Completion of the Kaiserschleuse in 2010 will, however, literally open the gate to its full exploitation.

In the Osthafen, an area of some 6.1 hectares in the northeastern sector has been filled in. Before the new waterfront was built, the harbour basin was deepened and dredged material was used as infill for the new land areas.

The Weserportkaje and the Autokaje have been lengthened and three Ro-Ro berths, an additional berth for deep sea carriers, and another for short sea carriers created. Also new is a 65,000m2 area of additional parking space. Already in operation are a new bridge and a new multi-level parking deck for export vehicles for BGL Logistics.

When Kaiserschleuse rebuilding is completed in three years, much bigger car carriers will reach the bigger harbour. Most of the current traffic, which totals some 1.9m vehicles a year on more than 1,000 ships, gets to the car handling centres via the only other sea lock, the Nordschleuse. The 100 year old Kaiserschleuse can only handle ships to a maximum length of 185m. The biggest modern carriers are over 240m long. Rebuilding on the existing site will create a 305m long lock with a passable width of 55m and 13m of water alongside.

Construction of the new lock, following an EU-wide tender process, ranks as the largest project of its kind in Europe. Experts say the investment will bring enormous benefits for Bremerhaven as an automobile port. The lock rebuilding will also benefit shipyard Lloyd Werft, which will be accessible after 2010 to much larger ships for repair and conversion.

By Tom Todd