BALANCINGACT. Digital processes: How to deliver containers even faster 22. The HHLA Magazine

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1 The HHLA Magazine BALANCINGACT Digital processes: How to deliver containers even faster FITNESSPROGRAMME Terminal operations: Strategic expansion caters to big ships 32 TRAINPOWER Network Europe: HHLA rail subsidiaries see dynamic growth 40 CREATIVEWAREHOUSE World Heritage Site: Historic Speicherstadt district refocuses

2 What we do Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) is a leading European port and transport logistics company. The company has a successful history of over 130 years. The Group generated revenue of almost 1.2 billion in 2016 with approximately 5,500 employees in four segments. Container Intermodal Logistics Real Estate At HHLA s container terminals, containers are moved between land and water while the ships, trains and trucks transporting them are interconnected in an efficient transport chain. In addition to the three Hamburg terminals, HHLA also operates a terminal in the Black Sea port of Odessa (Ukraine). HHLA s rail companies operate a network for container transport. Their inland trains and terminals connect ports on the North Sea, Baltic Sea and the Adriatic with Central and Eastern Europe, while its trucks provide road transport in the area surrounding the port of Hamburg and across Germany. A broad range of port services are pooled in our Logistics segment. This spans the transport of fruit, coal or even cars and other rolling cargo. Furthermore, this is complemented by the HPC Group s global consultancy services relating to the development and optimisation of rail and port facilities. HHLA Immobilien provides forwardlooking development of important urban districts. HHLA s experts for structural change and urban development reconcile the interests of the market and of historic monument conservation, in Hamburg s Speicherstadt, for example, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Corporate decisions at HHLA are about thinking and acting in a sustainable way. The core elements of HHLA s sustainability strategy involve using the latest technology, complying with best-practice social standards, designing and implementing highly efficient business processes and value-based corporate governance.

3 CONTENTS 04 WELCOME Chairwoman of HHLA s Executive Board, Angela Titzrath 06 WORLDLEVEL Facts and figures about the Port of Hamburg and HHLA FITNESSPROGRAMME Bigger and bigger ships are arriving at the port. HHLA has systematically prepared for them 14 MULTITRACKED Port rail terminal: same area, greater capacity 16 ALL-ROUNDTALENT More than containers: Hamburg s all-purpose port 18 EASTWARDS Container Terminal Odessa grows as demand increases 20 CURVYFIGURES Operating environment influences container handling 22 BALANCINGACT Intelligent software and experienced employees: How digitalisation is making processes more efficient 28 CONTROLCENTRE Coordinator for big and small ships 30 DRESSREHEARSAL Simulation: Optimising port and rail terminals worldwide 32 TRAINPOWER More condensed network, higher frequency: The dynamic performance of HHLA s rail subsidiaries 37 LONG-DISTANCETRAFFIC Continental connection to China 38 ENERGYBUNDLE Innovative locomotives, modern wagons 39 GROUNDBREAKING 150 years of Hamburg as a rail port 40 CREATIVEWAREHOUSE From carpet warehouse to showroom: Speicherstadt historical warehouse district a UNESCO World Heritage Site in flux INCHARGE When ecology and economy go hand in hand 45 IMPRINT HHLA MAGAZINE 3

4 Containers Automated processes make handling operations at the port more efficient. Intermodal The expansion of the rail network brings the hinterland closer to the ports. Dear readers, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) is a company with many strengths, and I find my role here very enjoyable. At a key interface for global trade, our facilities enable goods and merchandise of all kinds to be transferred between water and land. These goods then make their way from our terminals to their destination by rail and truck. The destination is people like you and me. People who require textiles or entertainment devices, for example. Or people who import machinery or cars from Germany, for instance, and therefore help to secure jobs here. HHLA derives its strength from Hamburg s location and port. It is the most important hub for Germany s imports and exports. Our city is not just a destination for large ships; the Port of Hamburg is also the biggest rail port in Europe. Our two rail subsidiaries, Metrans and Polzug, operate approximately 400 train services a week between Hamburg and other ports in Europe as well as our 13 terminals in Central and Eastern Europe. We have therefore built up a closely knit transport network which is growing dynamically. Our shareholders and our society benefit from our strength. We employ approximately 5,500 people. In 2016, we generated more than 600 million in added value, primarily for the Hamburg metropolitan region wages and salaries for employees, taxes, and distributions to our shareholders. As an industrial operation in the heart of Germany s second-biggest city, we are committed to being a good neighbour to the residents of the city and to protecting our environment. We have therefore set ourselves the ambitious target of reducing our CO 2 emissions per container handled by 30 percent between 2008 and We had succeeded in bringing about a more than 27 percent reduction by 2016, with the result that we have almost achieved our target already. However, HHLA is not just a strong company built on solid foundations. We also possess the power to change. The company has proven this many times in its long history. Sustainable innovations are part of our DNA. More than 130 years ago, we were tasked with constructing the most modern logistics centre in the world. This 4 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

5 Logistics The broad range of services strengthens Hamburg s all-purpose port. Real estate The forward-looking development of a district combines market needs and landmark protection. gave rise to Hamburg s Speicherstadt historical warehouse district, which is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When the container began to revolutionise the world of logistics at the end of the 1960s, HHLA was quick to recognise the potential of this universal box. As early as 1968, the first fully containerised ship was handled in Hamburg at today s Container Terminal Burchardkai. In 2002, another milestone in innovation was reached: The first almost fully automated container terminal commenced operations in Hamburg-Altenwerder. It has been emulated worldwide and is still regarded today as one of the most modern and efficient facilities for container handling. The age of containerisation has since passed its zenith, and global trade has lost some of its vigour. The free exchange of goods is increasingly being questioned. We are facing new challenges. Our dynamism and ability to evolve will enable us to play a part in this process of change. We see great potential here in the digitalisation of handling, transport and mobility solutions in particular, as well as in interconnecting them. Our leading technological position will help us to take advantage of this potential and to continue increasing the value of our company in the future. As you can therefore see, my role is not just enjoyable, but also exciting. I hope you enjoy reading this magazine. Yours, Chairwoman of the Executive Board Angela Titzrath has been Chairwoman of HHLA s Executive Board since 1 January She studied economics and Romance philology in Bochum. She began her career in 1991 at Mercedes- Benz in Rome and held various international top management roles at the Daimler Group. She was a member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Post AG, where she was responsible for Human Resources until She also worked as a consultant and Supervisory Board member. Titzrath was appointed to the Executive Board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG on 1 October HHLA MAGAZINE 5

6 RIVER ELBE FULL OF SHIPS In 2016, a total of 8,719 ships arrived at the Port of Hamburg. 4,163 of these were container ships, accounting for the biggest share of 47.7 percent. This was followed by tankers (17.9 percent), bulk carriers (14.6 percent) and general cargo vessels (10.9 percent). FULL CONTROL The 145-kilometre passage from the mouth of the river Elbe to the Port of Hamburg is called proceeding up the estuary by sailors. It is advantageous for many logistics companies, as they can transport their cargo by ship, a cost-effective mode of transport, directly to consumers in the Hamburg metropolitan region or transfer it at the Port of Hamburg to the rail network, another economical mode of transport. If ultra large container vessels take this route, their passage along the river Elbe and into the port is coordinated by the Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center (see page 28), a facility established by HHLA and other terminal operators. Working closely with the authorities, the HVCC gathers all the relevant data and coordinates approximately 2,500 megaship calls every year. It also assists feeder ships and inland vessels with their rotation in the port 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 20,170 TEU FULL BROADSIDE In May 2017, the MOL Triumph of the Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines was the biggest ship to be handled at Container Terminal Buchardkai to date. Ships like the 400-metre-long and 58.8-metre-wide container freighter are arriving in Hamburg more and more frequently and require highly effi cient container handling processes (see page 8). MOL 6 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

7 WORLDLEVEL The Port of Hamburg is Germany s gateway to the world and HHLA is the most important hub for containers at the port. How many ships arrive at the port, why do they undertake the long journey up the river Elbe and what does this have to do with the rail network? A quick glance here will provide the answers. FULLY UP TO DATE Optimising port design, upgrading infrastructure, improving performance: The specialists from HPC have advised customers in more than 100 countries (see page 30) in addition to their expertise in port handling, their knowledge of efficient rail handling operations is in top demand. 5,000,000 CONTAINERS FULLY TRAINED More than five million containers have passed through the rail terminal at Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) since it began operations in It is an important element of Hamburg s position as Europe s leading rail port (see page 32). In 2016 alone, 59,729 trains arrived at the port approximately 1,900 train connections are provided to the hinterland every week. HHLA MAGAZINE 7

