PORTS & HARBOURS

More deepwater berths planned for Cuxhaven

7 years ago

Lower Saxony Ports (N-Ports) is seeking approval for more berths in Cuxhaven which would give the expanding German port a total deepwater Elbe frontage of about 3.6 kms, reports Tom Todd.

Cuxhaven wants to fill this berth gap on the Elbe

N-Ports, which owns and operates the port, said not only were the current Berths1-3 at the Cuxport Europakai Terminal already working at full capacity but that saturation was now also close for Cuxport’s adjoining heavy lift Berth 4, inaugurated just last autumn.

“The need for still more handling capacity is already recognisable”, N-Ports said, adding that more handling areas should now be created between Europakai/Berth 4 and the Offshore Base terminals completed in 2012 and where Berths 8 and 9 are also doing well.

N-Ports has now applied for planning permission to build Berths 5, 6, and 7 to fill in the gap and create a new 1,257m quayside on deep water backing onto 28 hectares of handling area. If approval is granted, all nine berths would have a total length of 3.6kms.

Planning permission is being sought from the NLWKN – the government agency responsible for water management and coastal and nature conservancy in the German coastal state of Lower Saxony. N-Ports said a decision could be expected within two years after which an invitation to tender would be issued. Before construction started, tenders for the operation of new terminals would also be invited, it said.

N-Ports Managing Director Holger Banik said the construction of such port facilities involved long-term planning and that prior to the application for planning permission, N-Ports had commissioned a number of feasibility surveys. They included a study of ship manoeuverability and seabed conditions as well as studies into the ecological and wildlife effects of the new construction works.

The planned new facilities would encroach on natural resources, N-Ports acknowledged. It said the port had acquired sites totalling 65 hectares to compensate and reported that it currently owned 857 hectares of compensation land for such purpose.

“We are actively designing the future of the ports and we care about the entire region and its economic development”, the company said.

N-Ports owns and operates five seaports, seven island supply ports and three regional ports on the German North Sea coast. Its responsibilities include the development, construction and maintenance of port infrastructures.