Mega-container ships helped to generate higher handling volumes for the Eurogate group, raising Europe-wide container handling volumes for Germany’s largest terminal operator to a historic high of 4.2 percent growth in 2014 to 14.8 million standard containers (TEUs).
In a statement, Eurogate said some 8.1 million TEUs were handled at the German terminals Bremerhaven, Hamburg, and Wilhelmshaven, equivalent to a rise of 3.5 percent overall.
Noting that the trend to deploy ever larger vessels is continuing, it said the 19,000-TEU CSCL Globe called at its container terminal in Hamburg on January 16, 2015, and that the MSC Oscar (19,224 TEUs), currently the largest container ship in the world, is expected at Wilhelmshaven on March 6 this year.
Emanuel Schiffer, chairman of the group’s management board, said: “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.”
He said they expect this mega-ship trend to continue and that while it presents challenges for the infrastructure of the seaports, it is something the group has already prepared for, having “positioned ourselves accordingly several years ago.”
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, while its container terminal in Hamburg regained the momentum of the pre-2008 crisis years and handled a total of 2.3 million TEUs for a growth of 16.7 percent in 2014.
Eurogate Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven again fell short of expectations in 2014 with 67,076 standard containers handled. However, the outlook for 2015 augurs well, with the 18,000-TEU Munkebo Maersk’s call on February 20 this year marking the beginning of the 2M Alliance, said the port operator.
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.
As for its international Eurogate locations, the Italian container terminals managed slight growth of 0.3 percent. The one in Tanger, located directly on the Strait of Gibraltar, continued its dynamic expansion rate and raised volumes by a substantial 33.2 percent. The throughput at the Ust-Luga Container Terminal recorded an increase of 68.1 percent to 103,521 TEUs despite the Russian crisis situation.
Photo courtesy of Eurogate
