On 21st July it was announced that the Port of Felixstowe was celebrating the 50th anniversary of ro-ro operations. The anniversary was marked by a reception for guests and local dignitaries followed by a visit to the 24,613gt/1999 built ro-ro ferry Suecia Seaways (above) at the port’s Dooley Terminal.

The event was also attended by a number of retired employees who have worked at the port’s ro-ro terminals over the last 50 years. In 1965 DFDS operated a weekly service to Copenhagen. Fifty years on they operate three sailings per day from Felixstowe to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The first ro-ro vessel, the 2,760grt Gaelic Ferry, called at the port’s then newly-built No.1 ro-ro Bridge on 12th July 1965.

That first service to Rotterdam was operated by Transport Ferry Service, the trading name of the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company (ASN). The vessel loaded 34 lorries and around 80 BMC cars. ASN was acquired by the European Ferries group, the operators of Townsend Thoresen ferries, in 1971 and continued to operate from the port under the Townsend Thoresen brand. Five years later, in 1976, European Ferries also bought the Port of Felixstowe itself. The port, and the ferry company, was subsequently sold to P&O and the ferry company renamed P&O European Ferries.

P&O’s ferry services from the port continued until 2002. DFDS acquired the service previously operated by Norfolk Line in 2010. The first Norfolk Line ship arrived in Felixstowe on 6th January 1992. Other ferry services that have operated from the port over the last 50 years include those by Sealink, Tor Line and Fred. Olsen.