Lion Containers' Visit To The Port Of Felixstowe By Jessica Archer

Lion Containers’ Visit To The Port Of Felixstowe By Jessica Archer

1/16/2015

Recently Lion Containers went on a trip to Felixstowe to go see the worlds largest shipping container ship – the CSCL Globe, owned by
China Shipping Container Lines. No doubt you have probably seen this on the news but if not, heres an article with a few random facts, such as the fact the ship is a quarter of a mile long and weighs 186,000 tonnes (i.e a very large ship). Here is what I thought about our day in Felixstowe.

It was the first time I have ever seen a container boat. It was amazing watching how quickly the containers were loaded onto the vessel. It was like watching a giant automatic teddy bear machine (which Ive thrown quite a lot of money at over the years). Containers were loaded onto the ship in less than 20 seconds.

It was a long trip from the Midlands to Felixstowe, so we saw a lot of lorries and signs along the way. We saw a few familiar names (other than the usual Tesco and Eddie Stobart vans). There was a massive sign as we approached the port for one of our suppliers
Maritime Transport. We also saw Felixstowe Port Container Services (which was sort of hoped for, considering the location). A few familiar vehicles we noticed were JDM,
Wincanton and
Goldstar Transport. It was interesting to see their company logos outside of the computer screen.

So what was learned from this experience other than how long it takes to drive to Felixstowe from the midlands? I have learned that containers are loaded onto a barge by an automated machine, ready to be transported overseas. How this machine is programmed to be so accurate is beyond my knowledge at the moment unfortunately; but maybe in a future blog this mystery may be uncovered.

Even with the weather being cold this time of year, going to the east coast to experience this was definitely worth it. I would definitely recommend going to visit the CSCL Globe should the chance arise again.