The port of Lübeck, located directly at the Baltic Sea, is one of the largest ports in Europe. Accordingly, it is an important hub for the logistics and transport industry. Services are also manifold and range from Ro-Ro / Lo-Lo traffic to warehousing and port services.
Characteristics: At the Port of Lübeck freight is transported from truck or rail further by vessel or in reverse incredibly fast.
4 terminals make for a lot of traffic
The terminals of the “Lübecker Hafengesellschaft” (LHG, engl.: Lübeck Port Agency) stand out with their state-of-the-art handling facilities and are always engaged with highly trained staff. Additionally, all terminals are well-connected with the urban hinterland and are consequently ideally accessible by road, rail and inland waterway vessels.
Skandinavienkai – it offers an excellent hinterland connection with efficient intermodal services. There are a lot of frequent liner services with departures to partner ports in Sweden, Finland and Latvia.
Seelandkai – the newest terminal of the Port of Lübeck which is designed for handling ConRo ferries. This terminal includes two container gantry cranes.
Nordlandkai – a terminal with many functions. Mainly wheeled cargoes such as trucks and trailers are handled here. But it’s also busily used for handling forestry equipment.
Schlutup –built for the paper industry, provides large distribution warehouses that are mainly developed for highly sensitive paper products.
The headquarter is the port house at the Skandinavienkai. This building impresses with its ingenious architecture. Around 400 employees of shipping companies, forwarding agencies and service providers work here. But passengers can spend their time there, too. Spacious lounges and shopping areas as well as a restaurant make for an entertaining stay.
History
On 2nd January 1935 the “Lübecker Hafengesellschaft” (LHG) officially started its business. Already in 1940, the port achieved a record handling of 2,321,640 tons. In the night of 28th to 29th March 1942 the port was hit by a hail of bombs and left severely damaged. Throughout the whole period of World War II, the port mainly handled care packages, coal and woods and was hardly able to scratch a living. At the same time, discharged German prisoners of war arrived back in the Hanseatic city. In 1950, the Federal Government became an equal shareholder of the LHG and things were getting better. In the 70s the ferry traffic to Sweden and Finland was being extended. As a result, less and less bulk material had been handled.
The port is growing and is continuing to specialise. More and more goods are handled, passengers are carried and services are provided. Since 2011 the harbor is doing worse again – the turnover decreases.
Port of Lübeck – the latest exciting news
Recently, the port’s employees have agreed to a rescue package. As already mentioned the Port has been dealing with declining turnover since 2011. For comparison: In 2016, 21 million tons have been transshipped, in 2008 the amount was 31.5 million tons. This is a huge decrease of more than 30 percent.
To get the port back to the road of success the employees resign from 17 million euros of supplementary grants. For that purpose, a rehabilitation agreement has been settled which was accepted by 60 percent of the members at the labour union’s general meeting. This has been a strong message, according to the General Director.
Now there is a spirit of optimism and investments are being made!
The latest news is: 40 million euros are currently planned for the port’s upgrade. A short time ago the project was launched. It includes the expansion of the port area to about 8.6 hectares. Additionally, new areas for Ro-Ro handling are developed. This is a special strength of the port because it is well known for its speed and professionalism with Ro-Ro traffic.
By releasing the funds, the city of Lübeck also confesses to its port and the port’s importance.
Pfaff Logistik on site in Lübeck
Our team from Pfaff, your reliable transport and forwarding company, is carrying out numerous shipments, too. For this purpose, we keep our own branch on site in Lübeck. Thus, we are always on the pulse of events.
Our services in this regard are also worth seeing. Export and transit documentation, waybills – we take care of everything. A part of our daily business is organizing part loads by regular services, too.
Have confidence in the expert team of Pfaff when it comes to shipments!
Our service at a glance:
- Conventional shipments / Break Bulk
• Part and full charter
• Ro/Ro traffic
• Container traffic LCL / FCL
• Inland waterway transports
• Agent network in overseas