Hamburg Feeder Barge debate

A spokesman for the city parliament (Buergerschaft) told Tom Todd from The Motorship that it had voted to refer the issue to a special committee dealing with economic and other issues – which could be encouraging for the concept.

But the problem is that the project needs the approval of all port operators before it can be introduced. He said Hamburg’s biggest handler HHLA had initially favoured it but had since withdrawn its support (see Port Strategy).

Apparently, all the other handling companies in the port though favour the project because it offers them an innovative eco-friendly alternative.

Developed by Port Feeder Barge, the barges are 63.9m length oa, 21m broad with a maximum draught of 3.1m in port. LNG propulsion is also an option as are other barge versions, one a Wind Feeder unit for offshore turbines.

GL-classed for container transport, the barges carry up to 168 teu per trip. Each barge mounts a single Liebherr CBW 49 (39)/27(29) Litronic crane of 49t capacity at 27m outreach and an automatic telescopic spreader.

It is hoped that the new barges could relieve port road congestion and speed up transfers as well as save costs, fuel and reduce reliability on expensive container cranes. They could also be deployed midstream to handle deep-sea container ships or inland as floating terminals where terminal facilities are not available.