Malmo moves on port expansion

The City of Malmö has signed an agreement with Skanska Sweden to build a facility in Norra Hamnen. This SEK 845m (€77.3m) contract includes three new terminals which will completely transform the port.

Due to become operational in 2011, the new port facility is expected to move the majority of freight traffic out of the inner city. The intention is to create the ideal conditions for the transfer of goods between the different forms of transport: ships, trucks and trains.

The container terminal will feature 300 metres of quay, a water depth of 9.0m and a storage area of around 42,000 m². The ro-ro terminal will have 1,000m of quay, depth alongside of 8.5m and some 102,000 sq/m of land for storage use behind it. A further three ferry berths will be located close by.

There is also a multipurpose terminal designated especially for rail connections. This will require 530m of track to link the area with the existing rail system in Malmö, and a further two sections of 800m long rail track for loading and unloading.

Dredging for new ferry berths will require the movement of some 450,000 m³ of mud, and the laying of 10km of pipeline for draining is presently on the planning table. This also includes pipes for the fire rescue stations that will be created at the quay sides.

The infrastructure area includes roads, storage and parking space which will occupy 78,000 sq/m of land, plus back-up storage space of some 161,000 sq/m. Logistics and transport companies are expected to move in from 2012.

The joint venture project involves the City of Malmö, which owns the land in Norra Hamnen, and the port operative, Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP). Interestingly, the earmarked area is the result of landfill, including earth from the recent city tunnel project.

The new port development will also have a number of other positive side effects. Relocation of the container terminal to Norra Hamnen will make available 140,000 m2 of land in Frihamnen for use by companies distributing new cars in the Baltic Sea region and requiring loading space. Further, the project will free up ferry berths in Nyhamnen, making more space for cruise ships coming into the city.

As to whether this is the right time to be developing such a major project, CMP’s managing director Lars Karlsson leaves no room for doubt. ‘The transport industry is suffering from an unfavourable economic climate right now, but it is only a year since our production apparatus was thought to be too small’, he says, adding that the new port facility will guarantee future development potential for the next 40 to 50 years.