8 Container Terminal Burchardkai FITNESSPROGRAMME Bigger and bigger container ships are calling at the Port of Hamburg. Huge volumes of containers are handled here in a short amount of time. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) has long been making the necessary preparations to systematically meet this challenge. Photo: Datenlizenz Deutschland Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, Landesbetrieb Geoinformation und Vermessung Version HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

9 Container Terminal Tollerort Block storage Burchardkai Bulk cargo terminal Hansaport Rail terminal Altenwerder Container Terminal Altenwerder HHLA MAGAZINE 9

10 Headquarters of HHLA Multi-purpose terminal O Swaldkai HHLA MAGAZINE 10

11 14,500 TEU BLOCK STORAGE 10 FEEDER SHIPS 5 INLAND VESSELS 60 TRAINS 2,600 TRUCKS Distribution When a mega-freighter with 20,000 TEU arrives at the HHLA terminal, 14,500 TEU are expected to be handled. Smaller ships, trains and trucks bring the containers to and from the terminal. The block storage facility provides a temporary location for the containers. 2019* 105 The longer, the better: Container ships are getting bigger and bigger. This should cut the cost of transporting a container from China to Hamburg, for example. The reason is that an ultra large vessel costs less per container than two medium-sized ships. As a result, the number of container mega-ships calling at Hamburg has been increasing for many years. While 507 ships with a capacity of more than 10,000 standard containers (TEU) arrived in the city in 2014, the number of calls had risen to 686 by The largest ships of all, which can carry more than 18,000 TEU, are increasing at an even faster pace: 47 of these mega-freighters were travelling the world s oceans at the end of Their number is set to have more than doubled by the end of Ships of this size present new challenges with regard to handling at ports and require highly efficient processes in terms of loading and discharging, temporary storage at terminals, and the arrival and departure of containers by train, truck, feeder ship and inland vessel. Between 11,000 and 14,500 standard containers per mega-freighter have to be moved through a terminal. Growth The graph shows how the largest container ships of all, with a capacity of more than 18,000 TEU, are increasing in number. 2016* 47 So much cargo, so little time Whereas three ships used to be handled in six days, it is now often a single container giant in just 48 hours. This requires efficient services in a very narrow time window. HHLA has long been preparing for these challenges with a whole host of measures. In addition to highly skilled staff members and intelligent solutions with state-of-the-art technology, there needs to be well-functioning infrastructure which is optimally used. The reason is that space in the Port of Hamburg, which is located right at the centre of a large city, is expensive and in short supply. On the following pages, you will see how HHLA is rising to the challenges of the future for the Port of Hamburg and the customers that use it. These are the biggest shipping companies in the world and they want their ultra large container vessels to continue to be handled quickly, reliably and efficiently on HHLA s quay walls. 2013* 4 * as per end of the year; 2019: forecast 11 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

12 Eye-catcher A special ship delivers new gantry cranes from China. Container Terminal Burchardkai Container Terminal Tollerort Container Terminal Alten werder New Technologies, Bigger Capacities, More Intelligent Processes Container ships are not just getting longer. They are getting wider too and their containers are being stacked higher. These ships can only be loaded and discharged quickly and efficiently if the container gantry cranes are high enough and also able to reach the containers located furthest away from the quay. When purchasing its new container gantry cranes, HHLA has looked far into the future. Its 13 tandem container gantry cranes at Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) are not just visually impressive. The power packs weigh 2,400 tonnes and can lift up to 110 tonnes of cargo. Their jibs have a length of up to 74 metres, enabling them to reach across 25 rows of containers on a ship. With a maximum lifting height of 68 metres, they can pick up the top container of a stack of eleven on board an ultra large freighter. Clear trend Ships of this size, which are set to become the standard in the Far East trade in the future, already call at the Port of Hamburg now. HHLA anticipated this trend. Hamburg is situated on one of the busiest world trade routes, which runs from the Far East to Northern Europe and back again. Size and efficiency are Premiere The American Lancer in Hamburg. Innovative by tradition On 31 May 1968, a new age began at the Port of Hamburg. On this day, the American Lancer became the first fully containerised ship to arrive in Hamburg. HHLA had already recognised the potential of the new steel containers two years previously and decided to develop Burchardkai into a container terminal. In 1967, Hamburg s first container gantry cranes were built there. In the mid-1980s, the first record was broken: The Port of Hamburg handled more than one million containers per year. 12 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

13 Ulf Petersen, Project Coordinator The new container gantry cranes for CTT were delivered in separate parts and assembled at the terminal. As a project coordinator from HHLA Technik, Ulf Petersen managed the partnership with the gantry crane manufacturer and various external specialists. The assembly operation took approximately 16 weeks to complete. The fully assembled crane systems were then transported through the terminal to their positions and placed on rails along the quay wall with centimetre precision. In contrast, the new container gantry cranes at CTB were delivered fully assembled on board a heavy goods freighter and then pulled from the ship s deck onto the quay wall. Expansion stage A new mega-ship berth has been built at Container Terminal Tollerort. Block storage Burchardkai the key priorities of container shipping companies transporting goods between these regions, since trading and competition on these routes is particularly vibrant. HHLA s terminals in Hamburg now have three berths with the technologies, capacities and processes necessary to handle ships with a capacity of more than 19,000 TEU. In addition to two berths at Container Terminal Burchardkai, a mega-ship berth at Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) has been equipped with new container gantry cranes. However, it is not just about the sheer size of the technical equipment. An equally important factor is its performance, in other words, how efficient it is at loading and discharging containers. At all of HHLA s facilities, research and development is continuously conducted and processes are refined so that large volumes of containers can be dealt with in a short amount of time. Tandem container gantry cranes at CTB can lift four standard containers in one go. Simultaneous processes At Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA), unnecessary empty runs are avoided with the help of the innovative Dual Cycle handling process. Transport vehicles usually have to drive without containers either from the ship to the yard or vice versa, since the ship s cargo hold is discharged first and then loaded. With the Dual Cycle mode, both processes take place simultaneously. And because bigger and bigger volumes of containers have to be temporarily stored in the yards of the terminals, more storage space is needed at CTB, for example although it isn t possible to develop additional land. As a result, the number of automated block storage facilities is being successively increased. The efficient block storage system is gradually replacing conventional container storage, which involves stacking the steel containers on top of each other with the help of straddle carriers, says Terminal Developer Gesa Witte. There is now room for twice as many containers in the automated block storage facilities on the same area of land as there was previously in the conventional yard. With a range of different solutions, HHLA is thus already prepared for the mega-freighters that will be calling at the Port of Hamburg in increasing number in the years ahead. Block storage The benefits of block storage facilities are that they require little space and can be operated efficiently. The containers can be stacked on top of and beside each other very compactly. Since HHLA s automated block storage facilities are served by portal cranes on rails, there is no need for the lanes that would otherwise be required for transportation equipment (straddle carriers). Each of the blocks at CTB is 350 metres long and ten container rows wide and has a stacking height of up to six containers. BLOCK STORAGE RAIL-MOUNTED GANTRY CRANE (LARGER) RAIL-MOUNTED GANTRY CRANE (SMALLER) MAX. 6 TEU HIGH HHLA MAGAZINE 13

14 MULTITRACKED Rail terminal Alten werder The rail terminal at CTA needed space for more trains. There was no room to expand, so an ingenious idea was developed. Even before its expansion, the rail terminal at Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) was the biggest container rail terminal in Europe. It handles approximately the same number of rail containers every year as the entire port of Rotterdam was a record year in which the facility handled approximately 813,000 standard containers (TEU), stretching it to the limit of its capacity. Additional tracks An expansion of the rail terminal was not possible, however, as space is in short supply at the Port of Hamburg. A stable metal gate above the access tracks to the CTA rail terminal provided the solution. This train gate has been in operation over the entrance to the rail terminal since It is fitted with numerous cameras, infrared sensors and laser scanners. When a train passes through the gate, the wagons and all of the containers transported on them are automatically illuminated and photographed. The data obtained is then uploaded to Dr. Jan Kolditz, Process Optimiser In the CTA Terminal Development department, Dr. Kolditz is responsible for optimising terminal processes, in particular. With the aid of software, his department tries to determine where in the yard a container should ideally be positioned for example, or how to get it onto the train as quickly as possible. In 2016, Dr. Kolditz was in charge of the successful installation of the train gate described above. 14 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

