The rough Asia-Europe trade market and tit-for-tat sanctions between Russia and the West had a devastating impact on the Port of Hamburg’s throughput in 2015 by causing it to lose its status as the second-busiest port in Europe.

Rotterdam’s pioneering automated container terminals face tough challenges as they strive to hit ambitious productivity targets in their first full year of operations with the rest of the European waterfront looking on.

Maersk Line had added a new service from Latin America to Europe and a new call on an existing service in the trade lane in an effort to tap one of the areas where container lines can still gain steadily profitable business: reefer cargo.

North Europe’s stagnant economy is expected to produce a decline in container volume at the region’s ports during the first half of 2016, Hackett Associates and the Hamburg-based Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics said.

Port productivity and the ability to handle mega-ships are key drivers for shipping lines in selecting routes and ports of call and German ports must adapt to this new reality if they are to remain competitive.

While politicians wrangle over the Greek debt crisis and economists speculate on the lasting impact to the European and global economy, a decision on who controls a container quay miles away from Athens could reshape European supply chains.

The Port of Hamburg can no longer claim to be Europe’s second-largest container port.

The German rail freight network is struggling to return to normal as train drivers return to work after a near one week strike that severely disrupted industrial supply chains in Europe’s largest economy.

Rotterdam claims it is the first European port to handle over 3 million TEUs of traffic to and from China and is set to extend its lead over second ranked Hamburg in 2015.

HHLA’s operating profit jumped 10 percent in 2014 as the largest container handler in the port of Hamburg shrugged off lower Russian feeder shipments and a slump in traffic at its Ukraine terminal that left total volume unchanged from the previous year.

There will be no speedy solution to the congestion that is creating bottlenecks at ports around the world as terminals battle to cope with growing trade and surges in container volume.

Hamburg increased container traffic by 6.4 percent in the first three quarters, closing the gap with Rotterdam, the European market leader, and stretching its lead over third-ranked Antwerp.

In an effort to reduce congestion caused by mega-vessels, the Port of Hamburg has launched an initiative to better coordinate the handling of the vessels — even before they make their way up the estuary of the Elbe river.

Europe’s top container ports are hunkering down for a potentially tumultuous 2015 dominated by a growing capacity glut and slowing cargo growth that will make the congestion of the past year appear like a minor irritant.

European short-sea shipping volumes could fall as much as 10 percent in the next several years as new emission regulations take effect.

German terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA) has unveiled a new berth capable of handling the largest container ships at its Container Terminal Burchardkai at the Port of Hamburg.