The year 2024 has become a time of changes and ambitious projects for the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście. Despite the decrease in cargo turnover by 8.5% (32,305.8 million tons), the results of the year are assessed positively due to the stabilization of indicators in the second half of the year.
The German Seaport Association (ZDS) has called on the German government to adopt a more ambitious port policy and increase funding. At the annual press conference in Hamburg at the end of November, ZDS President Angela Titzrath said that the economic and geopolitical challenges of recent years were putting the industry under severe pressure. In the first half of 2024, German ports handled 136.29 million tonnes of cargo, only slightly more than in the same period last year. Container throughput increased by 3.3%, but Titzrath noted that these figures should be seen in the context of the disastrous 2023, the worst in two decades.
The Port of Gdansk has announced a tender for a 26.7-hectare site with access to the Rudowy Pier, next to the Baltic Hub, the largest container terminal on the Baltic. The site is located in the deep-water part of the port, known as the Northern Port, and includes a permit for the construction of a cargo handling and storage terminal with the necessary technical infrastructure.
Ocean Network Express (ONE), together with CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines, OOCL and Evergreen Line, has announced the launch of three new transatlantic services under a fleet sharing agreement. The new routes will commence operations in February 2025 and will offer competitive and reliable connections between Northern Europe and the US East Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
The Shahdag ferry of the ASCO Marine Transport Fleet successfully completed a major overhaul at the Zyg plant and was put back into operation. During the modernization, the main and auxiliary engines, pumps, coolers, as well as steam and auxiliary boilers were repaired. Welding of the hull, replacement of pipelines, automation of systems and repair of electrical equipment were carried out.
One year after the launch of the Container Exchange Route (CER), the project is entering a new phase. In 2025, the Port of Rotterdam Authority will begin building new connections to Distripark Maasvlakte and the ECT Delta/Hutchison Ports Delta II terminals via a central gate system. Work will start at the beginning of the year and will be completed in stages by the end of 2025.
Freightliner PL has launched pilot trips on a new intermodal route that runs through Świnoujście to Sweden, with final destinations in Gothenburg and Stockholm. The trips began after successful tests in November, and regular transportation is planned to begin in early 2025.
From 1 January 2025, the Port of Amsterdam will ban the use of open scrubbers for ships. These devices discharge polluted wastewater directly into port waters, which contributes to environmental pollution. The new ban is aimed at improving the health of the marine ecosystem.
Turkish companies YDA and Asfat have announced the construction of a shipyard in the Mangistau region of Kazakhstan. The project, which will require investments of 130 billion tenge (approximately 250 million dollars), is planned to be implemented in 2025-2026. The plant will be built near the port of Kurik and will facilitate the production of new vessels to meet the needs of the domestic fleet.
In 2024, Shanghai’s sea and rail container throughput increased by 30% year-on-year to 900,000 TEUs, driven by the active integration of new routes covering more than 40 cities in nine provinces across China, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Sichuan, as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
