Port of Wilhelmshaven: Fit for the future

Germany’s ambition is to have 2.500 turbines installed in its territorial waters in the North and Baltic Seas by 2030. This means that on an average of 250 turbines will have to be produced and installed each year. This cannot be handled by one port alone and therefore several German ports are now trying to get a share in this growing demand for port facilities. The Port of Wilhelmshaven, located in the German Bight, is one of them.

Wilhelmshaven is one of the most important ports in Germany and the number one when it comes to annual transaction volume and project cargo. It is also the only deep water port with shortest access to open sea. Offshore WIND spoke to Mr Ulrich Schilling, branch office manager at the Wilhelmshavener Hafenwirtschafts-Vereinigung e. V. This port association started in 1985 and currently has about 260 members.

Wilhelmshaven is a deep water port with water depths of up to 20m and has an inner harbour with water depths between 10m and 12m. Both areas are separated by 360m by 57m twin locks which are currently the biggest locks in Northern Europe. From September on container terminal and logistics group EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven GmbH & Co. KG will start operating in the deep water port with its quay length of 1,000m in 2012 and a further 1,725m added by autumn 2013. The quay is planned to accommodate for supermax container vessels and is the first fitted with 16 of the world’s biggest container bridges handling 25 rows of containers. There is a logistic area of 160hs and further 400hs for development.

The inner harbour is independent of tides and has several terminals and companies that are offering offshore wind related activities. Wilhelmshaven has already been involved with shipments of large components such as the transformer station for alpha ventus but mainly concentrates on service activities. The terminals Braunschweigquai and Liineburgquai, for example, are operated by Rhenus Midgard Wilhelmshaven GmbH & Co. KG for handling, storage, preassembly and assembly of components. In the future it will cover over 16hs including a heavy load platform, a 30m RoRo ramp and a 35m RoRo ramp and cranes of up to 60t. Located next to this terminal is the 40.000m2 shipyard Neue Jadewerft GmbH and the ship repair yard Turbo-Technik who specialise on ship and offshore facility repairs.

The terminal Hannoverquay, operated by NPorts, offers berths and construction areas, supply and disposal services for seagoing vessels. NORDFROST GmbH & Co. KG operates 2 terminals, the Nordfrost northwestquay and the Nordfrost southwestquay. The company offers logistics and handling of project, break bulk and also RoRo cargoes.

The 30.000m2 terminal of Jade-Dienst, with a 225m quay and a 20m RoRo ramp, includes a maritime logistics centre and offshore services and project consultancy as well as a special fleet of service vessels. At the terminal Northeast Quay, Navitek GmbH is operating a 34.000m2 repair yard which can be used for ship repairs and any kind of services for offshore equipment.

The port is also the home of companies such as WIRING Helicopter Service GmbH for offshore flight operations, training and consultancy for offshore projects.
In the near future though the port will be welcoming a large component manufacturer on its premises. It was officially announced in April that Chinese shipbuilder Jiangsu Hantong Group will be investing €50m to set up a 40.000m2 production site in the North Port for heavy steel components such as foundations and bases for the offshore wind industry via its fully owned subsidy, set up in January this year, JADE Werke GmbH Wilhelmshaven.

They will also build together with Rhenus Midgard a quay for heavy lifts from where the components can be shipped. The construction of the 260m production hall will start later this year with line production for 80 foundations per year expected to start in 2014. The new facilities could create 250 new jobs in the port. They have signed a contract for logistics with Rhenus Midgard. Mr Schilling, “In this case construction can go fast and the main infrastructure is already in place and will only need a few adjustments to the quay.”

Sabine Lankhorst