Capital, state, region
The first half of 2021 saw almost 1.9 million t of goods transported on the inland waterways in the two German federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg. This is 9.4% less than in the first half of 2020. Developments were uneven in the two regions.
Around 820,000 t of goods were transported on Berlin’s inland waterways in H1 / 2021. The joint statistical office of Berlin and Brandenburg, two neighbouring German federal states, reported that this represents a year-on-year increase of just under 117,000 t (+16.6%). The volume in Brandenburg alone fell by almost 313,000 t (–23%), coming to 1.05 million t.
Not a single box
The increase in Berlin is almost exclusively due to goods carried in the category ‘coal, crude oil and natural gas’ (+272,073 t). Compared to the previous year, almost seven times as much coal was transported. Ores, stones and earth, on the other hand, as well as other mining products, recorded a decline of 42%, or 129,778 t.
In Brandenburg this sector also contributed significantly to an overall decline, with a fall of 76% to 144,058 t. Only the category ‘agricultural and related products’ managed to grow there, namely by 12.9% to approximately 43,220 t. No containers were handled at all on Berlin or Brandenburg’s waterways in the period under review.
From January to June 2021 a total of approximately 72% of the 1,380 loaded ships with or without propulsion of their own counted in Berlin sailed under the German flag. 20.9% sailed under the Polish flag. In the surrounding federal state of Brandenburg, almost two thirds of the 2,274 loaded ships with or without propulsion of their own counted in the first half of the year sailed under the German flag; 29.7% flew the flag of Germany’s neighbour.
