro berth (No.2 Ro/Ro). In addition, 13 acres of land had been reclaimed.
1972 Work began on a further extension of Landguard Container Terminal. Work also commenced on the development of facilities in the north of the Port.
1973 The 700 feet extension of Landguard Container Terminal was completed, and another Paceco crane was added (now a total of three cranes in operation). During May, the Southern bypass was completed, diverting Dock traffic from the town of Felixstowe. During November, the Freightliner Terminal opened, and No.3 Ro-Ro Bridge on the Northern Development became operational.
1974 The first passenger service, operated by Townsend Thoresen, commenced out of Felixstowe, with a twice-daily service to Zeebrugge.
1975 No.4 Ro/Ro Bridge on the Northern Development was opened on 10th February. During April, the first Tor passenger service commenced to Gothenburg.
1976 The company was taken over by European Ferries Limited.
1978 A purpose-built passenger and freight terminal opened for Townsend Thoresen.
1979 Work began on the expansion in the north of the Port, which was to double the Port’s container handling capacity to approximately 500,000 containers.
1980 With 252,802 containers handled in 1980, Felixstowe became the largest container port in the United Kingdom.
1981 In April, the two new terminals, Dooley and Walton, became operational, Walton Container Terminal being a separately operated company, a subsidiary of the Orient Overseas Container Line in the C.H. Tung Group.
1982 Work commenced on a second Railfright Terminal at the Port to serve Dooley and Walton Terminals.
1984 Felixstowe became the first seaport in the UK to introduce computerised Customs’ clearance.
1985 During 1985, a new Private Bill began its progress through Parliament. This was completed in May 1988. It secured a further 220 acres on the northern bank of Harwich Harbour and the Orwell Estuary for future expansion requirements. Work commenced on Trinity Container Terminal (Phase I).
1986 Phase I of the development became operational in January. This provided the Port with 550 metres of quay, and 24 hectares of back-up storage space. A depth of water alongside of 13.4 metres also provided Felixstowe with the ability to handle the largest container vessels in the world. On 7th April, the Port celebrated 100 years as a working port.
1987 The Port was acquired by the P&0 Group. Felixstowe became the first port in the UK to handle over one million TEUs in one year.
1988 At the end of this year, construction work began on a £50 million project to double the size of Trinity Container Terminal.
1989 In conjunction with the new development, the main approach channel was deepened to 11 metres. The Port’s computer system FCP80 was updated, and renamed Desin8 (Felixstowe Cargo Processing System).
1990 Trinity Terminal Phase II opened.
1991 In August, 75% of the Port was acquired by the Hutchison Whampoa Group, Hong Kong. The separately- operated container-handling facility, Walton Container Terminal (owned by Orient Overseas Holdings Limited), amalgamated with Trinity Terminal (75% of Port of Felixstowe owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited, 25% by Orient Overseas Holdings Limited).
1993 Dredging work to deepen the main channel to a minimum depth of 12.5 metres started. A new warehouse for Forest Products was completed (94 Shed), giving the Port just over one million square feet of warehousing.
1994 Hutchison Whampoa purchased the remaining 25% of the Port from OOHL, giving Hutchison 100% ownership of the Port. The Port was given the go-ahead to undertake a new 630-metre expansion of Trinity Terminal (Trinity III). The A14 dual carriageway right from the Port’s entrance, linking up with the M1/M6 junction, was completed and opened. In December, the Port ordered three new super post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes from Morris in Loughborough, thus enabling the Port to work across 18-containers wide, in fifth generation container vessels. 49% of all British deep-sea container trade passed through the Port of Felixstowe.
1996 3rd April - Trinity III was officially opened by their Royal Highnesses, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The Port handled its two millionth TEU for 1996 on 30th December.
1997 In May, fire destroyed the original Dock Office, which dated back to 1888. In December, for the first time ever, the Port handled 200,000 containers on the Rail Terminal in one year.
1998 Hutchison acquired Thamesport on the Isle of Grain, and Harwich International Port, formerly known as Parkeston Quay. The North Rail Terminal was extended by 56 metres and upgraded. Two additional tracks, making six in all, and two new gantry cranes, were installed. The main navigational approach channel was dredged from -12.5m below Chart Datum to -14.5m.
2000 In October, a Harbour Revision Order was submitted to the Government to extend Trinity Container Terminal by 270 metres (Trinity III.2).
2001 A dedicated rail service for Stora Enso forest products was launched in September, operated by English, Welsh & Scottish Railway Limited (EWS), from the Port’s new paper-handling rail facility.
2002 Approval was given, following a Public Inquiry in May, for the Trinity III.2 extension. Plans of intent were announced for the reconfiguration of the southern part of the Port.
2006 In February approval was given, following a Public Inquiry in 2004, for the Felixstowe South Reconfiguration scheme. The scheme will provide a quay length of 1350m, refurbishment and extension of the existing Landguard container park and a new north rail terminal. The works would increase port capacity to 5.56 million TEUs.
2008 Costain was appointed in May as the main contractor for the Felixstowe South project and following a major demolition programme the start of construction was marked with a ceremony held on 1st September. October saw the commissioning of five new ship to shore cranes from ZPMC and a new rail-mounted gantry crane came into operation in November on the South Rail Terminal.
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