EUROGATE: 2017 to Be an Outstanding Year
Bremen-based terminal operator EUROGATE Group handled the same volume of standard containers in 2016 as the year before due to the second half turbulences in the shipping industry which impacted the total volume.
While the first six months of 2016 got off to a promising start, the unfavorable conditions in the shipping industry seen during the second half of 2016 resulted in a total of 14.6 million TEUs handled at all eleven EUROGATE Group locations, MANA correspondent reported.
Namely, the group said that it transhipped 8.2 million TEUs at its German terminals, adding that the development at Germany’s only deep-water port “was encouraging.”
EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven notched up 481,720 TEUs, which translates to a growth rate of 12.9 per cent. The Bremerhaven container terminals together recorded a throughput of 5.5 million TEUs, while the figure for EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg stood at 2.3 million TEUs.
“Shipping company takeovers and the insolvency of Korean Hanjin Shipping led to a realignment within the major alliances in 2016. Against this background, 2017 promises to be an outstanding year for all market participants,” EUROGATE said.
As expected, in 2016 the number of mega container ships with a capacity in excess of 18,000 TEUs calling at the German EUROGATE terminals once again increased. EUROGATE said that it clears half of these vessels in Bremerhaven, and the other half in equal shares in Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven.
“We are looking expectantly and confidently ahead to 2017, a year that will bring many changes,” Michael Blach, new Chairman of the EUROGATE Group Management Board since January 1, 2017, said.
Blach added that, with its three North German terminals, EUROGATE “is excellently positioned to meet the requirements of the major shipping alliances and their mega container ships.”