Port of Kiel posts best half year handling result

“If developments remain as positive as this we will, for the first time ever, handle more than 6m tonnes by the end of the year,” said Dr Dirk Claus, managing director of the Port of Kiel.

Along with sea cargo, demand for other port services such as warehousing and cargo transhipment has also risen sharply. Intermodal rail-ship traffic also increased; nearly 10,000 freight consignments were loaded in the Ostuferhafen and at Schwedenkai in the period.

Since the introduction of a new generation of larger Ro-Pax ships on the route between Kiel and Gothenburg, cargo handling at Schwedenkai has more than doubled. “The €30m (US$42m) transformation of Schwedenkai created the infrastructural foundations for this growth. Not only Schwedenkai services but also the liner shipping services to and from the eastern Baltic have proved to be growth engines,” explained Claus.