Weser handling last year was 48.7m tonnes, up 4.5%.
Container volume rose too by 200,000 TEUs to 3.2m, an increase of about 7% over 2002. Ports senator Hartmut Perschau said: “Solid growth is continuing on the Weser” and predicted it will continue. “We will definitely pass the 50m tonne mark in 2004”, he said.
It is expected to go on rising after then and its port strategy is built on that premise because the planners know saturation is not far off.
Hence the decision this year to merge the two halves of the CT 1V container terminal expansion (CT 1V) into one project- “an absolute necessity” said Perschau. The single E500m million project will mean four more berths up to 2007/8 on 1.7 kms of new quay. After that, Weser ports strategy is to join hands with nearby Wilhelmshaven and become a partner in the planned new Jade-Weser Deepwater Port, the hub of which will be in Wilhelmshaven.
