German-Russian Mixed Committee visits Kiel
The annual meeting of the German-Russian Mixed Committee for issues of maritime traffic is taking place in Kiel on October 15 and 16. The Committee reports directly to the national Ministries of Transport and contributes on working level to the decision-making process in the areas of transport and traffic. Next to ministry representatives, the Committee is furthermore made up of associations, chambers, authorities as well as companies. The agenda of the 17th Committee Meeting comprises among others the perspectives of developing maritime relations, impacts of realizing the latest environmental policies as well as port development projects.
Stefan Schlarp, Deputy Director of the European and International Maritime Politics Department at the Federal Ministry of Transport in Bonn: “This year’s meeting sets a mark to show that despite the sharper geopolitical winds, the necessary work on staff level continues and contributes to the situation of maritime transport. Our annual meetings have always been helping to improve and facilitate maritime transport between our two countries. Because: Shipping connects the nations. The ports and with them the people living in maritime regions profit from these positive developments.”
The Committee alternately meets in Russia and Germany. At the last meeting in Sochi 2014, Kiel extended its invitation for this year’s conference. In his keynote, Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG, emphasized the exceptional importance of Baltic transport. “The goods exchange between Western and Eastern Europe creates added value and employment. Last but not least, it is the ports like Kiel which benefit from that. Russia still belongs to the most important growth markets for maritime transport across the Baltic Sea.”
For more than 20 years, Kiel has maintained regular ferry services to Russian ports. The scheduled connection Kiel – St. Petersburg is the oldest one, served uninterruptedly by ferries since 1991, even though in different constellations. RoRo ships of Finnlines are loaded with cargo for Ust-Luga and St. Petersburg in Kiel’s Ostuferhafen every Saturday in line with a slot-charter agreement with DFDS Seaways. Due to mutual trade restrictions between the EU and Russia, transport volumes are currently declining. So there was 20 % less cargo between Kiel and Russian ports in the first nine months of this year. Dirk Claus: “From my point of view, it is important to remain in contact with Russia also in these times. We are happy that the German-Russian Mixed Committee is meeting in Kiel.”
SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co. KG operates Kiel’s commercial port on behalf of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital Kiel, of which it is a 100% subsidiary company. The liner services from and to Eastern Europe are concentrated in Ostuferhafen, the freight and logistics hub at Kiel Fjord. In addition to six departures per direction and week from and to Klaipeda in Lithuania, weekly services to Ust-Luga and St. Petersburg in Russia are offered. Last year, 2.4 million tons of cargo were transported from Kiel to Eastern Europe by ferry. For Kiel this means that Eastern Europe ranks almost equally with the transport volume to Scandinavia. Dirk Claus: “In the long run and after a cancellation of the trade restrictions, the transport volume between Germany and Russia will continue to increase, requiring a forward-looking port strategy.” Kiel is expanding its capacities in Ostuferhafen and particularly invests in additional warehouses.