According to the FAC these questions will be resolved in the Spring 2015 in connection with complaints against a deepening of the River Weser.
The FAC also emphasised, however, that while the environmental compatibility assessments in respect of the fauna/flora done for the planning approval for the deepening of the navigation channel of the Lower and Outer Elbe exhibit various shortcomings, in its opinion these can be overcome and should not lead to a lifting of the said approval.
In the statement the Port of Hamburg regrets that once again time will be lost and that no decisive relaxation of the restrictions of ship draft and breadth currently in force can yet be implemented. More than ten years of planning and authorisation procedures have been a difficult time for the port’s customers, shipping companies and firms operating in the port. The primary objective remains the rapid and carefully implementation of expansion measures.
With seaborne cargo throughput of more than 140 million tonnes and annual container handling of over 9 million TEU, Hamburg is the Northern European hub optimally located for handling worldwide cargo flows and transport chains in seaborne foreign trade. Against the background of an increasing number of calls by mega-ships, access from the sea via the Elbe is of vital importance for the Port of Hamburg and the companies based there and in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. More than 150,000 jobs are linked with the port. Distinctly improved accessibility is also urgently needed for all those industrial and trading concerns engaged in worldwide foreign trade that use Germany’s largest universal port for their exports and imports.