The Port of Hamburg is hoping for recovery after a difficult start to the year

After the miserable start to container handling at the beginning of the year, the Port of Hamburg is hoping for a positive end to the year. “We are seeing a significant recovery,” said the managing director of the HPA port authority, Jens Meier, with a view to the upcoming third quarter figures. He did not want to give a specific forecast. But he assumes that “it will level out”.

Despite wars, crises and blocked shipping routes, according to the Drewry Index, global container throughput in ports rose by 2.5 percent in the first half of the year; across Europe the increase was 2.3 percent. In Hamburg, on the other hand, throughput fell by 3.7 percent to around four million standard containers (TEU) - significantly more than in Rotterdam or Antwerp-Bruges.

“We had a very bad start due to an extreme winter situation here in Hamburg with long-lasting ice and a lot of snow,” said Meier. Container ships could only dock under difficult conditions due to ice floes, and container gantry cranes could barely grip the steel containers because of the snow. Some of the snow was swept away by helicopters. “But that costs time, that costs money, and that means you lose performance.”

Rampant automation is hindering traditional transshipment

Global crises only played a minor role in the port of Hamburg at the time. Economics Senator Melanie Leonhard (SPD) instead identified another reason for the decline in throughput: the high level of automation. This means that the conventional handling techniques are no longer operational to the usual extent. Since it wouldn't make sense to forego investments, "we're living with it this year," said Leonhard.

However, HPA managing director Meier was satisfied with the supply of shore power to the ships. All cruise and container terminals are now equipped with shore power connections.

By August of this year, the shore power capability of cruise ships had increased slightly to 81 percent compared to the previous year. The rate of ships actually supplied was 64 percent. In the container ship sector, the supply rate of ships capable of shore power at the Eurogate CTH terminal was more than 50 percent by August. The Port of Hamburg wants to become climate neutral by 2040.