15 Growth The CTB rail terminal is also set to be expanded. Added value The rail terminal at Hamburg- Altenwerder (CTA) is now even more efficient. a software program. The program processes the container and wagon data which is relevant for the terminal. This automated recording process not only increased the speed at which trains are handled, but also enabled an expansion of capacities. The reason is that the train gate performs a task previously done by so-called checkers. They used to drive alongside the 700-metre-long trains in special vehicles in order to read the relevant data and enter it in the system. Lanes were needed between the tracks for this work and for the vehicles. The train gate made these lanes unnecessary. This, in turn, created space for two additional tracks. There are now nine instead of seven tracks on which trains can enter and be handled the capacity of the rail terminal has increased by 140,000 TEU to 930,000 TEU per year. The checkers are still needed, however. Instead of travelling around the rail terminal exposed to the elements, they now sit in offices at computer screens. There, they check and complete the train gate s data recording processes. And if the automated systems fail, such as when identification numbers cannot be clearly read because they are covered in dirt, missing parameters have to be researched and subsequently entered. The rail terminal at Burchardkai (CTB) is set to benefit from the pioneering work at the CTA rail terminal in the near future. Construction will commence here in 2017 as well. Two additional tracks are to be built and three new rail gantry cranes purchased. And, of course, a train gate is also planned. Solution At the entrance to the Altenwerder terminal, a train gate automatically records rail containers and feeds their data into the system. HHLA MAGAZINE 15

16 Diverse The Atlantic Star regularly calls at O Swaldkai. It can carry more than 1,300 cars and 3,800 containers. ALL-ROUNDTALENT Multi-purpose terminal O Swaldkai O Swaldkai is Hamburg s biggest all-purpose terminal. Whether it is voluminous general cargo, trucks, new and used cars or fruit pallets the professionals deal with every type of freight. Hartmut Wolberg, Managing Director has led Unikai Lagereiund Speditionsgesellschaft since Wolberg has many years of international management experience in logistics: While rolling cargo is our speciality, the new ConRo ships carry more and more cargo on deck. We have therefore purchased bigger container gantry cranes. Diversity instead of monoculture: At the heart of the Port of Hamburg lies the city s biggest multi-purpose terminal. At O Swaldkai, it is not the ubiquitous shipping containers that dominate the terminal. Here, rolling cargo is handled on a large scale. Right behind the gate, hundreds of new cars wait in line to be shipped overseas. Some distance away are vans whose best years are behind them. Their destination: West Africa. After spending years on German roads, the oldies now just need to have their weight checked. Used car exporters cram extra cargo into every cubic metre. The reason is that the freight rate is calculated not by the vehicle s weight, but by its size, explains Hartmut Wolberg. However, if the vehicles exceed the permitted total weight, they cannot be loaded on board as rolling cargo. They then have to be discharged or shipped in a container. And that makes transportation much more expensive. Wolberg is Managing Director of Unikai, a company owned by HHLA and the Italian shipping company Grimaldi. Grimaldi Lines serves ports in West Africa, South America and the Mediterranean with its ConRo ships. Its subsidiary ACL (Atlantic Container Line) operates between North America and Hamburg. For us, it s important that there s an efficient multi-purpose terminal at such a key seaborne transport and logistics hub as Hamburg where RoRo cargo and conventional general cargo can be professionally loaded onto ships, says Dirk Peters, Managing Director at Grimaldi Germany. Operations at the all-purpose port require sophisticated logistics, a lot of flexibility and a high level of productivity. That is the only way that huge ConRo freighters like the 300-metre-long and 16 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

17 37-metre-wide Atlantic Star can be handled quickly and smoothly: While cars are driven up the enormous stern ramp onto the steerages, containers are simultaneously loaded onto the main deck. In addition to cars and trucks, the vast belly of the ship has space for self-driving construction machinery and project cargo, such as component parts for power plants and industrial facilities. These heavy goods are usually stored on rolling trailers special port trailers driven onto the freight decks and tied down securely for the journey by sea to North America. There is absolutely no room for mistakes here! An improperly secured piece of cargo that breaks free while the ship is at sea can quickly cause damage running into the millions, says Hartmut Wolberg. The Atlantic Star belongs to the new, bigger G4 generation of ships in ACL s fleet. With sulphur filters (scrubbers), optimised power and low-friction paint, these combi-freighters are particularly environmentally friendly and efficient. HHLA has also upgraded its equipment in terms of efficiency: Two additional container gantry cranes have been moved from Terminal Tollerort to O Swaldkai. These special cranes can handle containers on the deck of the towering G4 ships faster. Sustainable channels At the adjacent fruit handling terminal, a new mobile crane is in use. It has a load capacity of 100 tonnes and can discharge reefer containers, in addition to fruit pallets, and also move heavy goods, machine parts and project cargo. With the new mobile crane, our aim is to become less reliant on fruit. We can handle most other types of general cargo as well, says Axel Hoeckrich, Managing Director of HHLA s fruit and refrigeration centre. At Germany s most important location for fruit handling, more than 400,000 tonnes of bananas are imported every year forwarding company Ulrich Stein, which also belongs to HHLA, takes care of customs handling and logistics. Not all containers arrive directly at the fruit terminal. Many are transported from the HHLA terminals Burchardkai and Altenwerder to O Swaldkai on inland vessels. The container taxis do not just relieve the transport infrastructure, but also reduce CO 2 emissions. One inland vessel replaces up to 60 truck journeys through the port, says Hoeckrich. Onward transportation is also environmentally friendly. A goods train carrying up to 44 reefer containers full of bananas travels from O Swaldkai to Poland several times a week. Sustainability is also a priority at the all-purpose port. ConRo These practical freighters transport rolling cargo and also have a large loading deck for containers. RoRo The stern can be opened on roll-on/roll-off ships. Rolling cargo (vehicles and general cargo on mobile trailers) is brought on board via a ramp. Flexible HHLA s fruit and refrigeration centre has commenced operation of a highperformance mobile harbour crane. Bulk cargo terminal Hansaport Hansaport: Bulk cargo! Hansaport is Germany s biggest terminal for bulk cargo. It provides ore and coal to the steel-producing companies of the Salzgitter Group and other major German customers. The terminal has four state-of-the-art, fully automatic grab cranes which can discharge up to 110,000 tonnes within 24 hours. In addition to the gantry grab cranes, all other large machinery as well as rail and inland vessel loading is automated. Approximately 15 million tonnes are imported via this facility every year, representing some ten percent of the total throughput at the Port of Hamburg (2016: approximately 140 million tonnes). Hansaport only uses environmentally friendly modes of transport to transport these huge volumes to the hinterland: 83 percent of the bulk cargo was loaded onto trains and 17 percent onto inland vessels. HHLA MAGAZINE 17

18 EASTWARDS Odessa s port plays a key role on the Black Sea. The HHLA container terminal prepares for further growth. Upward trend In 2016, container handling at Container Terminal Odessa increased by almost eleven percent. The city of Odessa and its port are inextricably linked. It is unclear which was built first when the Russian empress Catherine the Great instructed that Odessa be founded in She wanted to establish a base for her fleet on the Black Sea and, of course, lucrative trade was also a factor. Today, Odessa is home to one of Ukraine s most important ports, from where dry bulk cargo in particular, such as cereal, is exported. In terms of container handling, Odessa is Ukraine s leading port, and its biggest facility for this is the HHLA Container Terminal Odessa (CTO). In 2016, CTO handled more than 280,000 standard containers (TEU), which was an increase of almost eleven percent on the previous year. The forecasts also paint a bright picture. Since 2016, the Ukrainian economy appears to be stabilising. The effects of the conflict in the eastern region bordering Russia, approximately 18 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

19 700 kilometres away, are scarcely felt here. The people of Odessa are proud of their open and international city, where people of 130 different nationalities live. The same is true of the port. The staff members at CTO, whose families are mostly from Odessa, regard themselves as Russian-speaking Ukrainians. For us, that s not a contradiction in terms, says CTO General Director Anastas Kokkin. We are part of Ukraine, and we belong to the large HHLA family. Kokkin knows HHLA s terminals in Hamburg well. We have a lot in common. Here, too, the port is within the city limits and here, too, we have to make efficient use of our space. Nevertheless, a further 19 hectares of new space has been filled up in addition to the existing 16 hectares at CTO in recent years. This area of the facility, which has been designated the quarantine mole, will gradually be integrated into terminal operations. Georgia Bulgaria Flexible expansion There are already three modern container gantry cranes on the new quayside. They can handle ships of up to 310 metres in length and with a carrying capacity of approximately 10,000 TEU. These Bosphorusmax ships are the largest ships that can sail on the Black Sea. As of 2017, the first storage spaces of a new container yard will be built behind the gantry cranes. CTO is basing its expansion of the facility on customer demand and that appears to be growing. We still have another berth on the city side and can handle ships there too, says Kokkin. The container gantry cranes there can be flexibly accessed according to the customer s individual needs. Although CTO focuses on container handling, the terminal team endeavours to meet customers requests in a prompt and uncomplicated manner. CTO therefore sometimes also handles project cargo such as large drilling machines for natural gas extraction. We are a multi-purpose terminal that focuses on container handling, says Kokkin, and points to the gantry cranes with rubber tyres that are stacking the steel boxes into compact blocks. They are also moving back and forth between the railway tracks where they load and discharge containers onto and from wagons. The CTO rail terminal has two tracks, and approximately 20 percent of the cargo handled is transported to and from the terminal by rail. Construction work for the expansion of the rail terminal will begin in Two additional tracks are planned. CTO, which has been part of the HHLA Group for 15 years, is also preparing for growth here. Odessa Bosphorus Black Sea Turkey Ukraine Russia Moldavia Romania Black Sea port The Black Sea is an inland sea situated between South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Western Asia and is connected to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea via the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Ships longer than 310 metres cannot pass through the Bosphorus strait. Odessa lies on the northern tip of the inland sea and is home to one million residents as well as being one of Ukraine s most important ports. In terms of container handling, Odessa is the leading port in Ukraine. Checker 20 percent of the containers handled at CTO are transported by rail. Valentina Lesnikova, Customer Consultant An industrial engineer, Lesnikova is in charge of services other than container handling that CTO offers its customers. This includes container repairs, with smaller repairs carried out at the terminal and larger repairs contracted out, the frequent packing of containers, and sometimes transferring services too. She likes working here because we have the best working conditions at the Port of Odessa. HHLA MAGAZINE 19

