Hamburg and Bremen-Bremerhaven, Germany’s biggest ports, will freeze harbor dues in 2010 and offer volume discounts in a bid to break a yearlong decline in traffic and dissuade ocean carriers from switching calls to rival ports.
The initiatives came after Rotterdam announced a 5 percent cut in ship dues in 2010 and Antwerp froze charges for next year and said it would offer a 10 percent discount for general cargo.
Starting in January, Hamburg will offer carriers a 50 percent volume-based discount on each container transshipped from deep-sea vessels to feeder ships. Carriers also will receive a year’s grace to pay their bills.
Hamburg is Europe’s largest feeder port for the Nordic region, the Baltic states and Russia, but traffic has slumped over the past year and several ocean carriers are considering moving their feeder boxes to ports such as Rotterdam.
Hamburg’s harbor pilots also are deferring planned fee increases to maintain the port’s competitiveness.
The port’s container traffic slumped 27.8 percent in the first nine months of 2009 from a year earlier, to 5.3 million TEUs, surrendering its second-place ranking in Europe to Antwerp, which handled 5.4 million TEUs.
Bremen-Bremerhaven is freezing harbor dues and pilots’ fees through 2010 and weighing other initiatives. Operating company BLG said it expects 2009 container traffic to shrink 20 percent to 4.4 million TEUs and auto shipments to slump 40 percent to 1.1 million units.
The initiatives came after Rotterdam announced a 5 percent cut in ship dues in 2010 and Antwerp froze charges for next year and said it would offer a 10 percent discount for general cargo.
Starting in January, Hamburg will offer carriers a 50 percent volume-based discount on each container transshipped from deep-sea vessels to feeder ships. Carriers also will receive a year’s grace to pay their bills.
Hamburg is Europe’s largest feeder port for the Nordic region, the Baltic states and Russia, but traffic has slumped over the past year and several ocean carriers are considering moving their feeder boxes to ports such as Rotterdam.
Hamburg’s harbor pilots also are deferring planned fee increases to maintain the port’s competitiveness.
The port’s container traffic slumped 27.8 percent in the first nine months of 2009 from a year earlier, to 5.3 million TEUs, surrendering its second-place ranking in Europe to Antwerp, which handled 5.4 million TEUs.
Bremen-Bremerhaven is freezing harbor dues and pilots’ fees through 2010 and weighing other initiatives. Operating company BLG said it expects 2009 container traffic to shrink 20 percent to 4.4 million TEUs and auto shipments to slump 40 percent to 1.1 million units.