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Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly known as Parkeston Quay.


History

The
Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...
, 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 Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
to continental 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 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 Quay, but was renamed Harwich Parkeston Quay in 1934 when the new Parkeston Quay West station was opened to serve the west end of the quay. It was given its current name,
Harwich International Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly kno ...
, in 1995. 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 The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
(LNER). In 1939 the Admiralty requisitioned Parkeston Quay for naval purposes, naming it HMS ''Badger''. It was released back to the LNER in 1946. On 1 January 1948 the LNER was
nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
and the port came under the ownership of
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways (BR). In 1984, as part of the privatisation of BR's Sealink ferry services, the port was sold to Sealink's new owners Sea Containers, which sold it on to
Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...
in 1989. In 1997 Parkeston Quay was acquired by Hutchison Port Holdings, which renamed the port Harwich International Port.


Current operations

The main user of the port is the regular ferry services of
Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...
who run twice daily passenger and freight services to the Hook of Holland; as well as freight only services to Rotterdam Europort. The main vessels serving the port are the RoPax ferries the ''Stena Hollandica'' and the ''Stena Britannica'', and the RoRo ferries. Previously, DFDS Seaways operated services to Esbjerg, Denmark (ceased 29 September 2014), Cuxhaven (and before that to Hamburg), Germany, and
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
; the latter two services were discontinued by 2005. Cruise ships once called regularly at the port during the summer months, although in recent times these calls have become more and more infrequent. The year 2016 saw 12 visits – the lowest since the service started. While the majority of opinion puts this down to the recent economic downturn, others feel the reason is due to the lack of facilities for visitors when compared to the likes of Southampton or Dover. Tankers call at the
Carless Carless may refer to: * Betty Careless (c. 1704–1739), probably born Elizabeth Carless, notorious courtesan and bagnio owner in London * Ernie Carless (1912–1987), Welsh cricketer * Hugh Carless (1925–2011), British explorer and ...
refinery, and some
general cargo In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, refers to goods that are stowed on board ship in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading ...
and bulk cargos are worked at the port. As of May 2010, the port was the base for the installation of the offshore Greater Gabbard wind farmOffshore wind handled at Harwich
''Breakbulk'', 21 May 2010. Retrieved: 18 August 2010.
and Thanet Wind Farm in the southern North Sea, and has also been used for Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm.Harwich and offshore wind farms
''Offshore Wind'', 19 April 2010. Retrieved: 18 August 2010.
The operations and maintenance base for the Galloper wind farm is housed in the port and is made up of a dedicated pontoon, warehouse and office space.


Facilities

There are fourRo-Ro 5 was removed in 2007 ro-ro berths with
linkspan A linkspan or link-span is a type of drawbridge used mainly in the operation of moving vehicles on and off a roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) vessel or ferry, particularly to allow for tidal changes in water level. Linkspans are usually found at ferry t ...
s. The specialised pier for the High Speed Ferry 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
acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...
s of standing for cars including electric vehicle charging points. In total, there are over of operational land with parking for over 1,000 trailers.


References


Notes


Bibliography

* *


External links


Harwich International Port web site
{{UK Docks Ports and harbours of Essex
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
Harwich