Hutchison Ports (UK) ltd has worked with Source East, managed by Evalu8 Transport Innovations ltd, a company owned by the University of Hertfordshire, to install the point and introduce electric vehicles into their operations. The point can also be used by the public, and links a growing number of charging points across the East of England region.

David Gledhill, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, which owns Harwich International Port, commented:

“We are very pleased to be able to offer a charging point for electric vehicles at Harwich International. We have been testing electric cars for our own use and can confidently say there is a role for these vehicles both in fleet operations and for the public.”

Keith Bevis, Managing Director of EValu8-Transport Solutions, in charge of setting up the network, said:

“We are working with corporations like Hutchison Ports, local authorities and smaller companies as they look forward in their transport policies and are considering introducing electric vehicles into their operations.

“The network of charging points across the region will not only benefit the drivers, the environment and the economy, but ultimately make the ownership of an electric vehicle an easy and enjoyable experience.”

The Source East network will grow to around 1200 points by March 2013. There are currently points in Norwich, Colchester, Chelmsford, and Hemel Hempstead, with live points to follow in Luton and Peterborough.

Photo shows: (L-R) Andrew Harston, Port Development Director for Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, Trevor Wickham, Sales Manager for Glyn Hopkins Nissan, Barry Brown, Mayor of Harwich and Stewart Bethell, Scheme Coordinator for Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd.

The Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG) Dr Dirk Claus said “thanks to the shipping companies and the port working hand in hand, we have together achieved a top-notch result, won additional shares in the market and gone into 2012 well-placed for the future”. The growth has been mainly down to the ferry lines serving Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltic region. Together they account for 80 % of the total tonnage handled. While conventional cargo handling rose strongly by 17.3 %, bulk cargo handling declined by 18 %. The annual results were presented during a press reception hosted jointly by Dirk Claus and the managing directors of the local shipping companies DFDS Seaways (Jacob Andersen), Stena Line (Stefan Mathias) and Color Line (Dr. Jörg Rudolph).

Ferry traffic shows strong growth, accounts for 80 % of all handling 

The five ferry lines operating out of Kiel carried a good 5 million tons of cargo in 2011 (compared to 4.2 million tons in 2010). Carrying most cargo was the Kiel-Klaipeda service of DFDS Seaways while Stena-Line’s Kiel-Gothenburg route posted the biggest cargo growth rate. New as of May 2011 was the route between Kiel and Ust Luga in Russia, served once a week by the “Kaunas”. Dirk Claus said “the new RoPax ships of Stena Line and DFDS Seaways are giving the Port of Kiel a gigantic boost. We have invested in all parts of the port in order to fully meet the growing demands of all our customers both now and in the future”, he added. In 2011 alone, investment totalled 17.5 million Euros.

For the first time the number of trucks, trailers and containers carried in ferry traffic via Kiel passed the 250,000 mark. The figure in 2010 was 205,000 units. Traffic in unaccompanied units showed particularly strong growth – with 24 % more trailers and as many as 80 % more containers moved. Against this background, rail cargo continued to gain in importance with intermodal road/rail volumes alone growing from 10,500 units in 2010 to 19,500 in 2011. The combi-shuttle time-table of rail services between Kiel and Hamburg-Billwerder has, in the meantime, been expanded to six departures a week in each direction. Dirk Claus said “increased intermodal volumes have made an expansion of rail services possible. We are now working with partners on the creation of block train services to northern Italy”.   

In passenger traffic to and from Kiel, some 1.94 million travellers were recorded – 1.9 % fewer than in 2010 – of whom 1.5 million were ferry passengers. In a year in which it also marked the 50th anniversary of its Kiel-Oslo service, Color Line was able to post another increase in passenger totals – reporting well over a million travellers. DFDS Seaways also carried more passengers to and from Klaipeda while Stena Line and its new RoPax ships with less passenger capacity was not able to achieve the growth rate of the previous year. 

Schwedenkai Terminal restructuring completed

The extensive restructuring of facilities at the Schwedenkai Terminal was completed at the start of September 2011. Inside three years a high-performance quay facility capable of handling both big ferries and cruise ships was created at an investment cost of more than 30 million Euros.

“The introduction of a new generation of Stena Line ships would not have been possible without the restructuring of the Schwedenkai Terminal”, said Dirk Claus. “And the Schwedenkai has the potential for further growth”, he added. In 2011, about 100 new jobs were created at the terminal and more than double the volume of cargo was handled there than before the restructuring – despite the fact that terminal handling in the second half of the year was not as strong as in the first half.

