The shipping platform

Location: Bremerhaven is located on the River Weser, 32nm from the North Sea. General overview: It is a major general cargo port specialising in container traffic, automobile imports and exports, fruit imports and passenger (cruise traffic). The port is divided into the Uberseehafen area and the Fischereihafen area. Except for 2 quays along River Weser (container, passenger and part of the fruit terminal), the port is protected by locks. The port is normally ice free; ice only occurring in extreme conditions. 1. Bremerhaven container terminal The state's biggest port complex by area is used for the container business. It is the fourth-largest container port in Northern Europe and handled 4.8 million standard container equivalents (TEUs) in 2020. The biggest ships that travel the world's oceans dock here regularly. Construction of the terminal began in 1968, just two years after the first container ship docked in Europe (in Bremen's Europahafen port). It was clear early on that only a container port deep enough for ocean-going vessels had a chance of becoming a global player. The port has since developed into a gargantuan facility with a quay stretching five kilometres, the longest in the world. The opening followed in September 1971 - which means that the quay will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2021. 2. Bremerhaven car terminal The container terminal's immediate neighbour also boasts record-breaking statistics. The Bremerhaven car terminal is effectively Europe's largest car park, and up to 95,000 cars can be held here before being dispatched worldwide as exports or transported elsewhere in Germany as imports. International logistics provider BLG LOGISTICS handles a total of 1.7 million vehicles here every year (2020). 3. Bremerhaven fishing harbour Bremerhaven is sometimes referred to as the deep freezer of Europe. Frosta, Nordsee, Frozen Fish and Deutsche See – some of Germany's largest producers of frozen foods – are based here and their output includes 2.7 billion fish fingers per year. The land surrounding the premises of these companies is known as the fishing harbour. The transshipment of food takes place here on a grand scale. There are also large areas used by wind power companies to load rotors, towers and nacelles onto wind turbine installation vessels. 4. Cruise terminal Until the pandemic, Cruise tourism was booming, both internationally and in Bremen. Cruise ships on North Sea routes were increasingly including Bremerhaven in their itineraries. They arrived at the cruise terminal, where passengers join the ship or disembark for day trips in the local area. In 2019, 115 ships arrived with 247,000 passengers. The pandemic brought this business to an almost complete standstill in 2020, with traffic plummeting by 90 percent to 2,500 passengers - business is only expected to pick up gradually. Traffic figures: Approx 7,500 vessels, 53,000,000t of cargo, 4,900,000TEU and 126,000 cruise passengers are handled annually. Load line zone: North Atlantic Winter Seasonal Zone II, Winter Nov 1 to Mar 31, Summer Apr 1 to Oct 31. Max size: Vessels up to 80,000DWT and draught of 14.5m can be accommodated. Ships of up to 400m (post Panamax) in length are accommodated on container berths along the River Weser. Vessels entering North Lock: Max LOA 335m Max beam 42m Max draught 12.8m (Panamax) 12.7m (Post Panamax). The max dimensions mentioned do not necessarily apply to all berths, quays or areas within the port. Vessels entering Kaiser Lock: Max LOA 270 Max beam 55m Max draught 10.0m Vessels entering Doppelschleuse to Fischereihafen: Max LOA 170m Max beam 32m Max draught 7.0m Vessels of up to LOA 270m can only pass the locks under certain conditions and at certain times of the tide.