Calls for dredging the fairway of the Lower and Outer Elbe connecting the Port of Hamburg with the North Sea, to accommodate large containerships, such as the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb, have taken on greater urgency.
It's estimated that over 100 ships, more than 10,000 TEU each, will call at Germany's biggest port this year.
The new flagship from French shipping company CMA CGM came to the port from Le Havre and, with a holding area capacity of 13,800 TEU as well as 800 connections for reefers and a deadweight capacity of 157,000 tons. It is currently one of the largest container ships worldwide that reaches a maximum draught of 15.5 metres when fully loaded.
"At the moment, the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb can only call at the Port of Hamburg during a certain tide window," said Hamburg economic and labour minister Axel Gedaschko.
HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) took care of unloading and loading the more than 5,200 TEU from the mega ship, a quantity that would fill 52 container trains. To be able to handle ships of this size, HHLA's berth two had been equipped with five super-postpanamax bridges that can move two FEU, or four TEU in a single move. CTB now has 10 super-postpanamax bridges.
The managing director of CMA CGM (Germany) GmbH, Reinhard Peschel, said: "The deepening of the fairway is inevitable, both for us as shipping company and the Port of Hamburg itself. CMA CGM has deliberately decided to come to Hamburg with ships such as the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb because here we can find a very good hinterland traffic connection to central and eastern Europe, including Russia, and can also excellently pool our transhipment cargoes with the Scandinavian and Baltic area with feeder services."
It's estimated that over 100 ships, more than 10,000 TEU each, will call at Germany's biggest port this year.
The new flagship from French shipping company CMA CGM came to the port from Le Havre and, with a holding area capacity of 13,800 TEU as well as 800 connections for reefers and a deadweight capacity of 157,000 tons. It is currently one of the largest container ships worldwide that reaches a maximum draught of 15.5 metres when fully loaded.
"At the moment, the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb can only call at the Port of Hamburg during a certain tide window," said Hamburg economic and labour minister Axel Gedaschko.
HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) took care of unloading and loading the more than 5,200 TEU from the mega ship, a quantity that would fill 52 container trains. To be able to handle ships of this size, HHLA's berth two had been equipped with five super-postpanamax bridges that can move two FEU, or four TEU in a single move. CTB now has 10 super-postpanamax bridges.
The managing director of CMA CGM (Germany) GmbH, Reinhard Peschel, said: "The deepening of the fairway is inevitable, both for us as shipping company and the Port of Hamburg itself. CMA CGM has deliberately decided to come to Hamburg with ships such as the CMA CGM Christophe Colomb because here we can find a very good hinterland traffic connection to central and eastern Europe, including Russia, and can also excellently pool our transhipment cargoes with the Scandinavian and Baltic area with feeder services."