A record year in Rostock

2008 marked a record year for the Rostock ports with a total cargo throughput volume of 28.6 million tons (gross), up 400,000 tons from the previous year. The Rostock Seaport accounted for 27.2 million tons of this total, while the remaining 1.4 million tons of cargo was moved through Rostock’s additional port facilities such as the chemicals port, and the cargo and fisheries port.

Rostock Seaport

Over two-thirds of the total cargo volume in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2008 was moved through the Rostock Seaport. With a total cargo throughput volume of 27.2 million tons (gross), 2008 was a record year at the seaport, topping 2007’s results by 3% or 700,000 tons.

“We are very pleased to have achieved such good results in 2008, especially in light of the difficult economic environment characterizing the latter half of the year, and considering that the handling of paper and scrap was shifted to other port facilities in Rostock. In 2008, increases were recorded Ro-Ro cargo, and both liquid and bulk cargoes, while ferry cargo and general cargo declined. The strong increases in Ro-Ro, liquid and bulk cargoes drove the overall positive development at the Rostock Seaport,” commented Ulrich Bauermeister, Managing Director of Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft Rostock. “These positive cargo throughput results are accompanied by positive financial results. Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft will again have the necessary funds to carry out the planned port development projects and possible additional projects as well in 2009. With these projects, we will once again be a significant driver of the regional construction industry.”

A decline was recorded in ferry cargo, down 10% or 1.4 million tons to only 13.7 million tons at the year’s end. In contrast, Ro-Ro cargo increased by one million tons to 2.3 million tons. These results are attributable to the new Ro-Ro connection between Rostock and Hanko, Finland.

The handling of liquid cargoes showed an increase of 18% over 2007’s figures to a total of 4.7 million tons. Crude oil and gas oil showed the largest increases in this segment.

Bulk cargo throughput likewise increased in 2008, up 17% to 5.9 million tons. The largest increases in this segment were seen in the import of coal and the export of wheat.

General cargo handling declined by around 400,000 tons in 2008 with a total of 640,000 tons moved through the seaport. Particularly the handling of gypsum plaster boards and timber decreased, which was largely attributable to the drastic cutbacks in the construction industry in the USA and Great Britain, as well as the shifting of the timber handling to other port facilities in Rostock. In contrast, increases were exhibited in the handling of large pipes, cranes, and wind energy generators, primarily driven by local production.

A total of 2.4 million ferry passengers used the ferry connections to and from Gedser, Denmark; Trelleborg, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; Tallinn, Estonia; and Ventspils, Latvia in 2008, matching 2007’s results.

A new record for passenger volume was recorded in the cruise segment: 213,000 cruise passengers were cleared in Rostock in 2008.  On the 22 passenger change-overs carried out at the cruise terminal in Warnemünde, 41,500 passengers started and ended their cruise. A total of 171,500 international passengers were carried by the 31 different cruise ships that called Rostock a total of 116 times in 2008.

There was a total of 9426 ferries, Ro-Ro vessels, cargo ships and cruise ships cleared at the Rostock Seaport in 2008, with 6085 ferries comprising the lion’s share of this total.

Ferry and Ro-Ro cargo with lion’s share of total cargo volume

With the ferry, Ro-Ro, and cargo lines of the shipping companies Scandlines, TT-Line, Tallink, Finnlines, Norlines, UPM, and Spliethoff, the Rostock Seaport has a wide range of oversea connections. “Ferry and Ro-Ro cargo accounted for 59 percent of the total cargo throughput volume in 2008. 16 million tons of rolling cargo was moved through the seaport, up 400,000 tons from 2007.

The number of trucks (accompanied units) carried in ferry and Ro-Ro traffic fell from 440,535 in 2007 to 419,748 in 2008. In contrast, an increase was recorded in the unaccompanied units, trailers and swap-trailers, up from 107,834 in 2007 to 123,442 in 2008. The number of railroad cars transported by ship at the seaport fell from 23,174 in 2007 to 17,178 in 2008.

At the terminal for intermodal traffic, 69,053 units for a total of 1.46 million tons were handled in 2008. This represents an increase of 14 percent over 2007’s figures. There are 25 block per week in service between the Rostock Seaport and Verona (12), Duisburg/Hamburg (6), Basel (5), and Wels (2).

Paper handling at the Rostock Seaport decreased slightly, from 2007’s total of 511,000 tons to 470,000 tons in 2008. The Rostock branch of UPM Kymmene accounted for 463,000 tons of this total, and Baltic Lloyd for an additional 7,000 tons. UPM Kymmene Rostock imported 371,000 tons of paper from Finland, and exported 92,000 tons to the USA and England. Baltic Lloyd handled the import of paper from Sweden from Stora Enso.

“The increase in frequency of the Scandlines connections to Gedser and Ventspils, as well as the re-opening of the Ro-Ro connection to Hanko had a positive impact on the overall development of rolling cargo in Rostock. Unfortunately, the effects of the global finance crisis put a damper on this development in the second half of 2008,” remarked Ulrich Bauermeister. “We are viewing 2009 with subdued optimism. It will be more difficult to top 2008’s record results. The entire logistics industry is negatively impacted by the slow-downs in the production industry. However, we see a potential pause in growth as a chance to further improve our port facilities and the quality of cargo handling, in order to be able to play an even stronger role in the market when the economy picks up again.”

Development projects of Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft

Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft Rostock invested 20 million Euros in port infrastructure in 2008. The most important projects, in addition to on-going repair and maintenance, were the newbuilding of berth 8 in Warnemünde and berths 35/36 at Pier II at the seaport.

In 2009, Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft Rostock is planning an investment volume of 24.5 million Euros. Projects in this year will include the construction projects at berth 37 and the modernization of the quay areas at berths 23 and 24 in port basin B, the optimization of the supply of electricity at the seaport, and the development and preparation for construction of additional areas on the port grounds.

113 port calls by 29 cruise ships expected

In this year’s cruise season, 113 port calls by 29 different cruise ships with a total passenger volume of around 160,000 are expected in Rostock-Warnemünde. 22 international cruise operators have included Rostock-Warnemünde in their programs for 2009. With the 15 passenger change-overs to be carried out for the new club ship AIDALuna of the Rostock-based AIDA Cruises, and the partial change-overs to be carried out by the American company Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), a total of 200,000 passengers will be cleared in Warnemünde in 2008. The cruise season begins on 01 May with the arrival of the 295-meter-long Norwegian Jewel of NCL, and is scheduled to end on 15 December with a visit by the Black Watch of the English company Fred Olsen. Highlights of the 2008 cruise season will be the 18 double port calls and four triple port calls by cruise ships. Three cruise ships will call Warnemünde for the first time in 2009: AIDALuna, Emerald Princess and Adriana III.

Source: Transportweekly