MODAL SHIFT

Some of the transhipment containers in the port of Hamburg between terminals will be moved by ship from next month. The containers are taken on the ships of Unifeeder. The transfer to the water should replace ‘several thousand journeys’ by road. A small percentage of the total: in 2021, 3.3 million TEU of transhipment containers were moved between terminals in Hamburg.

Container transhipment takes place on a large scale in the port of Hamburg, which are not loaded at the same terminal. These containers are now mainly moved by truck. By making use of the existing ship capacity at Unifeeder, the number of journeys must be reduced.

The Danish shipping company has 85 terminal calls in Hamburg every week, which, according to the shipping company, offers “sufficient resources” to transport containers by water within the port. This concerns transport between the following terminals: CTA, CTT and CTB, Eurogate and later the Süd-West Terminal must also connect.

Unifeeder sees an opportunity to transfer 50% of its transhipment containers from road to water, for which other shipping companies will also have to join in the future. Regional director Florian Pein of Unifeeder calls it an ‘important alternative’, ‘especially in view of the shortage of qualified drivers’. The shipping company also hopes to reduce the long waiting times in the port of Hamburg and to relieve the road infrastructure in the port.