20 CURVYFIGURES Container handling at HHLA s Hamburg terminals is influenced by a variety of factors to which the company must react. These include the state of the port s infrastructure, political events or the development of global trade, whose ups and downs impact the volumes handled at the terminals. HHLA: Opening of CTB HHLA: Launch of Metrans HHLA: Acquisition of CTT The first fully containerised ship in Hamburg is handled at Container Terminal Burchardkai. Today, HHLA s biggest terminal with 30 container gantry cranes handles almost one in every three containers in Hamburg. Metrans commences operations in Prague. Since then, the HHLA rail subsidiary has become the market leader for hinterland container traffic with Central, Eastern and South- Eastern Europe. HHLA purchases Terminal Tollerort (now CTT), which opened in 1977 and has 60 hectares of land. As a result, the company today has three facilities for container handling at the Port of Hamburg. Oil crisis: When OPEC curbs oil production, large numbers of cars come to a standstill and the economy falters. Arms race: As the East-West conflict reaches a head, there is a clear slowdown in global trade. Unification: The fall of the Berlin Wall is followed by the development of the Eastern European economic area. Photo: Rob Mieremet/Anefo/CC BY-SA 3.0, Frank Trevino/ National Archives at College Park; Lear 21 at English Wikipedia HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

21 USD 20,000 billion Banking crisis: The Ukraine conflict: In USD 17,500 billion Lehman bankruptcy brings the global financial system to the brink of collapse. HHLA: Navigation channel The Elbe is dredged for the response to the annexation of Crimea, the EU imposes sanctions against Russia. HHLA: Acquisition of CTO HHLA s acquisition of a GLOBAL TRADE in USD billion 1) USD 15,000 billion eighth time from 1998 to terminal in Odessa (Ukraine) Bigger container ships can now provides it with a position reach HHLA s terminals more easily. on the Black Sea, a region with growth prospects. USD 12,500 billion Photo: David Shankbone/ CC BY-SA 3.0; aksymenko.com.ua/cc-by-2.0; anekoho - Fotolia Asia: China s admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) marks the rise of the emerging markets. HHLA CONTAINER HANDLING in TEU million USD 10,000 billion 8 million TEU USD 7,500 billion 6 million TEU USD 5,000 billion 4 million TEU USD 2,500 billion 2 million TEU USD 0 0 TEU ) 1) Basis: global imports; 2016: forecast HHLA MAGAZINE 21

22 BALANCINGACT Thousands of containers pass through the three HHLA terminals in Hamburg every day. But how do the boxes know the best way to reach their destination? An insight into a complex process. Standardised, robust, stackable: some are 20 feet long, some 40. Standing in rows and tiers, they travel the world. Simple boxes made of steel painted in different colours and marked with the names of the various shipping companies. They transport just about anything, from toys to jeans to replacement parts and laptops. The container is undoubtedly one of the symbols of a globalised world. Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) handled approximately 6.4 million standard containers (TEU) at its three terminals in Hamburg in Discharging, loading, temporarily storing: A container s journey through the terminal requires exact planning. The reason is that each steel box needs to be taken to or removed from the ship as quickly and efficiently as possible. The enormous volumes involved make this a logistical task of Herculean proportions. It is performed by experienced and specially trained staff members who guide the steel boxes through the terminals with the help of intelligent software. HHLA continuously works on ways to further speed up the processes. This gives rise to projects such as Fuhre 2.0, which was launched in It enables smoother and faster handling of the trucks arriving at Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT), for example, which can number up to 1,000 on some days. However, the process gets underway even earlier. Green wave In our case, the journey begins with the pre-announcement of a truck visit (see box on page 24). Truck drivers send status requests for their containers in advance via a data interface, providing all the necessary data. The terminal checks to see if any information is missing and whether handling is even possible based on the data submitted. The truck driver then receives a reliable response. If the container number, booking number and release order are correct, the driver is given the green light as well as a six-digit pre-announcement number (PAN). However, this sometimes requires more than one attempt. The shipping company s booking numbers are often missing, for example, or the truck driver duplicates orders, reveals Jill Bödicker, Head of the Container Office at Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT). 22 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

23 HHLA MAGAZINE 23

24 TR02 For fast handling of trucks Since November 2016, pre-announcement of container transport at the terminals in Hamburg has been mandatory. The IT component TR02 enables communication between the truck driver and the terminal. Haulage companies use the system to announce their planned visit. The truck driver is notified of the executability of an order via EDI (electronic data interchange). The traffic light system shows the current status: green means executable, yellow means pending and red means not executable. Jill Bödicker, Head of the Container Office at CTT The Hamburg native has been at HHLA for nine years. Bödicker and her team are interconnected at all levels. They coordinate between the various parties involved in the transport chain. My job is definitely never boring, says Bödicker. The driver or shipping company then has to go back into the system and correct the missing data. If there are further complications, such as transposed digits in the container number, Bödicker and her team are the people to contact. They are in charge of solving pre-announcement problems at CTT. If an announcement isn t working somewhere, we identify what the reason is, says the trained freight forwarder and certified expert in freight transport and logistics. The pre-announced data has greatly simplified the process. Previously, it wasn t at all clear what data the drivers were going to come to us with, says the 32-year-old. Everything had to be input manually, which often led to waiting times. With TR02, truck drivers can avoid erroneous visits and plan more effectively. The ideal situation is for a driver to deliver one container and collect another, says Bödicker. A slot-booking process is also set to be implemented in the near future. The truck driver and terminal will then agree on a time slot in advance, during which the container can be delivered or collected. 24

25 A Container Goes on Tour A truck driver slowly approaches the gate, pulls out his trucker card and holds it against the reading device. The barrier opens. A bright light appears as he passes through the gantry. That s one of our OCR gates, explains Silke Techen, Head of IT & Terminal Development at Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB). OCR stands for optical character recognition and constitutes one of the many automation processes. This camera gantry scans the container and feeds data such as the container number, registration number and ISO code into our TOS, or terminal operating system. This greatly speeds up vehicle access. The economics graduate and her team consider on a daily basis whether or not there are enough resources at Burchardkai or if more capacities are needed to handle the container volumes. Taking camera gantries as an example, We have established that our two OCR gates are not enough. We are therefore in the process of installing another one to provide trucks with even faster access, Techen reveals. In the meantime, the pre-announced truck carrying the steel box has entered the grounds of CTB. At the self-service terminal, the driver inputs further data required for the truck visit. If everything is correct, he will be assigned a transport order. The ITS management system decides whether he should take the box to the automatic block storage facility or to the conventional yard. The driver is issued an automatically generated order to take the container to the most appropriate storage space, says Techen. The trend is moving towards block storage, as this automated system offers greater capacity, optimal space usage and shorter transport journeys. The reason is that lanes for straddle carriers are not needed, as rail-mounted gantry cranes perform this task. Up to six containers can be stacked on top of one another in the block storage facility, compared with just three in the conventional yard. Firmly in view The yard planner checks whether everything is going to plan with the highly complex management of containers in the yard. He monitors the movement of containers through the yard. The TOS generally stacks containers with the same features on top of one another. The system takes Silke Techen, Head of IT & Terminal Development at Burchardkai Together with her 18-member team, she develops the long-term growth potential of Container Terminal Burchardkai. What I like best is the interplay between theory and practice, says the economics graduate. What we plan and calculate is later put into practice. She is able to rely on her staff members at all times in this regard. My team includes engineers, computer scientists and mathematicians who all work excellently with each other. Block storage management While straddle carriers buzz around the conventional yard, the block storage facility manages without them. The gantry cranes perform this job. They collect the containers from the truck or provide it with new boxes. The truck driver enters the transfer area to do this. Everything is fully automated here except for the final metre. When the container is picked up and released, the spreader must always be operated manually by remote control. The system then takes over again. The work done by people and machines is perfectly interlinked here, too. 25

26 Michael Cieslik, Head of the Planning & Management department at CTB Originally not from Hamburg, he has been at HHLA since What is needed for the job? In addition to leadership and management skills, a balanced amount of pragmatism and detailed operational knowledge. At the same time, you need to keep an eye on the bigger picture, says Cieslik. The 42-year-old juggles the needs of various stakeholders and attempts to find the optimal solution. Accommodating the many different interests is a balancing act. However, he is used to responsibility. Cieslik spent twelve years at sea as an officer in the Navy several years of which as a sub marine commander. into account whether the boxes complement each other in terms of their weight, if they are the same size, if they have to be loaded onto the same ship and if they have to be transported to the same port of destination, explains Michael Cieslik, Head of Planning and Management at CTB. Yard planning is just one of his duties. All the planning and management activities at CTB come under my responsibility, says Cieslik. This includes berth, ship, resource and operations planning as well as management of shifts, of offshore and onshore handling and of the storage crane system. Huge windows and countless monitors: The control centre is located on the fifth floor of the office building. All the activities at CTB are planned and managed from here. It is essentially the nerve centre of the terminal. The ship planners are based on the floor below. They determine exactly which container belongs where on the ship. These container artists take various factors into consideration here. In addition to the shipping companies instructions, they also have to take account of stability criteria and separation requirements for dangerous goods, explains Cieslik. It is important that the removal of the containers from the yard is carried out as smoothly as possible. The top priority is to avoid restackers, as they cost time and money. To ensure that the ship planners and gantry crane operators do not lose track of what they are doing, they follow the bay-row-tier system (see box on right). The plan is usually in place before the ship arrives at the port. Getting into gear It is the terminal logistics and management unit that makes container handling possible. As resource planners and shift managers at Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA), Arne Wagner and his colleagues appoint the staff members who are needed directly at the ship for the handling process and coordinate the berths for the ship arrivals as well as the equipment The CTA command centre Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA) is the newest and most modern HHLA terminal. Here, it is a case of block storage instead of the conventional yard, and automated container transporters (AGVs) instead of straddle carriers. The fact that these fully automated processes run smoothly is down to the staff members in the control centre. All the processes are managed and monitored from here. If a system fails, their knowledge is needed to resolve the problem. This combination of valuable experience and intelligent software ensures efficient terminal handling at CTA. 26 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

27 ROW BAY TIER Bay-row-tier This principle corresponds to a system of numeric coordinates based on length, width and height. The numeric information determines the container s exact storage place on board. The bay means each block of containers across, the row refers to the containers as arranged lengthways, and the tier is the stacking height. This enables the gantry crane operator to implement the ship planner s instructions exactly. to be used. We refer to one gantry crane crew as a gear, explains the logistics graduate. The number of gears that we require per ship depends on how fast a ship must be ready, which gantry cranes are available and how much cargo needs to be handled. All the planning is done five days in advance. For the container, this is now the home straight. When the ship docks at its assigned berth, the system begins to generate an order queue of the containers to be handled. Depending on when a container has to be in the gantry area, the system stacks the container from the yard and places it on an automatic transport vehicle using the gantry cranes. Using a system of 19,000 transponders embedded in the ground, the specially developed software searches for the shortest route through the terminal that the automated guided vehicle (AGV) can take. The container thus reaches the gantry crane operator on time so that he can then place it in the exact position assigned by the ship planner. The crane operator follows the bay-row-tier system here. Once all the containers are on board the ship in rows and tiers, it is time to cast off and head for the next port and the container stacking process starts all over again. The fact that this complex process runs so smoothly day after day and night after night is due to the increasingly sophisticated technical equipment and, of course, to the experienced staff members who keep the whole system running. Arne Wagner, Shift Manager and Resource Planner at CTA Wide-ranging, interesting, varied that describes my job best, says Arne Wagner. Teamwork also plays a major role, he says. The 42-yearold works closely with the other staff members in the control centre. After training as a shipping clerk, Wagner studied transport and logistics for five years in Bremerhaven. The Cuxhaven native has been at HHLA for three years. HHLA MAGAZINE 27

28 CONTROLCENTRE Teamwork Capacity utilisation of the port infrastructure is perfectly coordinated. Centralised expertise: The Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center directs large ships into the river Elbe and feeder vessels through the port. This centralised coordination benefits shipping companies, terminal operators, pilots and port authorities. The large container ship has already been under observation for some time. The Hamburg Vessel Coordination Center (HVCC) has been tracking the freighter s journey on its monitors for days. And it will be another few days yet before the ship, which is classed as an ultra large vessel (ULV), docks at the quay wall of Container Terminal Burchardkai in Hamburg. We start coordinating ship traffic to and from the Port of Hamburg well in advance, says Gerald Hirt, Operations Manager of the HVCC. For him and his team, this includes taking note of whether a ship is arriving earlier or later than planned, for example. If this happens, the HVCC can liaise with the terminal s berth planning unit and then suggest new time slots to the shipping companies for their passage of the river Elbe. This ensures that the ships approach the port at the optimal speed. This centralised coordination means that our team is able to prevent ships from having to drop anchor in the German Bight and can also avoid passing problems on the river Elbe. It also allows us to optimise the amount of time that ships spend at the port, says Hirt, explaining the benefits provided by the control centre, which operates 24 hours a day. A rising tide The HVCC monitors and coordinates a total of approximately 2,500 mega-ship calls (almost half of which are ULVs) and 4,000 calls at terminals by smaller feeder ships every year. Although the number of ships calling at the Port of Hamburg is not increasing, the ships themselves are getting bigger and wider. This goes for container ships, bulk carriers, vessels for rolling cargo (RoRo freighters) and cruise ships. In addition, many of them are only able to pass from the mouth Gerald Hirt, Operations Manager at the HVCC Together with his team, he coordinates and optimises a large volume of the ship traffic in the port on behalf of the terminals, shipping companies and captains. The Feeder Logistics Center was established in 2004 as an internal project at HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT). In 2009, it became an autonomous limited company whose shares are split between HHLA and Eurogate. 28 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

29 Elbe Brunsbüttel 400 m Störkurve 400 m Glückstadt 320 m Stadersand 320 m Hanskalbsand Meeting sector Hamburg Marina after modification: 385 m Schleswig-Holstein Lower Saxony Elbe Holstein Schleswig- Hamburg 250 m State border Blankenese after modification: 270 m Neßsand Lower Saxony Hamburg River Elbe The navigation channel is being modified for larger ships. Lühekurve 385 m Blankenese 270 m Hamburg 250 m Passing The arrival and departure of container giants is meticulously planned. of the river Elbe into the port when the tide is high. They can sail into the Port of Hamburg with the incoming tide and then return to the North Sea against the tide. The HVCC, which is a joint venture between the two terminal operators HHLA and Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg, is in charge of the centralised operational coordination in close partnership with the Vessel Traffic Service Centre of the Harbour Master Authority. It began in 2004 with the Feeder Logistics Center (FLC) in order to optimise the rotation of the feeder ships from terminal to terminal. These feeder ships bring and collect containers to and from several terminals in Hamburg before calling at mostly smaller seaports on the coasts of the Baltic Sea. The partnership among terminals and the role of the FLC as a link between shipping companies and terminals has significantly reduced the handling times for the feeder ships, says Hirt, describing the success of the FLC. What has proven to be effective on a small scale also works on a large scale in other words, at the Nautical Terminal Coordination (NTC). Since 2014, it has been the central interface for the arrival and departure of ships wider than 30 metres. In 2015, the FLC and NTC were amalgamated to form the new HVCC, which has since taken charge of coordinating calls by inland vessels as well. A customised coordination software program assists with the detailed planning. It records all the relevant data such as schedule data, position data of ships, travel speed, water levels and weather forecasts. Based on this, the NTC draws up a passage plan for the shipping company, for example. Our software continuously compares the available information. Traffic situations can thus be optimally analysed in advance and shipping companies and terminals informed, says Hirt, enthusing about the software-aided efficiency gains. The interaction between all the responsible units enables optimal use of the infrastructure, benefiting all the stakeholders in the port. At the same time, pressure is taken off public authorities such as the Vessel Traffic Service Centre. The latter is part of the Hamburg Port Authority and gives ships the green light to enter the port based also on the recommendations of the HVCC developed far in advance. Modifying the navigation channel It is one of the most important infrastructure projects in Germany. The navigation channel of the river Elbe before Hamburg (Glückstadt, Stadersand) is to be widened from 300 to 320 metres and also dredged. Ships with a draft of up to metres (at high tide) and metres (at low tide) will then be able to call at the Port of Hamburg. In addition, the river Elbe is to obtain a passing place measuring seven kilometres in length between Wedel and Wittenbergen (see map). A navigation channel with a width of 385 metres is planned here. HHLA MAGAZINE 29

