Languard Point - To see the world`s largest container ship

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When it was reported in a local newspaper that the world's largest container ship was in Felixstowe docks, (that's Languard Point,) we made our way to see this mammoth. Luckily, we had planned a visit for another reason already!Making our way to the car park close to the observation area, it was obvious that the news travels fast - there were a lot of people about for the same reason no doubt.


World's largest container ship MSC Loreto at Felixstowe


It has the capability of holding more than 24,346 containers.


A view of the MSC Loreto with a large Stena Line passenger ferry passing by.


The Stena Line ferry rounds the river mouth against a backdrop of a radar tower and a line of shallow water markers





Parts of the timber pier which once carried rail lines to the end of the jetty. The railway was linked to Landguard Fort where, in the latter part of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century, a system of using submerged mines was devised to protect the approaches to Harwich Harbour.
The railway was used to transport the mines, using hand-pushed trucks, to the jetty where they were loaded on ships and deployed in the harbour.
The mines were anchored by heavy plates and floated to within about twenty feet of the surface (at low water). At this depth they did not interfere with the normal traffic entering and leaving the port. Cables from the mines were connected to the fort's observation post, which was complete with telescope and rangefinder. The telescope would be trained on the bows of an intruding vessel and when the vessel reached the location of one of the mines an electrical contact was automatically made, and the mine exploded.
The mines were designed to cause an upsurge of water so that the vessel would be disabled, not blown up.


We love the area and have visited many times, whether for sight of specific birds or flowers. The official description is: "Landguard is a designated Local Nature Reserve (LNR) due to its value to the local community and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its high wildlife conservation value, such as its rare, vegetated shingle habitat and botanical species"
On top of which you can see a wide variety of ships going in and out of the Felixstowe docks as well as Harwich. Well worth visiting.



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