Port of Hamburg again voted ‘Best Seaport – Europe’ at 2016 Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards

14 Jun 2016 17:30 Economy

As in 2015, the Port of Hamburg was voted ‘Best Seaport – Europe’ by readers of the Asia Cargo News trade journal at the 30th presentation of the Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards (AFLAS) in Shanghai on 14 June 2016. Hamburg prevailed in the final round of voting against the ports of Bremerhaven, Le Havre, Gdynia, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Felixstowe and Rotterdam. The criteria for nomination, also by readers, were constant service quality, innovation, customer management and reliability. Among factors evaluated were adequate infrastructure for handling container services, a competitive and fair fee structure, and investments in infrastructure expansion to make the port capable of meeting future market needs. Others included support for provision of port-related services such as the availability of sufficient logistics warehousing capacities, as well as forwarding and transport services. With more than 15,000 readers, Asia Cargo News is one of the leading publications for the Asian logistics, sea and air freight sector.
 
 “We are delighted by this renewed accolade. This result underlines once again that with its immense variety of services and sheer quality of handling, the Port of Hamburg enjoys an impressively high rating among companies in the Asian import and export industry, and is successfully positioning itself against tough competition. High-performance seaport-hinterland services, the envy of other ports, plus innovative traffic control schemes of the kind implemented with immense commitment by the Hamburg Port Authority as part of its smartPORT logistics scheme, attest to the farsightedness of the Port of Hamburg in adapting to future challenges,” said a delighted Axel Mattern, CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM).
 
China is the Port of Hamburg’s most important trading partner by a wide margin. China’s share of the port’s total container throughput is about 29 percent. For German foreign trade with China too, Hamburg is the leading hub with a share of 50 percent of import and export tonnage. In 2016 too, China remains a market region intensively cultivated by Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM) and its representative offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Just now, for instance, a port business delegation is visiting Shanghai, as well as Ningbo, Tianjin and Beijing, to promote the diversity of services of the Port of Hamburg. This includes representatives of BUSS Port Logistics, Brunsbüttel Ports, TCO Transcargo, CLC China Logistic Center, H.S.H. Schleppgesellschaft and Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), and is holding numerous business discussions with representatives of Chinese companies and ports. In Shanghai this delegation from Germany’s largest universal port has already met interested partners and customers from Chinese ports at the ‘Port of Hamburg - leader for specialized logistics’ workshop in Hamburg House. The ensuing Port of Hamburg VIP Dinner in the Harbour Club, as well as participation in the reception hosted by German Ports, offered a backdrop for intensive discussions and new contacts that delegation members unanimously rated as excellent.

Port of Hamburg again voted ‘Best Seaport – Europe’ at 2016 Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards