Hamburg prepared to invest additional $315.2 million in port activities

Hamburg prepared to invest additional $315.2 million in port activities The German port of Hamburg is expected to invest another $315.2 million in port infrastructure improvements through 2009.
   Along with investments provided by medium-term financial plans, a total of $896 million will be allocated to the port between 2005 and 2009, according to a Dec. 22 statement from the Hamburg Port Authority.
   The investment is the result of a development plan which estimates that the volume of containerized cargo handled in Hamburg will reach 13 million TEUs by 2010. A recent study by the Institute of Shipping Economics and Global Insight helped validate the plan.
   The Hamburg Port Authority said investments made during the next five years will allow the port to handle about 14 million TEUs by 2010. Currently, the port has a capacity of 8.5 million TEUs. In 2004, Hamburg handled 7 million TEUs, an increase of 14.1 percent.
   By 2015, Hamburg expects to handle 18 million TEUs annually. 'Taking into account the capacities of the planned Container Terminal Steinwerder (CTS), to be completed by 2015, this amount of cargo will be manageable,' the Hamburg Port Authority said.