Essential multimodal
Transport links are one of the key element that keep goods flowing in a port. The German Baltic Sea port of Mukran recently added further shortsea, inland barge and rail links to its network, which reaches as far as Sweden and China.
Mukran Port, a ferry gateway in Sassnitz, on the German Baltic Sea island of Rügen, further extended its multimodal transport connections in the new Silk Road in October. Besides a new direct container train running between Mukran and Rotterdam (Netherlands), two new weekly shortsea links to and from Karlshamn (Sweden) and Klaipeda (Lithuania) have also been added to the Baltic Sea port’s schedule.
New silk interface
Over and above this, Mukran has added the trimodal inland gateway called Elbe Port Wittenberge, 300 km away in the German federal state of Brandenburg, to its network of German hinterland hubs. On top of this a second ship, the Ulrike G, now offers four sailings to and from Baltiysk, a minor port near Kaliningrad, also on the Baltic Sea.
In this context, Mukran considers itself an intercontinental transport hub. The new links serve European pre- and post-feedering activities for containers in the so-called ‘Baltic Sea Bridge’, a transport corridor running between Mukran and Xi’an, in central China, that is also part of the new Silk Road.
Arne Ehlers, the managing director of Breb shipping line, believes that "these moves see Mukran proving its ability to perform as a modern multi-functional port and as a European hub for services to and from China." Breb carries out charter processes for Baltic Sea Bridge.
Besides Mukran Port itself, the DBO railway operator, the rail company Eisenbahngesellschaft Potsdam (EGP) and the shipping line DFDS are all also involved in the expansion of traffic to and from China. Vessels chartered by DFDS ensure good links to and from the Nordic states. The new shortsea option between Mukran and Karlshamn will set sail once a week in each direction. The same frequency will be on offer on the Mukran–Klaipeda route.
Connections to the Western Range
The partners are currently jointly developing a direct container train service between Mukran and Rotterdam. The plans envisage weekly departures in each direction for this solution too.
An initial test phase, with several runs already carried out in September and October, confirmed that the trains take a mere 36 hours to cover the 1,800 km of the rail route, including the time required for handling activities in the terminal of the ports. The railway enterprise operating these services is EGP, which also manages Elbe Port Wittenberge.
The trimodal handling terminal in the state of Brandenburg also offers access to overseas connections, for example, via Bremerhaven and Hamburg. A link to the United Kingdom is also being prepared, via Cuxhaven – Brexit or no Brexit.
Christian Becken, an authorised signatory with EGP and its intermodal transport project manager, has ascertained further advantages in the rail option via Mukran. "We can deploy 740 m trains on this route – a significant gain vis-à-vis the train lengths that Polish infrastructure can manage."