NSR of interest for Hamburg

(Posted on 24/04/19)

For the Russian state-owned enterprise Rosatom, the Northern Sea Route – NSR that is approx. 4,800 kilometres long, has enormous potential for shipping and cargo transport. According to Rosatom, in 2018 some 20.2 million tons of cargo was carried on the Arctic sea trade. Year-round navigability along the NSR should be achieved by 2030, as seen by the Russian development authority.  Then, bulk and container cargo could for example take the shorter route on the NSR from China and Russia to Hamburg. First trial shipments ran successfully. The Russian side is already reckoning with an increase in transported goods of up to 92.6 million tons by 2024. 

It was against the backdrop of the German-Russian Logistics workshop in Moscow, where Port of Hamburg Marketing (HHM) showcased together with logistics and transport companies that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Rosatom group, represented by Kirill Komarov, director of the Atomic Energy Power Corporation, and Ingo Egloff, Co-CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing. The two sides want to strengthen and develop cooperation between the ports along the NSR and the ports in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.

In the MoU, the two sides have agreed to intensify their exchange of information and experience, as well as joint design and implementation of international cooperation projects.  In addition, further cooperation for the development of transport services between Northern Europe and Russia, including China is an integral part of the MoU.

“Together with our partner Rosatom, we shall study what potential for development exists with the Northern Sea Route for the ports along it, as well as for the North European economy and shipping in the Port of Hamburg. For the raw materials exploited on the Russian side and their LNG production, the Port of Hamburg, as Germany’s biggest universal port and Hamburg’s partner port, Brunsbüttel on the mouth of the Elbe, are ideal for handling and storage,” said Ingo Egloff, Co-CEO of Port of Hamburg Marketing. For Rosatom, through constructive cooperation, Port of Hamburg Marketing is the right partner to link the regions along the NSR with the major German seaports. Hamburg’s port representative Natalia Kapkajewa added: “Trade and shipping have linked Hamburg and Russia ever since the Hanseatic League. The Polar Ural, Yamal and Krasnojarsk regions, rich in raw materials, will develop well through a high capacity interface to international shipping. Our diversity of contacts and connections on both the German and Russian side will make a positive contribution to it.”

At the interface of worldwide overseas trade routes, already today Hamburg is in position as a central hub for the Baltic Region. In transport geographical terms, it is excellently positioned in Northern Europe to commence services to the transport regions along the NSR.  

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