Construction work on the north easterly extension of the Norwegenkai was also largely completed in 2011. About 9,000 m² of additional operational space was created and made available for port usage, mainly as parking areas for trailers. With the financial support of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, about 1.5 million Euros were invested at the Norwegenkai.

The SEEHAFEN KIEL last year bought two large warehouses and other covered areas in the port’s most important cargo handling region, the Ostuferhafen, to meet an increasing demand for suitable storage space. The company can now offer a total of about 30,000 m² of covered warehousing.

During 2012 further expansion of the Ostuferhafen’s cargo and logistics capacities will take place. This undertaking will also involve the fitting-out of Berth One for handling big cruise ships. By the 2013 cruise season the Ostuferhafen will have been expanded so that cruise ships of 300 and more metres in length will be able to berth there and exchange passengers. Making the Ostuferhafen fit for this job will involve an investment of 4.8 million Euros and cover quayside and berth adjustments, safety facilities, the conversion of the existing RoRo Berth Number 1 and the improvement of gate processing facilities. In addition, a new computer-supported terminal management system called Yard-IT will go into operation this year.

140 cruise ship calls in 2012, including 9 Kiel firsts

Kiel was visited 120 times last year by nineteen different luxury liners. A total of 377,205 passengers boarded or disembarked from a cruise ship. That was 10.4 % more passengers than in 2010. The total tonnage of ships handled was 8.7 % up at 7.49 million GT for the first time. “That means that in 2011 Kiel was once again the most popular German turnaround port for cruises with the highest number of passengers” said Dirk Claus.

As of now, 140 visits by 27 different cruise ships have been registered for 2012. The season gets underway on March 31st, which is earlier than in previous years, with the arrival of the “AIDAcara”. The most frequent guests are the ships of the shipping companies AIDA, Costa, MSC and TUI Cruises, which, along with the ships of numerous other well-known classical German operators, turn around in Kiel. For the first time MSC Crociere is sending three ships to call at Kiel – “MSC Magnifica”, “MSC Poesia” and the “MSC Lirica”. During the Kieler Woche Regatta from June 16th to the 24th, 13 cruise ships will visit the port a total of 16 times as well as the “Star Flyer” under sail. This year no fewer that nine cruise ships will make their first-ever visits to Kiel, among them the “Queen Elizabeth” expected at the Ostseekai Terminal on July 24th.

Although first and foremost a start and destination port for cruise ships, Kiel is also gaining significance as a jumping-off port for daily excursions. Dirk Claus said “the number of ships visiting Kiel with international guests on board is rising markedly this year. Our efforts to market Schleswig-Holstein as a tourist destination are beginning to bear fruit. This sector still has enormous potential that we, along with the state’s tourist operators, must exploit”, he added. Ships like Holland-America Line’s “Eurodam” and “Rotterdam” are among those which will visit Kiel this year during an ongoing cruise. The final guest of 2012 will be Fred Olsen’s “Black Watch” which will visit Kiel on December 2nd as part of an Advent cruise.

SEEHAFEN KIEL takes over airport company

The SEEHAFEN KIEL now also operates Kiel Airport. The relevant decisions were taken by the Council of the Federal State Capital of Kiel with effect from January 1st this year. The task will be to secure the long-term survival of the city’s aircraft landing facility and at the same time to shape its development into an ‘airpark’ – an industrial park with an airstrip. “The integration of the airport company into the port group secures the existence of the airport’s location in Kiel and establishes the organisational foundation on which to develop the ‘airpark’ “, said Dirk Claus. Kiel Airport covers about 100 hectares and boasts a runway of more than 1,300 metres in length for the use of commercial and private air traffic. The airport company has been trading sinc
e the start of the year as the Flughafen Kiel GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of the SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG.

Belonging to the SEEHAFEN KIEL group of companies along with the airport company are SEEHAFEN KIEL Stevedoring GmbH (100 %), the firm Port Event Kiel GmbH (75 %) and 25 % of northrail GmbH. The group employed 200 people as of the start of the year  – compared to 150 a year earlier. “The positive development of the port”, said Dirk Claus, “is reflected in the number of employees. All the companies in the SEEHAFEN Group created new jobs last year and took on new employees”, he said.

