Port of Hamburg officially informed that mega-ships will from now on find it easy to pass through the Elbe fairway. Specifically, vessels with a combined width of up to 98m may pass each other, as the five-kilometre stretch under Federal jurisdiction has a width of 385 meters.
With the initial fairway widenings of the Elbe, meanwhile completed, we are on a good course, immediately improving the conditions for calls by mega-ships. For shipping and our port customers, this is really gratifying news for the start of the year.
…said Axel Mattern, Joint CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing.
Through this establishment, the widening project of the Elbe which started back in July 2019, goes to the next stage, while the port will be able to handle the next fleet of mega-ships and also control the traffic.
In our section, the work on widening has now been completed. As soon as the work in the up-river section of the passing stretch through Hamburg has been completed, the combined width of ships passing can be raised. For shipping, this boosts flexibility, efficiency, capacity and safety.
… as Andreas Scheuer, German Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, marked.
Moreover, the Port of Hamburg estimates that the number of mega-containerships will be doubled to 2.800 per year, since more and larger vessels can depart at the same time.
For the moment, the work of deepening the entire stretch is still under progress and expected to be completed the following year.“With these widenings, shipping on the Elbe will for the first time profit from the fairway adjustment. That is good for waterway capacity, traffic flow and safety” Prof. Dr.-lng. Hans-Heinrich Witte, President of the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration – WSV – concluded.
