The first piles were driven in April when Seehafen Kiel MD Dirk Claus said 'currently the Norwegenkai does not have enough parking spaces for the growing number of passenger cars visiting the terminal. This extension will solve that problem'.

Much more than that has however actually been added. More than 100m of new quayside has been created along with space behind to cope with the 223m long Color Magic and its 2,975 passengers, as well as its somewhat older sister ship Color Fantasy. The ships have 1,265 lane/metres for trucks and trailers and are expected to bring an enormous boost to passenger and freight traffic on the Norwegenkai. In the medium term, some 1m passengers a year are expected.

Contractors F & Z Hirdes created about 4,400 m2 of operational area from sand dredged from the Kiel Fjord while the firm of SAW secured the surfacing. The main focus has been on increasing the parking area but traffic control has also been optimised and security extended parallel to the lengthening of the quayside. With the support of the local German state of Schleswig Holstein, the port has invested €5.4m in the work.

Special low vibration construction was used, which had been successfully deployed at Kiel’s Ostseekai Terminal, completed earlier this year. As a result, ferry operations were not affected during building although a viewing point had to be cleared to make way for part of the new terminal area.

By Tom Todd