The Port of Lowestoft is a harbour in

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and so ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

owned by Associated British Ports. It is the most easterly harbour in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and has direct sea access to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. The harbour is made up of two sections divided by a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

. The inner harbour is formed by

Lake Lothing Lake Lothing is a saltwater lake located in Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the Nor ...

whilst the outer harbour is constructed from breakwaters. Traditionally the harbour was the site for an extensive fishing industry as well as engineering and shipbuilding companies such as Brooke Marine, Richards and

Boulton and Paul Boulton & Paul Ltd was a British general manufacturer from Norwich, England that became involved in aircraft manufacture. Jeld Wen Inc. bought Boulton & Paul (along with another joinery company John Carr) from the Rugby Group plc in 1999 to ...

.Lowestoft
Poppyland Publishing. Retrieved 2011-04-30. The offshore oil and gas industry has also operated from the harbour with Shell maintaining their Southern Operations base in the harbour from the mid-1960s until 2003.Offshore industry timeline
Great Yarmouth Council. Retrieved 2011-04-21.Talks over Shell shutdown

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 2003-04-03. Retrieved 2009-06-14 Although the offshore industry remains important, many of these industries have now declined substantially. In the modern era the port is attempting to develop as a focus for the renewable energy sector.

History

The harbour was originally built by the Lowestoft and Norwich Navigation Company and developed by the Norfolk Railway following the construction of the Norwich to Lowestoft railway.Port of Lowestoft
Lowestoft Maritime Museum, February 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-15
Archived, 2011-07-22
The original Inner Harbour was constructed in 1831 when Lake Lothing was joined to the sea, as shown on a chart based on a survey by William Hewett of HMS ''Fairy'' dated 1834,Early Charts
Lowestoft Maritime Museum. Retrieved 2014-02-24
Archived 2014-01-16
while the Outer Harbour was constructed in 1937. The railway line ran along the north side of the docks and a series of docks railway sidings were used mainly for fishing and freight wagons. These lines have mainly been removed from service but in places sections of the track can be seen. The development of the harbour led to a rapid growth in the fishing industry and associated engineering, including ship building companies such as Brooke Marine, Richards and

. Large scale ship building, which included the building of vessels for the Royal Navy, continued into the 1980s.Brooke Marine
Ocean Pirate. Retrieved 2011-04-25. The fishing heritage of the harbour is celebrated through the museum ship '' Mincarlo'' which is usually berthed in the yacht harbour during the summer.Mincarlo - A Lowestoft Sidewinder
Lydia Eva & Mincarlo Charitable Trust. Retrieved 2011-04-21

2011-07-17. The East Anglian Ice and Cold Storage Company, founded by William Fredrick Cockrell in 1897, purchased a section of quay on south side of Lake Lothing from LNER. The factory produced 75 tons of ice a day and was powered by a 300-horsepower horizontal double-acting Robey steam engine. Water from Lake Lothing was used to cool the ammonia condenser coils used to produce ice. The factory moved to the main harbour in 1962 to facilitate better loading of ice to the trawler fleet. It closed in 1988 after 100 years. The harbour was used as a naval base during World War I and World War II, particularly for the operation of auxiliary vessels, including armed trawlers such as '' Nelson'' and '' Ethel & Millie'' which were used to combat enemy

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

action in the North Sea. The Royal Naval Patrol Service had its central depot in Lowestoft during World War II and a total of five naval bases were established in the town, primarily for minesweeping and coastal defence duties.RNPS history
Royal Naval Patrol Service Association. Retrieved 2011-05-21.

Features

The port's main entrance can accommodate vessels up to 35 metres in width, with vessels 22 metres wide being able to access the inner harbour through the

.Port of Lowestoft - facilities
Associated British Ports. Retrieved 2011-04-30. The harbour is able to service vessels up to 125 metres in length. Modern transit sheds and a 14,000 tonne silo are available with a range of cranes and other facilities including a container terminal.
Associated British Ports. Retrieved 2011-04-30. There are also facilities for ship repairs, including a dry dock and a number of slipways.Small & Co. (Marine Engineering) Ltd
Retrieved 2011-04-30. Mutford Lock links the inner harbour to

Oulton Broad Oulton Broad refers to both the lake and the suburb of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. The suburb is located west of the centre of Lowestoft. It became a civil parish in 2017. It had an estimated population of 10,338 at the 2011 U ...

from where Oulton Dyke provides access to the River Waveney and Broads system. Lowestoft Lifeboat Station is located at the mouth of the outer harbour.

Industries

The harbour remains the site of Lowestoft fish market, although by 2011 only three traders remained.Fears for future of Lowestoft fish market

, 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2011-04-09.Port of Lowestoft
Associated British Ports. Retrieved 2011-04-30. The long-term future of the fish market is under threat as the port seeks to redevelop.End of an era beckons for Lowestoft fish market
''Eastern Daily Press'', 2011-03-29. Retrieved 2011-04-30. The port remains a centre for the oil and gas industries in the southern North Sea, including the construction of oil and gas platforms.Great Yarmouth and Waveney March 2010
Shaping Norfolk's Future, March 2010. Retrieved 2011-04-21
Archived version
2012-03-23.
associated British Ports, 2000-05-11. Retrieved 2011-04-21. It is attempting to develop as a centre for renewable energy within East Anglia, including the construction of

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. W ...

s and developing tidal and

wave power Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Waves are generated by w ...

.Suffolk firm's wave energy machine gets backing

, 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2011-04-21.Wave power machine tested on land

, 2010-11-10. Retrieved 2011-04-21.SLP Engineering Lowestoft Off Shore Industry
Retrieved 2011-04-30.About AKD
AKD Engineering. Retrieved 2011-04-30. Some ship building and repair still goes on in the harbour.'Oldest' steamship gets £2m refit

, 2008-06-28. Retrieved 2011-04-21.New start for grand old lady
BBC Suffolk, 2008. Retrieved 2011-04-21. The port stores emergency response equipment in case of an oil spill off the Suffolk coast resulting from ship to ship oil transfers.Southwold: Bid to ease oil tanker spill fears
''East Anglian Daily Times'', 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2011-04-30. The harbour is the focus for redevelopment proposals for Lowestoft as part of the Lake Lothing and Outer Harbour Area Action Plan submitted in February 2011.An introduction to the Area Action Plan for Central Lowestoft
Waveney District Council. Retrieved 2011-04-30
Archived version
2011-07-19. The plan focusses on the redevelopment of brownfield sites in and around the harbour area to create jobs, particularly in the renewable energy and retailing sectors.What is the Area Action Plan?
, Waveney District Council. Retrieved 2011-04-30.Mace. H (2010
Vision for future of Lowestoft harbour
''Eastern Daily Press'', 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2011-04-30. The harbour is also a centre for the leisure industry with a yacht harbour and

marina A marina (from Spanish language, Spanish , Portuguese language, Portuguese and Italian language, Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a Dock (maritime), dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina dif ...

.Lowestoft Haven Marina
Retrieved 2011-04-30.The RNSYC Marina Lowestoft
Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club. Retrieved 2011-04-30.

References

External links

Lowestoft RNSYC MarinaLowestoft Haven Marina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Port Of Lowestoft Lowestoft Ports and harbours of Suffolk Marinas in England Container terminals Port cities and towns of the North Sea