More expansion tipped for Kiel’s Ostuferhafen

Port spokesman Ulf Jahnke told Maritime Journal the German port intended to acquire 6.5 hectares of the Kohlekraftwerk site, which once housed a now-decommissioned coal-fired power plant. It lies directly on the Kiel Fiord, the port city’s main Baltic shipping access route, and adjacent to the Osthafen cargo handling and logistics facility Ostuferhafen with eleven ship berths.

Jahnke said it was planned to use the prime site initially to expand Ostuferhafen logistics such as the storage of forest products – a major local cargo category.

“The site could be available to the port in about five years, after dismantling has taken place”, he said. He added however that it could be the end of the decade before comprehensive plans for the site’s utilisation were finally known.

Local reports say it will take at least two and a half years to dismantle the old power plant site.They add that prior to the construction of any new facilities, considerable time will also be needed to clear the area of any remaining unexploded ordinance from WW2.

The Ostuferhafen and its surrounding areas were home to shipbuilding and submarines during WW2 and were one of the most heavily bombed areas of much-targeted Kiel. The ruins of wartime submarine bunkers lie buried under the quays of the Ostuferhafen.

The Jahnke comments on future plans to develop the Kohlekraftwerk site came as the port completed a two and a half year project to restructure the approach and access area to the expanding Ostuferhafen. Costing €7.78 million the restructuring has involved the partial demolition of a grain storage facility to free up 2.8 hectares and create an expanded pre-stacking and stand-by area for trucks and trailers.

Since the mid 1980s the Ostuferhafen has been expanded in five phases into the Port of Kiel’s premier cargo and logistics facility. Ferry and RoRo services into the Baltic and to Russia now use its quays as do ships at a new cruise terminal. Bulk goods like grain, scrap and project and heavy lift consignments are handled.