30 Melbourne simulated function In 2013, a new terminal in the port of the Australian metropolis was put out to tender. Thanks to the support of HPC, the contract was awarded to Philippine operator International Container Terminal Services ahead of several competitors. Our simulation showed that the planned full automation works, explains HPC design expert Dr. Nils Kemme. DRESSREHEARSAL Planned to perfection: Using simulation software that it developed itself, HPC devises the ideal terminal design in advance an enormous advantage for the operators. Expansion In Singapore, HPC advised the port on the construction of a new container terminal. Photo: ake Fotolia A time-lapse bird s eye view makes the activities at a container terminal seem harmoniously choreographed. Big liners dock at the quaysides and are quickly discharged by port cranes. Container after container makes its way through the terminal and leaves on a truck or rail wagon. The entire transport chain is governed by precise workflows and exact timing. Operating a container terminal professionally is one of the most demanding challenges in the world of logistics. The expertise needed for this is provided by the HHLA subsidiary Hamburg Port Consulting (HPC) to clients all over the world. Since 1976, HPC has been advising private and public clients on how to plan, devise and implement terminal projects. In addition to expansion and conversion projects, this includes the design of new terminals. The new Pasir Panjang container terminals in Singapore are a veritable mega-project. When it came to constructing the gigantic facility with a capacity of 20 million TEU, the Asian client took advantage of HPC s expertise in ports. However, the company s consulting skills do not end at the quay wall. It also has extensive expertise in hinterland terminals and helps to optimise the hinterland connections of ports worldwide. In the USA, the HHLA subsidiary is even the leading planner of rail terminals as well as a pioneer in the development of concepts for automating rail handling operations. 30 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

31 Ohio implementation as planned HPC designed the world s first hub to be used exclusively by goods trains in North Baltimore for the US rail operator CSX (left). The complete design was developed using the HPCsim software (right). The client is continuing the successful partnership. Current project: The construction of another new intermodal hub terminal with a throughput volume of 600,000 TEU per year. Terminal of the future Every ambitious infrastructure project is implemented in small steps. This is already the case at the planning stage. The greater the number of factors included, the better the result. This is where the HPCsim simulation software comes into play. It simulates the entire container handling process at the port terminal in precise detail and three-dimensional format. Depending on the project, this makes it possible to precisely predict the capacity and performance of the facility. We can more or less display the future of the terminal on a computer, explains Dr. Nils Kemme, Head of Simulation at HPC. Kemme played a central part in developing the software. Here, too, the roots lie in the Group parent company. When the new terminal in Altenwerder was planned at the start of the millennium, HHLA used computer simulations for the first time. Based on the programs used at the time, we developed and continuously enhanced our software. HPCsim has since become an indispensable tool for terminal planning. Up to 500 parameters are incorporated into the simulation calculations. Ship size, the performance and speed of container gantry cranes, the number and rate of trucks and yard cranes all of these details are linked to each other in complex algorithms. This enables us to display the future handling operations down to the second. Our calculations are extremely reliable, says Kemme. Potential bottlenecks in container handling can be identified in advance using the simulation and avoided by optimising the terminal design. The precise predictions also make investment planning easier after all, terminal expansions always involve large sums of money. If our calculations show that a terminal can manage its planned handling operations with five instead of six container gantry cranes, our client will have saved 10 million, explains Kemme. In the last few years, HPC has been involved in approximately 1,400 projects in more than 100 countries and the parent company in Hamburg benefits from this too: The expertise obtained from these projects also helps HHLA indirectly and contributes to the development of its core business, says Kemme. Dr. Nils Kemme, Head of Simulation The logistics expert has been closely involved with HHLA since obtaining his degree in business administration. In 2006, he wrote his diploma thesis on the optimisation of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) at CTA and then worked initially as a terminal planner for HPC until After lecturing at the University of Hamburg for four years, where he specialised in simulation-based terminal planning, he returned to HPC in HHLA MAGAZINE 31

32 ROTTERDAM ANTWERP TRAINPOWER Continuous expansion of routes, efficient hubs, company-owned locomotives and innovative wagon technology: HHLA s Intermodal segment is developing dynamically and creates perfect connections. Long before a mega-freighter arrives at the quayside of a HHLA terminal, a well-oiled machine begins to operate: After all, thousands of export containers have to reach Hamburg first before they can be loaded onto the ship. Rail transport plays a key role here. Hamburg has an enormous location advantage in this regard: Ships make their way up the Elbe to a port which is situated well inland and has access to excellent rail infrastructure. This provides an easy link between ships and trains. In no other port in Europe are there so many rail connections to the hinterland. And just behind the quayside is a booming economic metropolis. HHLA s Intermodal companies Metrans and Polzug play an essential part in connecting Hamburg with Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. From the North Sea to the Adriatic, from Duisburg to Budapest: Network density and frequency as well as recognised reliability make this mode of transport particularly attractive. Mia Sekula, Dispatcher The native Croat is representative of the international character of the Metrans team: Before Sekula began working as an advisor in customer care for Istanbul at Metrans Slovakian office in 2014, she studied in Kassel. Both are of relevance to her current job in Prague as a price specialist for Germany. 32 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

33 Rail port Hamburg GDYNIA GDANSK BREMERHAVEN HAMBURG Polzug Poznan POZNAN WARSAW DUISBURG MALASZEWICZE LEIPZIG USTI NAD LABEM WROCLAW KATOWICE NUREMBERG PLZEN Metrans Prague PRAGUE CESKA TREBOVA OSTRAVA ZLIN Hub terminal Ceska Trebova KOSICE MUNICH SALZBURG ENNS KREMS VIENNA DUNAJSKA STREDA BUDAPEST Hub terminal Budapest TRIEST KOPER HHLA seaport terminal HHLA hub terminal HHLA inland terminal Inland terminal Photo: FrankRamspottiStockphoto Seaport terminal HHLA railway traffic HHLA MAGAZINE 33

34 Both economically and ecologically, it is the first choice for customers: A container block train carrying 86 standard containers (TEU) and powered by an electric locomotive on the Hamburg Prague route only requires one seventh of the energy that would be needed to transport the same number of TEU by truck. For the approximately 2,000 container trains that Metrans operates on the route, this amounts to an annual saving of 220 million kilowatt hours the same volume of electricity consumed by more than 100,000 two-person households. Newcomer The latest hub terminal in Budapest connects the Adriatic ports with South-Eastern Hub terminal Budapest Europe. Strategic planning To ensure that transportation runs smoothly, the engineers always have their thinking hats on: The tracks in terminal Ceska Trebova are built on a slight incline. The reason: The electric locomotive can enter the terminal with the block train, lower the pantograph and use the remaining momentum to roll into the gantry crane area. There are no overhead wires there, as this would impede container handling. Such ideas, including the use of hybrid shunters and our self-developed wagons, raise the bar in terms of efficiency and sustainability. Time is money in logistics, so reliability, flexibility and perfect time coordination are key factors, in addition to modern technical equipment. In order to better control the transport processes, HHLA invests in its own facilities and rolling stock. Metrans already has a fleet of more than 60 shunters and multi-system locomotives which are driven, maintained and, in some cases, repaired by its own employees. 34 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

35 Hub terminal Ceska Trebova Night shift At hub terminals like Ceska Trebova in the Czech Republic, trains and containers are handled around the clock. A company which does not depend on external service providers can increase the quality of its services itself. With 13 of its own inland terminals, the pooling and storage possibilities are an additional significant factor. At the centre of this network are five terminals that function as hubs for direct shuttle train connections to and from the ports. In all, customers can take advantage of approximately 400 connections per week in the intermodal network of the HHLA subsidiaries. The newest hub terminal in Budapest commenced operations in 2017: It plays a strategic key role, as it provides the South-Eastern European growth markets with even closer links to HHLA s network, says Peter Kiss, CEO of Metrans Danubia. At the same time, the ports on the Adriatic Sea and in Greece, in particular, are even better utilised. HHLA s Intermodal segment is thus already adapting its infrastructure to expected changes in transport flows at an early stage. The container trains are handled in Budapest by two gantry cranes on six 650-metre-long sidings. This means that the terminal has capacities for almost 250 trains per month or 250,000 TEU per year. The demand is there: Most of the imports for Slovakia and Hungary already pass through Adriatic ports such as Trieste or Koper, says Kiss. Intelligent hubs The HHLA rail subsidiaries handle trains at a total of five hub terminals. Example of Ceska Trebova: The terminal was inaugurated in spring 2013 and is located approximately 180 kilometres east of Prague. The high-performance hub has three portal cranes spanning 90 metres and six sidings, each 630 metres in length. This makes it possible to handle six container trains at once, enabling a high level of frequency. Particular advantage: The block trains enter the terminal directly, without the need for time-consuming and costly shunting operations. 6,000 standard containers can be stacked below the gantry cranes. Additional trains bring the cargo to smaller inland terminals or directly to their destination. High-frequency Like the Metrans terminals in Prague, Ceska Trebova and Dunajská Streda and the Polzug terminal in Poznan, Budapest is designed as a hub and shuttle terminal. A key advantage of the shuttle trains is that they can HHLA MAGAZINE 35

