Hamburg Box Stevedore to Sell Terminal

HHLA, Hamburg's top container stevedore, today, July 24, announced its intention to sell its box terminal in Lubeck because of a steep slump in Baltic feeder traffic at the neighboring north German port.

HHLA also is selling its Combisped intermodal unit to its management and ending container rail service between Hamburg and Lubeck.

The announcement comes less than a month after HHLA cut working hours for 2,000 of its 3,500 employees and forecast a double digit decline in container volume in 2009.

The global economic crisis has led to dramatic falls in container traffic in the Baltic region, HHLA said.

On some routes, such as those to Russia, traffic has fallen by as much as 50 percent in the opening months of 2009 compared with the same period a year ago.

Feeder traffic through the Kiel Canal, the fast route from Hamburg via the land bridge to Lubeck, has also collapsed, HHLA said.

Shipments on Combisped's feeder service between St. Petersburg and Finnish ports and the Lubeck terminal has fallen by 70 percent to just 8,000 TEUs in the first five months of 2009 following a "bad" year in 2008.

HHLA will sell Combisped to its management in the third quarter of 2009. Combisped will continue its forwarding business and trucking operation between Hamburg and Lubeck.

HHLA said Lubeck would be of "immense significance" to Hamburg's hinterland connections in the future and it is currently working with the port authority on plans to create a more attractive and efficient hub.

Container traffic at HHLA's terminals in Hamburg, Lubeck and Odessa, Ukraine, fell 32 percent in the first quarter from the 2008 period to 1.25 million TEUs. Its intermodal unit saw truck and rail traffic decline 16.6 percent to 366,439 TEUs.

Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.