Major river project accommodates mega-ships

Vessels with a combined width of up to 98m can now pass each other in a widened section of the River Elbe, near the Port of Hamburg. Known as the ‘passing box’, the five-kilometre stretch under Federal jurisdiction now has a width of 385m.

Similarly, the fairway along the 36km stretch between Wedel and the mouth of the Stör has been widened from 300m to 320m. From yesterday, in this segment ships with a combined width of 92m may pass or overtake each other. Work began on the project in July 2019.

“With the initial fairway widenings of the Elbe, meanwhile completed, we are on a good course, immediately improving the conditions for calls by mega-ships,” said Axel Mattern, joint CEO of the Port of Hamburg marketing team.

The holding area at Brunsbüttel has also been completed. This has been available as anchorage since the end of last year – when allocated by the traffic control centre. This offers ships dependent on the tide, and unable to make the tide ‘window’ for currently unforeseeable reasons, the opportunity of waiting during the new low water phase.

Currently, work is in progress on deepening the entire stretch. Both ships dependent on the tide, and those that are not, will gain from one extra metre of loaded draft. Approved in August 2018 after a controversial consultation period, the work will be completed next year.

Andreas Scheuer, German Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, said that the work will enable the number of mega-ships to more than double to “2,800 containerships per year”.