Together with investment plans already in place, some ?746m will be allocated to the Port to 2009.

Substantial measures are currently being planned for or implemented at the Port's four container terminals. At HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA), which was only opened in 2002, the current capacity of 2m TEU is due to be raised to 3m TEU largely through system optimisations.

At HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) there are plans to double capacity from 2.6m TEU to more than 5m TEU by the start of the next decade through an investment of some ?600m. There will be a new surface structure, a relocation of a railway station and a change to block storage as used at Altenwerder.

HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort will see a surface Janson Bridging B.V.

extension from 400,000 to 650,000m2 as a result of infilling the Vulkanhafen and Kohleschiffhafen basins.

Combined with technical optimisation, capacity is expected to be boosted from 0.8m TEU to more than 2m TEU by 2011.

Following the successful extension of Berth 1 at Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg (CTH), work is currently underway to upgrade Berth 2 on Predohlkai. Planning approval procedures for a westerly expansion in the direction of the Lower Elbe is expected to start this year.As a result of this extension, current capacity of 2.6m TEU would rise to over 4m TEU by 2010. Eurogate is planning to invest ?350m in terminal upgrades and the western expansion.

Container volume through the Port of Hamburg is forecast to rise to 18m TEU by 2015 and a planned Container Terminal Steinwerder (CTS) is scheduled for completion that same year.

Cargo throughput at the Port increased by 9.8% last year to a total of 11.3m tons and container growth was up by a massive 15.5%. Hamburg ranks as the second busiest container port in Europe and has climbed to become the eighth busiest in the world.

MJ Information No: 21503