THE number of ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) of 14,000-19,000 TEU calling at the port of Hamburg in the second quarter was 83 per cent higher than the same period last year.
But despite this, there has been a lack of progress in approving deeper navigation channels on the Lower and Outer Elbe.
According to port officials, the deepening project, which also includes a 385-metre-wide passing point, would enable an ULCV to load an extra 1,800 TEU during a Hamburg call.
However, the Elbe deepening remains a political football in northern Germany and the project remains mired in a round of court actions, reports London's Loadstar.
Speaking at the port's first-half press conference recently, port authority executive board member Ingo Egloff reiterated the need for the dredging work to be approved, saying a deeper river "remains essential".
Nevertheless, following the 9.3 per cent plunge in throughput at Hamburg's container terminals last year, the authority said the trend was "noticeably more stable" in the first six months of the year, edging down by just 1.2 per cent, compared with H1 2015, to 4.5 million TEU.
It said the collapse in container traffic with China and Russia had "almost halted" despite the continuance of foreign trade sanctions against the latter.
China's trade with Hamburg port was just slightly down, at 1.3 million TEU, and there was mention of the growing importance of India as a trading partner after a 9.9 per cent jump in its container exchange.
The main cause of the port's container throughput decline in the period was a downturn in transshipment traffic with ports in Poland and Sweden, as more ships made direct calls instead of using feeder services via Hamburg.
Meanwhile, Rotterdam recorded a half-year drop of 2.3 per cent to six million TEU, but Antwerp continued to advance, upping its throughput in the first six months by 4.4 per cent, compared with the same period of last year, to five million TEU and cementing its second-biggest north European container port status.
From next April, the current four east-west vessel-sharing alliances will reduce to three: the 2M (including HMM), the Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance.
One member carrier executive told Loadstar recently that discussions with ports and terminals had already begun with steering groups, in order to produce a pro-forma network, but that stevedoring rates would come under severe pressure when the talks began in earnest.
"I expect some very tough discussions on terminal pricing," he said.
PORTS
22 August 2016 - 19:25
No sign of dredging in the Elbe despite surge in mega ships in Port of Hamburg
THE number of ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) of 14,000-19,000 TEU calling at the port of Hamburg in the second quarter was 83 per cent higher than the same period last year.
PORTS
22 August 2016 - 19:25
No sign of dredging in the Elbe despite surge in mega ships in Port of Hamburg
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