36 Jiri Samek, Metrans CEO When Jiri Samek founded the rail company Metrans in Prague in 1991, there were no container trains between the Czech Republic and Hamburg. Samek s idea was to offer economical rail transport directly from the port. HHLA recognised the potential early on and now owns 90 percent of the company s shares. The Metrans CEO and his team are working intensively to further expand activities. travel between seaports and hinterland hubs at very short intervals. Almost 40 of these trains commute between Hamburg and Prague every week, and Europe s biggest port, Rotterdam, is linked by seven weekly departures to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. A wide range of connections like this provides customers with greater flexibility, for example if a ship is delayed. Additional trains transport the cargo between the hub terminals and smaller, inland terminals. Only the last stretch of the route is served by trucks in most cases. The Port of Hamburg also benefits from the strength of the HHLA rail subsidiaries, which transported a total of almost 1.1 million TEU in The high-frequency and environmentally friendly rail connections with Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe attract cargo to Hamburg that may otherwise have been sent via a rival port. New opportunities Network expansion, modern technical equipment for locomotives and wagons, intelligent control: HHLA s intermodal strategy focuses on further growth in line with demand as well as on increasing continental traffic, with China, for example. The success story can be continued. Fast train Two modern mainline locomotives in operation. Metrans Prague 25 years of Metrans unimpeded dynamism It all began at a terminal in Prague s Uhrineves district: In February 1992, the first container train arrived from Hamburg. Until then, rail-based container transport had only been possible within the former Eastern bloc countries. Everything went so well that other connections were soon added. Metrans success is the result of a visionary idea, its implementation and its partnership with HHLA. Yet just as important are our loyal customers and our highly motivated team, says founder and Chairman of the Executive Board, Jiri Samek. Metrans has since become the market leader for seaport-hinterland container traffic with Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. There are approximately 300 rail connections a week within the company s closely knit rail network which stretches from the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia. Its nine proprietary inland terminals are the points of intersection from which Metrans transports containers in both seaport-hinterland and, increasingly, continental traffic using its own locomotives and wagons. 36 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

37 Moscow Hamburg Rotterdam Poznan Duisburg Beijing From Hamburg to Shanghai With investments in port projects and a programme to expand infrastructure, the Chinese government is promoting its idea of the New Silk Road worldwide. Railways play a key role here after all, the journey for a goods train travelling between Shanghai and Hamburg (distance: approximately 10,000 km) takes around half the time compared with transport by sea. The northern route passes through Mongolia and the southern route through Kazakhstan. Shanghai Chongqing LONG-DISTANCETRAFFIC Polzug Poznan China s New Silk Road promises to give an enormous boost to continental traffic by rail. HHLA is well positioned to get involved. C hina s President Xi Jinping has indicated the direction: one belt, one road. The project combines the Chinese goals of establishing an intercontinental infrastructure network to connect Asia with Europe based on the model of the historical Silk Road. As part of this strategy, the state rail operator, China Railway, now provides services to 14 European cities, including Madrid and Hamburg. Most recently, approximately 1,000 trains per year travelled between China and Europe and there is a strong upward trend, as Peter Plewa, Managing Director of Polzug, says. Tank container Cargo bound for China is helped on its way via the hub terminal in Poznan. HHLA MAGAZINE Major potential His company is playing an active part in this major project. As a rail operator, the HHLA subsidiary organises intelligent intermodal and logistics solutions, such as from Duisburg and Hamburg to Eastern Europe and back. Track and train capacities are flexibly procured on the market. In Poland, the company also operates its own rail terminals. For container transport and block trains from the CIS and China, Polzug offers the biggest and most reliable intermodal network in Central and Western Europe from the Polish-Belorussian border. The latest Metrans terminal in Budapest could also benefit from Beijing s plans, the realisation of which could be an important driver for growth for continental transport. The journeys along the 10,000 to 12,000-kilometre routes usually last between twelve and 16 days, including transshipment to other gauges. Particularly for customers with time-sensitive or capital-intensive goods such as special-offer merchandise or electronics, rail is an attractive alternative, says Plewa. On the return journey, the trains carry cars and exclusive foodstuffs for the rapidly growing Chinese middle class. 37

38 Exemplary The hybrid locomotive consumes up to 50 percent less fuel. ENERGYBUNDLE Already an ecologically beneficial mode of transport, rail is becoming even more sustainable thanks to innovative locomotives and space-saving wagons. Growth, but with responsibility: When additional locomotives were needed for the increasing volume of shunting in Hamburg, Metrans took a pioneering approach. It opted for the modern hybrid technology of the Prima H3 locomotive from Alstrom, meaning that for the first time in the world, hybrid locomotives are used for heavy-duty shunting on a permanent basis. Compared to conventional locomotives, the Prima H3 produces up to 50 percent less CO 2 other harmful substances such as nitrogen dioxide are reduced by up to 70 percent. Depending on the assignment, the shunting locomotives can run on battery power from 50 to 70 percent of the time that they are in operation. We also make use of the locomotives high performance and environmental friendliness in our shunting collaboration with other rail operators at the port, says Roger Mahler, Managing Director of Metrans Deutschland. This also pays off in financial terms: The network operator rewards the exemplary eco-footprint with lower charges. Flexibility All container sizes can be spread efficiently across the optimised wagons. Lighter and quieter The fleet of approximately 2,400 container wagons which Metrans has access to is also continuously optimised. The greatest advancement came from an idea from Metrans Manager Martin Hořínek and his colleagues: We don t need as much iron for construction and the wagons are not any longer than necessary, says Hořínek. Working together with the manufacturer, new wagons with much better driving properties were developed. Four more containers can now fit on the trains, which have the standard maximum length in Eastern Europe of 610 metres, bringing the total to 92 containers. In Western Europe, the trains are permitted to be 720 metres long and they now carry up to 108 containers instead of the previous 88. The wagons are 30 percent lighter than the conventional ones used by Europe s national railway companies. This means that a block train with 27 wagons saves 190 tonnes unladen. This reduces energy consumption and improves the environmental balance, says Hořínek. Noise reduction is also an important environmental issue that Metrans is tackling. Instead of cast iron, the company uses a composite material for the brake blocks which minimises wheel-track noise when the train is travelling and braking. We are also retrofitting the older wagons with these composite brake blocks in our own facilities, says Hořínek. 38 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

39 GROUNDBREAKING Rail port Hamburg A century and a half ago, the Port of Hamburg got its quay railway. Since then, it has developed into Europe s biggest rail port. As a rail port, Hamburg is second to none, and has been so for more than 150 years. Since the beginning of the railway age, the port on the Elbe has prioritised this mode of transport: In August 1866, the Berlin-Hamburg Railway Company opened the port railway in Hamburg. It linked the state-of-the-art Sandtorkai, where ships from overseas were first able to moor directly at the quay wall, with Berlin train station. The lease transferred the usage rights for an area 700 metres long to a two-track quay railway, as it was called then. In August 1866, the first train arrived, shortly followed by the first steamship at Sandtorkai. Increasing share In the intervening 150 years, the port railway has developed from a simple connecting track to a complex system of shunting rail terminals which have a peak position in Europe: More than 200 goods trains with approximately 5,000 wagons travel on the tracks of the port railway every day. The port s rail network comprises approximately 300 kilometres of tracks with 800 points. The modal split in the hinterland of the Port of Hamburg is continuing to shift towards rail as a mode of transport most recently, some 42 percent of containers continued their journey by rail. A modern, IT-supported operating system ensures that the entire rail operation is precisely coordinated and that all of the containers reach their destination reliably and on time. The three HHLA terminals alone handle far more rail containers than any other port in Europe. HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder has a peak position, with its rail terminal having already handled five million containers since CTA opened in It has continuously increased its capacity to approximately 930,000 standard containers (TEU) per year. By way of comparison, the entire Port of Rotterdam has an annual capacity of approximately 790,000 TEU. Time travel Even in the era of steam locomotives, there was already vibrant rail traffic at the Port of Hamburg % % % High-performance At the three HHLA terminals in Hamburg, approximately 1.5 million standard containers (TEU) are delivered or collected by rail every year. Source: HHM Growth The railways expand their share of container transport from the Port of Hamburg to the hinterland. HHLA MAGAZINE 39

