Germany's new deep-sea container terminal in Wilhelmshaven

JadeWeserPort Germany's new deep-sea container terminal in Wilhelmshaven The volume of global container traffic is growing at an exceptional rate. cargo throughput at seaports is booming: the long distance flow of international commodities is being increasingly dominated by ships of gigantic proportions. World trade continues to expand, driven by the dynamic forces of globalisation, the eastern expansion of the European Union and Russia’s economic upturn. German seaports anticipate an annual 9 per cent increase in demand for container handling volume in the future. This upward trend could result in cargo throughput doubling by the middle of the next decade, assuming that sufficient capacities are made available in time. The undeniable fact is that Germany, as a modern industrial and im- and exporting nation, will soon require a national deep-sea port which offers container ships of the future a straightforward approach irrespective of the state of the tide. JadeWeserPort has excellent prospects JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven will be in service right on time. As a joint venture of the German States of Lower Saxony and Bremen, it will substantially strengthen the overall capacities of German seaports when it starts operations in 2010. The outstanding location advantages of Germany's future deep-sea container port are convincing: the river Jade has an existing fairway depth sufficient for future generations of vessels. Even ships of length up to 430 metres and draughts up to 16.5 metres can access the JadeWeserPort independent of tide and without delays. The planned riverside quay length of 1,725 metres will allow four large container ships and feeder ships to be handled simultaneously. Wilhelmshaven is set to develop into a central hub for container shipping lines offering national road and rail transportation as well as European sea transit routes. In a European-wide tender procedure, the 40-year container terminal operating concession was awarded in March this year to the Eurogate Group, Bremen. Eurogate is a powerful partner, operating terminals in Europe with excellent contacts to major shipping lines. This joint venture of Eurokai (Hamburg) and BLG Logistics Group (Bremen) is Europe's leading container terminal logistics group, operating nine terminals at North Sea ports and in the Mediterranean with a turnover volume of over 12 million standard containers (TEU). Maersk A/S, Copenhagen, represented by APM Terminals International, the world's third largest terminal operator, will also be taking a 30 per cent stake in Eurogate Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven GmbH & Co. KG. The company plans to quickly develop the location’s potential to establish JadeWeserPort as one of the major container ports of the European North Range between Antwerp and Hamburg. Wilhelmshaven will handle a large portion of Europe’s feeder traffic, in particular with Scandinavia, the Eastern European EU member states and Russia. The Port will have a container handling capacity of approximately 2.7 million TEUs per year. Investments The overall planned investment level in the infrastructure, local port traffic links and adjacent port areas is around Euro 600 million. Of this total, JadeWeserPort Realisation Company, owned by the States of Lower Saxony and Bremen with shares of 50.1 and 49.9 per cent respectively, will invest Euro 178 million. The remainder will be borne by Lower Saxony. Following infrastructure construction, the operator will in turn invest approx. Euro 350 million in the port’s suprastructure, i.e. for cranes, transport equipment, surfacing, buildings etc. As one of the largest infrastructure projects in North Germany in the last 50 years, JadeWeserPort will provide the North-West of Germany with a massive economic stimulus. By the year 2016, the container terminal operations will directly generate approximately 1,000 new jobs, with a further 1,000 in associated areas. Final planning approval is expected in autumn 2006. The European-wide tender for the main construction work is already underway. It is planned to place orders and to start work before the end of the year. The port’s economic impact is already substantial today: major industrial companies have announced huge investments in Wilhelmshaven, like E.ON Ruhrgas AG (DFTG) with plans for an LNG terminal, the chemical giant Ineos and Conoco Phillips, as the owner of the Wilhelmshaven oil refining company WRG. These developments all offer the prospect of many new jobs. A logistics centre of European importance JadeWeserPort will feature a container handling area covering 120 ha. The terminal will include a land-side handling facility for combined freight transport facilities which will also be available to companies and shippers from the port’s logistics zone and local companies. An approx. 170 ha logistics zone is planned directly adjacent to the port together with a freight village, a prime business location for companies providing logistics and port-oriented services. The short distances to the terminal effectively create the basis for a maritime logistics cluster of European importance, further benefiting from first-rate road and rail connections. The German A29 motorway terminates directly on the doorstep of the logistics zone.