Hamburg’s new fairway open
In the port of Hamburg, the enlarged fairway on the Lower and Outer Elbe is now open to traffic, enabling vessels to transit the Elbe river with more cargo. The opening of the second stage of the route took place on 24 January. Containerships with a draft of up to 13.5 m can now reach the port of Hamburg irrespective of the tide. The fairway adjustment gives inbound and outbound shipping a draft increase of between 1 and 1.9 m.
Irrespective of the tide, megamax vessels with a width of up to 62.5 m and a length of 400 m can now move about the port with a draft of up to 13.1 m, which means that a vessel of the Megamax class can now transport around 1,800 additional teu to and from Hamburg.
Prior to the adjustment, the draft level was restricted to no more than 11.4 m. A favourable tide makes 15.4 m feasible, compared to the previous 13.6 m.
Jens Meier, CEO of Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), said that “2,377 containerships called at the port of Hamburg between May and December last year. Of these, 666 had a design draught of over 13.8 m. 96 of them had a draught that wouldn’t have been manageable prior to the opening of the expanded fairway. With the enhanced fairway, we anticipate further increases.” (sh)