“Kiel’s course has been clearly set for the next few years.Passenger and cargo freight growth will continue”, new port director Dirk Claus tells Port Strategy. He says the port is now “concentrating more strongly on its hub business sectors in the City and on the Ostuferhafen and investing about €50m ($67.1m) over the next three years in the further expansion of port infrastructure and passenger terminals”.

That is a reference not only to the ports traditional, growing role as a cruise and passenger ferry hub and to the new €28m ($37.6m) cruiseship terminal opening April, but also to its expanding ro-ro and intermodal cargo business, much of it with Russia and Eastern Europe and centred on the expanding Ostuferhafen. Kiel predicts a 40% rise in handling to 7m tonnes by 2014 from over 5m tonnes now.Mr Claus tells PS he also wants to “expand our performance pallet with, for example, container handling”, still small in Kiel, but growing.

The heavy strategic investment to meet anticipated growth will, however, exact a price, Mr Claus acknowledges.There will be losses on the books up to 2010, he says.

He also makes clear that his strategy does not include controversial privatisation of port facilities to pay for investment and anticipated losses, at least not over the next three years.“The operative business of the Port of Kiel will be continued by our own handling company for at least the next three years”, he says.

Mr Claus heads the Seehafen Kiel GmbH, a city subsidiary. It already works with the private sector to maximise synergies. “The market expects complete logistics solutions and we can only offer those when we work with partners”, Mr Claus says.