The progress engine of the port is the practice | EUROtoday

With the world monetary market disaster of the years 2008 and 2009, a growth ended within the container turns in Hamburg’s port, which had lasted for greater than 30 years. The causes for this have been and are various: Nowadays, the road excursions of the transport corporations usually tend to favor North Sea ports comparable to Antwerp and Rotterdam, new rivals comparable to Wilhelmshaven or Gdansk take out market shares, Hamburg’s as soon as robust international commerce with Russia broke fully with the start of the Ukrainkribe. Of the virtually ten million container items (TEU), which Germany’s largest seaport dealt with in 2007, Hamburg is way away in the present day – final 12 months the port to the quays recorded an envelope of round 7.8 million TEU.

The statistics of freight visitors within the port of Hamburg, then again, provide a totally totally different image. The container envelope specifically grows within the lengthy -term pattern. Last 12 months, round 2.6 million container items (TEU) had been moved into the harbor by practice or on the market. During the pandemic in 2021, container transport within the harbor achieved a peak of round 2.8 million TEU. For 2015, Hamburg’s port on the freight railway recorded round 2.3 million TEU envelope. In the case of container warrings with the home, the railway share of the Hamburg port in 2024 was round 50.2 p.c. Measured in tons and throughout all varieties of hundreds – together with mass items comparable to coal, ore, mineral oil merchandise and grain – the port had a observe share of 55.6 p.c final 12 months.

The economic system and politics in Hamburg see the port connection of the port as strategically decisive as a way to generate future progress. Hamburg’s location greater than 100 kilometers from Germany, mixed with rail transport, provides the possibility to get the load shortly and with comparatively little power consumption. “Hamburg is the most important railway port in Europe,” says Malte Heyne, common supervisor of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. “Over half of all containers are transported by rail into and from the harbor – that is more than in Rotterdam, Antwerp and Bremen.”

As in lots of European nations, the transport infrastructure can be dilapidated in Germany and underfunded. The particular fund for the infrastructure, which was determined by the Bundestag, additionally raises hopes within the port cities that the annual help of the ports by the federal authorities shall be elevated from at the moment round 38 million euros to 500 million euros. “As in the large international competitors, the federal government must also face its responsibility in Germany and provide sufficient funds – in particular to strengthen Hamburg’s importance as a strategic railway port for military and security -relevant transports,” says Heyne.

The new red-green Hamburg Senate desires to proceed to automate the products dealing with, enhance the port amenities for the power transition-and additional increase port transport for a good increased proportion of trains, additionally with the assistance of the federal authorities: “We clearly see Hamburg’s role as a leading railway port as a strategic trump card,” writes the financial authority accountable for the port. “For Hamburg, the rail is a location advantage and the key to developing the port economically, sustainably and strategically.” However, this isn’t doable with in the present day’s stage of federal funding. “The current federal funds for port maintenance come from another time: the approximately 38 million euros annually for all coastal countries – almost 21 million euros for Hamburg – have not been adjusted for 20 years,” writes the authority. “In view of massive increases in construction, higher requirements due to digitization, climate protection and the growing safety and energy policy role of the seaports, the simply no longer sufficient.”

Hamburg additionally sees the federal authorities within the obligation within the renovation and enlargement of the German rail community: “A quick and continuous modernization as well as maintenance of the hinterland connections on the network of Deutsche Bahn is a central prerequisite for not only securing the role of port in the rail freight traffic, but further to expand.” A “powerful overall infrastructure itself is also decisive in order to ensure smooth and efficient goods envelope and permanently secure competitiveness”.

The Chamber of Commerce shares this view: “Comprehensive investments are necessary in soft, bridges, bridges, interfaces to the long -distance rail network and consistent electrification of the rail network in and around the harbor,” says Heyne. “Another exit from the port of Hamburg into the network of Deutsche Bahn is urgently required.”

The Hanseatic metropolis itself has been investing within the enlargement and technological modernization of the harbor railway for a few years to extend throughput on the rail – for instance within the digital visitors management system of the Hamburg Port Authority Hafenverwaltung for the rail freight visitors: “It indicates where which train is on the move, which tracks are clear, what should be delivered where – and all of this in real time,” writes the authority. “The proportion of rail -bound transports is to be further increased, among other things through new envelope capacities for combined traffic.”

The states in Central and Southeast Europe, a conventional goal space of ​​the port of Hamburg on the home reversal, continues to have a watch on the economic system of the Hanseatic metropolis. “The importance of a direct connection to central economic areas in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the close integration of multimodal modes of transport will become even more important in the future,” says Axel Mattern, board member of Hafen Hamburg Marketing. “In times of increasing geopolitical uncertainties, this infrastructure is a crucial location factor for crisis -proof logistics.”

Olaf Preuss is the enterprise reporter of the world and world on Sunday for Hamburg and Northern Germany. He has been reporting on the maritime economic system for greater than three many years – about ports, transport and shipyards – and about connecting maritime visitors to the home.