The SEEHAFEN KIEL operates Kiel’s commercial port on behalf of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital, of which it is a 100% subsidiary. Also part of the company is a railway transport concern with its own track and the Kiel marshalling yard. Kiel boasts a total of three modern passenger terminals for ferry and cruise ships at the Ostseekai, Schwedenkai and Norwegenkai – all of them in inner-city locations. Kiel is also a cargo handling hub trading with Norway and western Sweden as well as with the Baltic states and Russia. The logistic centre of Kiel is the Ostuferhafen , where liner shipping services with the eastern Baltic are concentrated. Along with its role as an international transit port, Kiel also serves an important function as a regional supplier of bulk goods.

According to the port and shipping authority another 1.7 million tonnes were moved at the cargo and fishing port, the chemical port and other port facilities in Rostock.

Rostock seaport

At 22.3 million tonnes (gross) of goods handled last year, the companies at Rostock seaport recorded a six percent decline against 2010.While the annual results in ferry, ro-ro and general cargo handling showed increases there was a slight decline in dry bulk and a large decline in liquid cargo. ‘Especially the sharp drop in crude oil handling has spoiled the handling results of the seaport for the year 2011. As long as tankers with a loading capacity of 120,000 tonnes can not enter the port of Rostock due to the insufficient depth of the navigable channel, currently 16.50 metres, without having been lightened to 80,000 tonnes at another port first, we are at a considerable disadvantage’, states Ulrich Bauermeister, managing director of Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft Rostock mbH.

 At 2.9 million tonnes the handling of liquid cargo showed a deficit of 38 percent compared to 2010. Last year the amount of crude oil handled in Rostock went down by 1.7 million tonnes. An annual result of 5.8 million tonnes was achieved in bulk cargo, which means a decline by three percent. ‘While the handling of barley still achieved increases by 140,000 tonnes, wheat and rye amounts declined by 900,000 and 50,000 tonnes, respectively. But due to the tumultuous weather conditions of last year there simply were not enough yields and therefore not enough amounts to be handled’, the managing director of the port development company sums up the results.

On the other hand the port managed to end the decline in the handling of general cargo: 550,000 tonnes were handled in 2011, an increase by 50 percent. The main increases came from the handling of sheet metal, pipes and crane facilities.

 “The long-term strategy of strengthening the local cargo volume is beginning to bear fruit’, Ulrich Bauermeister stresses.

There were again increases in wheeled cargo of ferry and ro-ro goods. On the whole the amount went up from 12.7 million tonnes in 2010 to 13 million tonnes, and this despite the withdrawal of the shipping company Tallink from the Rostock-Helsinki traffic in August 2011. The share of wheeled cargo in the total handling of Rostock Seaport was 58 percent last year.

The number of passengers carried on the lines to Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Poland decreased by 50,000 to 2.01 million passengers. While the Rostock-Trelleborg route was able to record slight increases, passenger numbers from and to Denmark and Finland decreased slightly. ‘We expect a turnaround here when the new ferry vessels start operating on the Rostock-Gedser line this spring’, says Ulrich Bauermeister. 7466 ferry, ro-ro, tanker, cargo and cruise vessels called at Rostock Seaport in 2011, of which 5280 were ferry vessels.

Jean-Jacques Moyson and Lukasz Meissner join DCT Gdansk on 16th January 2012 as Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Financial Officer respectively. Both Jean-Jacques and Lukasz come with distinguished careers in transport and logistics.

Jean-Jacques Moyson has been commercial director of Noord Natie in Antwerp for over 25 years, and following its merger with Hesse Natie and purchase by PSA International, became the director of Sales & Marketing of PSA HNN. Jean-Jacques is one of few people behind the development of the Port of Antwerp as Europe’s second largest container hub, and has unmatched experience and contacts with the northern European shipping market.

Lukasz Meissner has 15 years professional experience in Finance, most recently as CFO of the Raben Group in Poland, a leading logistics operators in Central Eastern Europe. Prior to that Lukasz has worked in the Netherlands, in Ireland and held responsibilities for the CEE region with leading organizations such as Honeywell and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“We are very pleased to welcome Jean-Jacques and Lukasz in our team”, said Boris Wenzel, CEO of DCT Gdansk. “DCT Gdansk will initiate a large scale expansion program to accommodate the rapidly growing demand for direct calls into the Baltic Sea. As Asia – Europe shipping routes are now splitting into Asia – West Europe and Asia – Baltic, DCT aims to allow more shipping lines and their clients to achieve substantial savings to reach Poland, Russia and the rest of the CEE via Gdansk.

DCT will develop new berths for the next generation of container vessels and plans to increase its capacity potential to 4 million TEU within this decade. Gdansk will soon join the major league ports club and we are bringing in major league talent in our management team.”