Operational impact of train derailment at Port of Felixstowe

Maersk would like to provide an update on the operational impact of train derailment at Port of Felixstowe on 18 June. As of yesterday, 4 July, the Trimley Branch Line has reopened and access to North Rail Terminal has been reinstated.

All three rail terminals at Port of Felixstowe are now fully operational and the rail operators are in the process of restoring the train plan. While regular schedules and full rail services should be restored by Monday, 8 July, we expect a backlog of volume for a few days. Our teams are focusing on planning the first shipments and clearing the backlog as soon as possible.

Should there be further developments, we will keep customers updated of any changes. We appreciate your understanding as we work together with rail operators on resuming normal schedules and services.

Our teams remain at your disposal, and should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your local Maersk representative.

Maersk would like to inform you that on the evening of Tuesday, 18 June a freight train scheduled to arrive at Port of Felixstowe suffered a derailment whilst entering terminal infrastructure. While there are no reported injuries, parts of the rail track suffered significant damage and are undergoing assessment and repair by the rail operator (Network Rail) at this time. Whilst any affected containers have now been recovered back to the Port terminal the investigation is still ongoing to determine the root cause of the incident.

According to information shared by Network Rail, repair work is expected to take a week, and the North Terminal could re-open in week 27. The South Rail Terminal and Central Rail Terminal remain open but with restricted inbound and outbound rail services.

Our teams remain in close communication with the Terminal and the rail operators and will keep customers informed of any updates. Our teams are reviewing the already planned shipments and the available capacity and working on replanning any shipments affected by this situation to the next available slot, additional support has been brought in from road haulage suppliers to allow import and export activities to continue at a reduced level.

We will keep customers informed of any updates on this advisory page as soon as more information is available. Our teams remain at your disposal, and should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your local Maersk representative.