Port of Kiel: intermodal transport and rail below expectations in 2022
Intermodal transport at the port of Kiel, in northern Germany, did not meet the expectations set by Seehafen Kiel, the company operating the port. The total loading units handled in 2022 was 28,900, 5,6 per cent less than the previous year. Many trains were canceled or delayed due to network problems, the port explains as one of the reasons.
The most significant declines were registered for the import and export of vehicles (-26,2 per cent) and containers in TEUs (-20,9 per cent). More specifically, declines were experienced at the Ostuferhafen, Kiel’s largest cargo port that is mostly used for transportation to Russia and the Baltic States.
According to Seehafen Kiel, the drop at the Ostuferhafen can be attributed to the EU sanctions applied to the import of Siberian larch at the facility, which was stopped in July 2022. Double-digit declines in volume were also recorded on the routes to the Baltic States. According to the company, these declines “are also responsible for the adjusted volume decline of 5,6 per cent in total turnover in the port as a whole”.
Seehafen Kiel is optimistic about the future
On the other hand, volume developments at the Schwedenkai, the port departure point to Sweden, remained stable. Concerning the Norwegenkai, the departure point for respectively Norway, there was a 27,24 per cent increase in tonnes of cargo handled, for a total of 817,000. Moreover, the bulk cargo handled, despite being on a smaller scale, signaled a 34,2 per cent increase compared to 2021
As Seehafen Kiel pointed out, these positive developments helped compensate for the decreasing volumes towards the Baltic States and Russia. Dirk Claus, Managing Director of Seehafen Kiel, remained optimistic about the future of intermodality at the port of Kiel. “There is cautious optimism about the development of CT in the coming years because customer demand for environmentally friendly logistics products is increasing”, he claimed.
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Weak Link of inter modal chains now decisively has to be attended!
As short of resiliency (robustness) and already, now, short of capacity… regrettably, railways has turned the low quality device.
At track infrastructure, now resiliency has to be provided for
and at el supply redundancy!
(All other modes, those robust (resilient and redundant) handsomely are rewarded, by clients that have shifted strategy to “On Demand” and “JIT”!)
Quality pays and at transports now more than ever!