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EUROPEAN
shipping demand is a topic that many in
the container shipping industry prefer to
steer clear of in the current climate.
But
regardless of the poor level of demand throughout
the region, the fact is that the big ships
are still calling at European ports and
will continue to call in the coming years
in increasing numbers for as long as the
lines continue to try and drive down their
unit costs.
For
the terminal operators in Europe the question
is who can best draw these vessels in?
For
the continent's largest container terminal
operator, Eurogate, it could very well have
the upper hand with the recent opening of
Germany's only natural deepwater terminal
at Wilhelmshaven, of which it is the major
stakeholder...
Speaking
to HKSG Group Media Eurogate's managing
director, Marcel Egger, explained that one
of the key advantages of the new facility
is of course the depth of its draft, which
at 18 metres allows ships unrestricted access
regardless of the tide.
"You
can go in and out without any tidal restrictions.
It is very close to the pilot station. You
don't have to go all the way up the river
to Hamburg, which is almost 80 nautical
miles, compared with Wilhelmshaven, which
is 23 nautical miles from the pilot station.
"So
there is unrestricted access. There is high
productivity. There is a fully motivated
team and we will expand our capacity there
within the next [few] years," Mr Egger
said.
Truly
the real estate axiom of ¡§location, location,
location" applies here.
According
to documents issued to this publication
a vessel can reach Wilhelmshaven in just
90 minutes upon entering the approach channel,
as opposed to two hours to Bremerhaven and
eight hours to Hamburg.
Currently
the Wilhelmshaven facility has 1,000 metres
of berthing space. But over the course of
the next 12 months a further 725 metres
will be added, giving the terminal a total
annual handling capacity of 2.7 million
TEU per annum across four berths.
It
will also be equipped with 68 straddle carriers,
five rail loading cranes and 16 gantry cranes,
said to be the world's largest, capable
of reaching across 25 rows of containers.
The
terminal operator also has very high expectations
in terms of productivity with an anticipated
180 moves per hour set as the goal, according
to official documents.
Wilhelmshaven
is also connected to Eurogate's intermodal
network via both road and rail transportation
to key destinations throughout Europe's
industrial and economic heartlands. All
of Eurogate's terminals have either on-dock
or near-dock rail facilities¡Xan absolute
must in today's competitive global supply
chain.
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