EUROGATE Group container handling volumes up by 4.2 per cent to 14.8 million TEU in 2014

The EUROGATE Group increased its container handling volumes Europe-wide in 2014 by 4.2 per cent to 14.8 million standard containers (TEU), the company said in its press release. This is the highest handling volume to date in the company’s history. 8.1 million TEUs were handled at the German terminal locations Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven, equivalent to a rise of 3.5 per cent overall. EUROGATE thus underpinned its position as Germany’s largest terminal operator. The trend among shipping lines to deploy ever larger vessels is continuing. Only recently, on 16/01/2015, the CSCL Globe (19,100 TEUs) called at EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg. On 06/03/2015 the MSC Oscar (19,224 TEUs), currently the largest container ship in the world, is expected at the EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven.
 
Emanuel Schiffer, Chairman of the EUROGATE Group Management Board: “The forecasts have proved correct. Our customers are calling at our container ports with ever larger container vessels. In the meantime, orders to build container ships with transport capacities of 22,000 TEUs are on the point of being contracted out. We are expecting this trend to continue. It presents considerable challenges for the infrastructure of the seaports as well as the superstructure of the container terminal operators. In the EUROGATE Group we positioned ourselves accordingly several years ago. Something which is highly valued by our customers.”
 
Container handling volumes at the various EUROGATE locations developed inconsistently in 2014. EUROGATE’s largest terminal site in Bremerhaven stagnated at the previous year’s level with 5.8 million TEUs. The era of mega container vessels >10,000 TEUs got underway here earlier than at other seaport locations, namely back in 2006 when the Emma Maersk (15,500 TEUs) called at the port. Bremerhaven’s geographical location on the open sea provides good prerequisites for handling large container ships. These were what helped the location re-attain its 2008 peak result as early as 2011 ahead of the other terminal sites.
 
With excellent growth of 16.7 per cent in 2014, EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg regained the momentum of the pre-2008 crisis years and handled a total of 2.3 million TEUs. The Hamburg terminal won a number of awards last year for its high productivity rates.
 
EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven again fell short of expectations in 2014 with 67,076 standard containers handled (TEUs). However, the outlook for 2015 augurs well. The port call of the Munkebo Maersk (18,000 TEUs) on 20/02/2015 marks the beginning of the 2M Alliance. The 2M Alliance will route two scheduled main ship services on the Far East – Europe rotation and four scheduled feeder services via Wilhelmshaven. Moreover, Maersk Line is introducing a third main ship scheduled service from March on the Middle East/India route. The seaport location is seeing increasing demand among carriers. With its nautical advantages and congestion-free hinterland connections, Wilhelmshaven is an excellent alternative and complement to the traditional seaport locations.
 
Operating activities at the international EUROGATE locations developed positively overall. The Italian container terminals managed slight growth of 0.3 per cent. EUROGATE Tanger, located directly on the Strait of Gibraltar, continued its dynamic expansion rate and raised volumes by a substantial 33.2 per cent. The throughput at the Ust-Luga Container Terminal was also highly encouraging, recording an increase of 68.1 per cent to 103,521 TEUs despite the Russian crisis situation.