Port of Hamburg Magazine 3-2015
Hamburg is Germany’s third largest inland port, with an 11 percent share of modal split, and clearing about 10,000 vessels per year. The Elbe links the port, not just with the world’s oceans, but with important industrial centres as far away as the Czech Republic. Unfortunately not everything flows smoothly on the river and its adjacent canals. Seriously fluctuating water levels, and the Elbe Lateral Canal with its bottleneck at the Scharnebeck ship lifts, restrict the unlocking of further potential. Since 2011 inland waterway shipping’s share of goods transport in Germany has fallen from 15 to 12.3 percent. How does the situation look from the viewpoint of Germany’s largest universal port? What needs to be done to incorporate the inland waterway vessel more strongly in seaport-hinterland transport chains?
