Port of Hamburg Marketing opens representative office in North Rhine-Westphalia
With the opening of a representative office in North-Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the second most important region of the German market for Hamburg, the Port of Hamburg’s internationally active marketing organization is making a point. From 18 July, Port of Hamburg Marketing’s Representative Office (West) will be located in Dortmunder Hafen AG’s head office. This on-the-spot presence will enable Port of Hamburg Marketing to cover the NRW region even more promptly and intensively. Heading the new representative office will be Volker Hahn, who has until now looked after the region from Hamburg, the company said in its press release.
At the opening of the new representative office, Volker Hahn together with the Port of Hamburg Executive Board Members Axel Mattern and Ingo Egloff thanked Uwe Büscher, Chairman of the Port of Dortmund, for its excellent cooperation and support. “With its proximity to the economically active regions of East Westphalia, Münsterland, South Westphalia, the Dortmund area and the rest of North Rhine-Westphalia, the new location of our port’s representative office in the headquarters of our member, the Port of Dortmund, represents the optimal choice,” said Axel Mattern, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing at the opening of the office. “Opening of a port representative office in NRW is the right move and a clear signal of the Port of Hamburg’s wish to reinforce and extend its presence in NRW. As Gateway to the World, Hamburg with its liner services offers importers and exporters in NRW the finest transport connections to all parts of the globe,” continued Mattern. Büscher added: “I am delighted about the Port of Hamburg’s Representative Office. This serves as a practical example of the desired intensification of cooperation between German seaports and inland ports.”
For Hamburg as Germany’s largest universal port, the state of North Rhine Westphalia with its industry being such a notable exporter is of immense importance on both the import and export sides. With around 500,000 TEU (20-ft standard containers), NRW ranks second after Bavaria for Hamburg’s container hinterland traffic.
For inbound and outbound rail traffic, Europe’s largest rail port offers rapid and high-performance transport links to and from NRW. “For NRW, Hamburg is a fine alternative to the competing ports situated farther west that rely mainly on truck and inland waterway craft transport. In addition, as part of our marketing and information work we champion transport solutions that wherever possible preferably shift container shipments from the roads to more environmentally friendly rail. For cargoes and heavy project shipments, where time is a less critical factor, this also increasingly applies to inland waterway shipping,” continued Axel Mattern.
Especially against the background of the new terminal for multimodal transport to be completed in Dortmund by the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016, Port of Hamburg Marketing and the Port of Dortmund anticipate an increase of railborne cargo shipments between the ports of Hamburg and Dortmund. The new facility for multimodal traffic could also lead to an expansion of railborne traffic between the ports of Hamburg and Dortmund, HHM and the Port of Dortmund anticipate. An expansion of container train links between Dortmund and Hamburg will also mean that even more export and import cargo can move between NRW and Germany’s largest universal port without hitting traffic jams en route.