40 Speicherstadt Warehouse M28 Speicherstadt Customs building CREATIVEWAREHOUSE For many people in Hamburg, this is where the heart of the city beats: In the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district. Nowhere else do tradition and contemporary change merge to create such an attractive location. 40 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

41 If the term innovative logistics centre had been in common use at the end of the 19th century, it would have been perfect for Hamburg s newly built clinker district. HHLA s predecessor, which had been specially established for this purpose, began construction of the aesthetically pleasing warehouse complex in 1885, which was not just the biggest in the world at the time, but also the most modern. Prior to that, warehouses had been scattered around all parts of the city. Now they were centralised here at a state-of-the-art facility which featured hydraulic winches and electrical lighting and was easy to reach by barge, horse-drawn carriage and train. The construction of the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district was prompted by a political decision: In 1881, the Senate of Hamburg, which had been a sovereign trading city-state before then, signed a customs union agreement with the German Empire. Only after driving a hard bargain, however. The result: Hamburg was allowed to establish a free-trade zone, where merchants could continue to import, store and refine goods such as coffee, tea and spices without paying customs. The Speicherstadt historical warehouse district became part of this enclave under customs law which included a high fence and customs posts. So much for the history. The port industry, customs regulations and urban development have arrived in the 21st century. Alongside the warehouses that are still used for their original purpose, mostly the storage of oriental carpets, continuous change is happening amid the canals and bridges: Residing behind the neo-gothic façades today Overview The Speicherstadt area lies between Hamburg s city centre (below right) and the city s new district of HafenCity. Speicherstadt historical warehouse district World Heritage Site Businesses are flourishing and people are strolling the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district has transformed itself from a former customs-free zone surrounded by a fence into a vibrant urban district. Based on a forward-looking development concept, HHLA has turned the 26-hectare logistics park from the 19th century into not just a modern business location, but also an attraction for tourists and locals. UNESCO rewarded the dedicated, sensitive approach taken towards this landmarked area in July 2015: The Speicherstadt historical warehouse district became Hamburg s first World Heritage Site! HHLA MAGAZINE 41

42 Speicherstadt Warehouse M28 Sketch This is how architects KPW Papay Warncke und Partner envisage the renovation of Block M28. Rabea Abayan, Architect As Head of Realisation in Building Management Real Estate, a diverse range of tasks lands on her desk for her team. Whether it s a workshop for a container terminal or the conversion of a warehouse block planning and responsibility are in her hands. Rabea Abayan, who has worked at HHLA since 2002, knows her way around the quaysides in the port just as well as she does in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district. The Hamburg native is coordinating the conversion of the historical Warehouse M28 into a future repository of creativity. History The merchants in this district originally used the warehouses to store and check their goods. are advertising agencies, architecture offices and fashion labels as well as museums, exhibitions and restaurants. Artists & consorts As landlord and project developer, HHLA Real Estate has fostered this change in a targeted manner. A future milestone on this journey is the extensive renovation of Warehouse M28 on Am Sandtorkai. From the end of 2017, its eight floors will be a new home for Hamburg s creative scene. As part of this process, the building is being energy-insulated. The mansard roof is being covered in copper and the windows and characteristic hatches are being restored, or if necessary replaced. Modern bathrooms and kitchens are being built and all the technical facilities in the building are being modernised. A new stairwell with lifts will ensure barrier-free access. Many of the original details such as the historical signs, old window grates and handrails are being retained, explains HHLA architect Rabea Abayan. Existing surfaces are being restored so that the loft character of the warehouse floors is preserved. New features can be clearly identified, thereby creating the aesthetically desired, appealing contrast between old and new. Approximately 5,000 m 2 of space on the seven upper floors will be available for studios, creative workshops and workrooms. Artists and others from the cultural and creative sectors can move in here at favourable conditions by applying to the cultural authority. Each floor has space for up to twelve separate rooms arranged around a communal area which is also suitable for exhibitions, says project manager Rabea Abayan. The ground floor has a special function: It acts as a showcase for the creative warehouse while also catching public attention for the cultural and creative activities on offer. 42 HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

43 Present The former customs buildings today provide an attractive setting for uses such as event gastronomy. Speicherstadt Customs building Paying respect HHLA Real Estate owns all the historical warehouse blocks and has already renovated most of them. Another example is hard to miss: Anyone arriving at the Zollkanal (customs canal) from the Kontorhaus office building area, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will see an ensemble with particular architectural appeal on the opposite side: The four buildings were constructed side by side in 1899 for the customs authority and were once resplendent with their ornate façade details and intricate rooftop landscape. Unfortunately, they did not emerge from the war unscathed, with the reconstruction and renovation work after the war also leaving its mark: Generous spaces were divided into tiny offices, and many of the outstanding details were concealed behind walls or simply painted over. Some original structures were no longer visible, explains Peter Modlich from Building Management at HHLA. Since 2008, he and his team have been working to revitalise the entire ensemble. Customs Houses 3 and 4 have been completed: Where freight papers were once stamped is now home to an advertising agency, and the former main customs office serves as an event location. Architect Peter Modlich says that the challenge with projects like this lies in modernising the buildings in a contemporary manner while retaining as many of their original features as possible in view of their landmarked status. However, this means having to make compromises. According to Modlich: This is only possible as a result of close coordination between everyone involved which is especially important when dealing with a World Heritage Site. The result makes the effort worthwhile: The construction work on the customs ensemble has revealed some original details again such as filigree cast iron brackets, wall borders from that architectural period, and outstandingly hand-fashioned granite stairs. Commitment The best way to protect and retain historical buildings is to keep them in long-term use, in line with the requirements of potential tenants. All the renovation work in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district is therefore based on the district s own design regulations. These specify the selection of suitable building materials and regulate details including signage and lighting. Showroom The appealing contrast between old and new provides the warehouse floors with their charm. HHLA MAGAZINE 43

44 Right of way The container transporters at CTA are battery-powered. INCHARGE The continuous electrification of the terminals means that they are using cleaner energy. And the same goes for cars: HHLA has the biggest electric vehicle fleet of any port in Europe. Electric fleet The cars are plugged in to the charging stations after every journey and recharged. Sustainable ideas and practices are part of HHLA s business model. Throughout the company, processes are being automated and equipment converted to electricity so that ambitious environmental and climate protection targets can be achieved. Diesel engines are thus being used less and less to power technical equipment at the terminals. Electric power sources are taking hold, as with the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) at Container Terminal Altenwerder (CTA). This enables the use of clean electricity from renewable energy sources, allowing HHLA to cut its CO 2 emissions. And it extends beyond large equipment. HHLA has 77 e-cars that travel around the terminals and the city the biggest fleet of e-vehicles at any port in Europe! The car fleet at the port and the HHLA car pool in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district consist of a wide range of vehicle types that produce practically no pollution. The e-vehicles travel a combined total of approximately half a million kilometres on an annual basis. Some of HHLA s facilities even produce more electricity than they need in order to charge their cars. The solar collectors on the roof of Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) provide 116,000 kilowatt hours (kwh) of CO 2 -free electricity every year. However, the e-vehicles used at the terminal consume only 68,000 kwh. Each vehicle has its own charging station at the terminals or in the car park in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district. The cars are recharged after every journey. Shining example Another example of a sustainable idea is the dramatic reduction in electricity used to light the block storage facilities. The automated container distribution processes can now be conducted largely in the dark. The powering-up duration has also been significantly reduced, as has the energy consumption of the spotlights. Light-emitting diodes are now used. They consume less energy while providing the same level of light and operate at full power as soon as they are switched on. This concept delivers an energy saving of more than 95 percent. Overall, measures like these have enabled HHLA to cut its CO 2 emissions per container handled by 27.3 percent since The target is 30 percent by HAMBURGER HAFEN UND LOGISTIK AG

45 IMPRINT Published by Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, Bei St. Annen 1, Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 (0) , Fax: +49 (0) , Contact Torsten Engelhardt, Head of Corporate Communications Concept and editing printprojekt Peter Lindemann & Hanns-Stefan Grosch GbR, Design Lohrengel Medien design Photographers/ image sources Tina Axelsson, Christian O. Bruch, Campeador1969 Dreamstime.com, ELBE & FLUT/Heinz-Joachim Hettchen, Dietmar Hasenpusch, Hummelhummel/ Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0, Nele Martensen, FrankRamspott/ istockphoto, Thies Rätzke, Gustav Werbeck Printed by Weiss-Druck GmbH & Co. KG, Monschau 2017 HHLA Reprinting or any other distribution, even of excerpts, is only permitted with written consent. The magazine was printed on recycled paper without optical brighteners or chlorine bleach and using a low-emission process. This print product was awarded the German Blue Angel certification.the German Blue Angel certification is considered one of the strictest environmental certifications in the world. GX6

46 Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft Bei St. Annen 1, Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 (0) , Fax: +49 (0) ,