DEME Group announced that they began the dredging works for the deepening of Elbe river, aiming to enable larger vessels visit the port of Hamburg. The project commenced with the arrival of trailing suction hopper dredger Scheldt River.
Thanks to the officially launched fairway adaptation of the Elbe, the Port of Hamburg will in future be much better connected to the global flow of goods.
… the Port announced in a statement.
DEME was awarded a 238 million euro deal in April 2019 to begin the deepening project. Once the project is done, the port will be able to accommodate 2,800 large containerships, twice as many as today.
In the meantime, the Elbe deepening project will enable large containerships and bulk carriers to transport around 18,000 tons more cargo when arriving or sailing in Hamburg, as stated in the port’s financial results report for Q1 of 2019.
In addition to deepening, the river will also be widened, from the current 300 to 320 meters. A 385-meter-wide “passing box” will enable four-lane traffic at a length of 8 kilometers.
Dr. Maximilian Rothkopf, Chief Operations Officer of Hapag-Lloyd AG, Port of Hamburg’s largest customer stated
In addition to container liner shipping companies, this will ultimately also benefit customers worldwide, whose cargo will reach the Port of Hamburg more easily and quickly.
In the 2018 financial year, Hapag-Lloyd handled roughly 1.9 million TEU in the Port of Hamburg, which corresponds to approximately 22 percent of the port’s total volume.
