HHLA continues Hamburg container terminal expansion

The Hamburg-based logistics provider and terminal operator will boost the efficiency and capacity of the Port of Hamburg’s Container Terminal Burchardkai by adding four additional automated storage blocks at the terminal.    Logistics provider and terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) is continuing its expansion program at the Port of Hamburg’s Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) with the addition of four new automated storage blocks, which will boost the terminal’s efficiency and capacity once they are put into operation in 2017.
   The number of automated storage blocks at the terminal will increase from eight to twelve once the construction project is complete, HHLA said.
   CTB will then be able to better handle peak loads at the hinterland, which are expected from the increasing number of calls from ultra-large containerships.
   The four new automated storage blocks will comprise two standard blocks and two special blocks for reefer containers. The new blocks will be 380 meters long, 10 rows wide and have a stacking height of up to six containers. Three cranes will operate at each block.
   “The yards, which were served by straddle carriers until now and will be dispensed with as a result of the construction project, had a capacity of just under 4,000 TEU,” CTB Managing Director Jens Hansen said in a statement. “The four additional automated storage blocks will have a capacity of 8,200 TEUs. That means a capacity gain of more than 100 percent.”
   In addition to the new automated storage blocks, the terminal will add two more tracks that will be laid at CTB’s rail terminal. Also, HHLA ordered three gantry cranes for CTB in June, which will be able to handle 20,000-TEU ships.
   The terminal, which has a 15.2-meter maximum draft, features 10 berths and a 2,850-meter long quay wall, according to HHLA’s website.
   HHLA operates two other terminals at the Port of Hamburg – Altenwerder and Tollerort – and Container Terminal Odessa in the Ukraine.