The Bremen Ports are among the most important universal harbors of Europe. At both sites in Bremen and Bremerhaven, terminals are concerned with nearly every type of shipment: containers and cars, piece and bulk goods, hazardous goods and project cargo. With the Columbus Cruise Center Bremerhaven offers the port group one of the most modern and efficient passenger terminals for cruise ships. The importance of the maritime economy to the state of Bremen is evident in the nearly 115,000 jobs provided by the industry. In an efficient network of several different logistics services providers, the Bremen ports offer many value-added services in container logistics. A characteristic feature of the twin ports and the key to success is their special job-sharing arrangement.

SEAPORT BREMERHAVEN

In the seaport Bremerhaven the dispatched container ships, auto carriers and reefers in fruit handling represent about 80% of the freight revenue for the entire port group. In addition, the wind power industry is growing more important. Thanks to the proximity to deep waterways, outstanding infrastructure and the targeted development of an efficient industry cluster, Bremerhaven has become a European center of this industry.

Container Terminal
With the fourth-largest container port in Europe, Bremerhaven is one of the major handling hubs for intermodal traffic in import and export. The transport containers can be connected with maritime traffic via the transport modes of street, rail and inland waterways. With the completion of the CT4 (Container Terminal) in September 2008, the intermodal service offering in Bremerhaven was expanded by one terminal for combined traffic and placed Bremerhaven among the world's leading ports for container traffic. Some of the largest container ships in the world can be accommodated at 14 berths on the nearly five-kilometer-long deepwater quay. Preparations are now being made to deepen the channel in the Weser estuary in order to improve nautical conditions for the continuously growing number of such large ships. The best hinterland connections ensure trouble-free transport to European metropolitan areas.

Car Terminal
High quality, integrated logistics, ideal traffic connections and extensive services characterize the car terminal in Bremerhaven. Railway sidings, berths and parking racks can hold 120,000 cars. The terminal's technical center processes hundreds of thousands of cars annually. Today Bremerhaven is one of the world's largest automobile hubs. In peak years more than two million vehicles are loaded and unloaded here. An additional line of business is "high & heavy," which handles large, heavy and oversized vehicles and roll trailers parked in the port. Other examples are train cars, yachts, trucks and buses, farm machinery and construction equipment and cranes. What distinguishes the car terminal at Bremerhaven is its complex spectrum of services which covers organization, management and monitoring of the entire transportation chain plus all related services.

Fruit Terminals and Refrigeration Facilities
To make sure that Germany and other European countries are supplied with fruits and vegetables from abroad, Bremerhaven operates two special fruit terminals in Kaiserhafen and at Columbuskaje, where more than 250,000 tons of temperature-controlled goods are loaded and unloaded. The handling, temperature-controlled storage and distribution of these sensitive products require special treatment and know-how. Known as Europe's biggest refrigerated warehouse, Bremerhaven is perfectly equipped for the job of receiving modern reefers and refrigerated containers of fruit.

PORTS IN BREMEN STADT

Bremen Stadt specializes in the handling of conventional piece and bulk goods (e.g., project cargo, steel and steel products, wood and wood products) and of bulk commodities (e.g., ores, coal, grains). Three other handling hubs for intermodal transport operate within Greater Bremen.

Neustadt Harbor
The Neustadt harbor is one of the most important ports for conventional piece goods traffic in Northern Europe. Service offerings include project cargo, iron and steel products, forestry products and the handling of containers and heavy cargo with pieces weighing up to 550 tons. Customers of the Neustadt harbor use 210,000 square meters of warehouse floor space and 450,000 square meters of outdoor storage for temporary and also long-term storage of their products. The facilities permit assembly of large components on the deep waterways and thus optimize lead times. Critical to the success of the Neustadt harbor is the effective merging of all the features of a general harbor with a terminal complex. The handling volume is at about two million tons per year.

Industriehafen
With its varied activities and a total handling volume of about 11 million tons per year, the industrial harbor is a significant player in the port economy of Bremen. The multi-purpose port, which is home to about 50 businesses, handles nearly half of what goes through the Bremen ports. Sea freight handled here runs the range from steel and steel products to wood, project cargo, containers, vehicles and plant parts to bulk goods, including ores for steel production, mineral oils, construction materials and waste. In addition, the harbor's power plant benefits from use of a separate coal-handling area. Approximately 2,000 seagoing vessels enter the harbor every year. Businesses located in the Industriehafen employ about 3,000 people.

Holzhafen
Delivered by ship and rail from sources around the world, raw materials such as coffee, grains, cocoa and fishmeal are handled, temporarily stored or processed in the Bremen Holzhafen. Given its location on deep waterways and proximity to the city center, the Holzhafen is known as an outstanding place for production operations, companies working in renewable energy and service providers. At the tri-modal container terminal, containerized green coffee and cocoa are handled, processed and reloaded onto trucks, railcars or barges. Approximately 90,000 tons of high-quality crude products can be stored in silos or flat warehouses.

You can read more about the ports at www.bremenports.de.