Harwich International Port
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Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich. The port was formerly known as Parkeston Quay.
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[edit] History
The Great Eastern Railway , which was formed from the merging of the Eastern Counties Railway and the Eastern Union Railway in 1862 operated passenger steamers across the North Sea from Harwich to Europe. By 1872, shipping trade had increased so that more capacity was required and the Great Eastern Railway obtained permission to reclaim land at Ray Farm, a mile to the west of Harwich, and build a new quay. This new quay was opened in 1883 by Charles H. Parkes, the then Chairman of the Great Eastern Railway company, the port being named after him as Parkeston Quay. The port had its own railway station, and a hotel was built between the northern platform and the quay, the hotel building is now used as offices. The railway station was originally called Parkeston, then Parkeston Quay, currently it is named Harwich International.
The port remained under the ownership of the Great Eastern Railway until 1923 when the company became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). In 1939 the Admiralty requisitioned Parkeston Quay for naval purposes releasing it back to the LNER in 1946.
On 1st January 1948 the LNER was nationalised and the port came under the ownership of British Railways. In 1984 the port was sold to Sea Containers who sold it to Stena Line in 1989. In 1997, Parkeston Quay was acquired by Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, the current owners, who have renamed the port, Harwich International Port.
[edit] Current Operations
The port is primarily involved with ferry operations with regular sailings to Rotterdam/Europort, Hook of Holland by Stena Line and Esbjerg (Operated by Scandinavian Seaways). The Harwich-Cuxhaven, Germany (previously Hamburg) route was discontinued in late 2005. Cruise ships call regularly at the port during the summer months, tankers call at the Petrochem Carless refinery and some general cargo and bulk cargos are worked at the port.
[edit] Facilities
There are 4[1] ro-ro berths with linkspans. The specialised pier for the High Speed Ferry Stena Discovery is disused now that the high speed ferry service has been discontinued and its linkspan has been removed. There are extensive railway sidings adjacent to and within the port with 40 acres of standing for cars. In total there are over 105 acres (0.42 km²) of operational land with parking for over 1000 trailers
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ro-Ro 5 was removed in 2007
