Ruhr News

Rhine river traffic came to a standstill in some places on Wednesday due to strikes against French government plans to raise the pension age, with sections of the river in France, Germany and Switzerland affected, a CGT union representative and Germany's Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSA) said.Around 1.28 million people in France had participated in a sixth day of protests on Tuesday against a draft law that would see the pension age delayed by two years to 64.A blockade at Strasbourg lock on the Rhine was cleared by police and an evacuation of the blockades at the Marckolsheim lock…

A first-of-its-kind emissions-free push boat has been christened and delivered in Germany.The unique and innovative vessel, Elektra, was built over the course of nearly 2.5 years at Hermann Barthel GmbH in Derben and features battery-electric propulsion system combined with hydrogen and fuel cell technology, reportedly the world's first for a push boat. It will now undergo long-term prior to commencing commercial operations.The basis of the newly developed hybrid system is the battery package…

German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TMS) plans to use 3D printers increasingly in manufacturing submarine parts. This offers decisive advantages over conventionally produced components.The corresponding quality and safety approvals have already been granted. Through acquisition of the thyssenkrupp TechCenter Additive Manufacturing (in Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhein-Westphalia), the required technology and expertise will now come to the Kiel Fjord. It is planned to complete the transition by June 2020.Dr. Luis Alejandro Orellano, COO of thyssenkrupp Marine Systems said: "3D printing opens up completely new potentials for us. In the design engineering, we no longer have to consider the limits of conventional manufacturing processes everywhere.

U.S. crude exports are gaining traction in Europe as even Ukraine turns into a significant consumer of American barrels at the expense of Russian supplies amid heightened U.S. political pressure on Moscow and problems over contaminated Russian oil.Ukraine this month received its first ever barrels from the United States, according to Refinitiv Eikon flows data, as the tanker Wisdom Venture unloaded 80,000 tonnes of Bakken crude in Odessa on July 6 for the Kremenchug refinery,…

ZF Friedrichshafen AG's Supervisory Board has appointed Sabine Jaskula and Dr. Holger Klein to the company's Board of Management.Jaskula, an experienced HR manager and lawyer, will be responsible for Corporate HR and Legal functions from latest January 1, 2019. In this function, she will also be in charge of compliance. Dr. Klein has been appointed to ZF's Board of Management with effect from October 1, 2018. His responsibilities will include Car Chassis Technology and Aftermarket (service and parts business).

European Cargo Logistics (ECL), an associated company of Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft mbH (LHG), and DSV Road AB, a part of DSV – Global Transport and Logistics, are now reaching another spot on the map, Zajeci in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. This is now the most easterly destination in the ECL network. For DSV this is not a new destination, but it is a way to handle transports to eastern Europe in a more environmentally friendly way. “We do always look at alternatives for reducing the environmental impact, and this intermodal solution will also help in the current market situation with high demand for transports and limited capacity in some areas due to lack of drivers”, says Christian Gerdtsson, Deputy MD for DSV Road AB.

The port of Antwerp is to invest 1.4 million euros over the next three years in projects aimed at making port-generated freight traffic smoother and more efficient. The seven projects that have been selected for financial support will together reduce the number of truck trips by up to 250,000 annually. The Flemish government in turn is building on the Call for Proposals by the Port Authority, and in the next few months it will release a further 1.4 million euros for projects to make transport in and around Antwerp more sustainable. “Mobility on the Flemish roads concerns all of us,” declared Antwerp Port Authority CEO Jacques Vandermeiren at the sixth Intermodal Event organised by the Port Authority.

The rail operator H&S Container Line is introducing an additional round trip between Andernach in Germany and the two container terminals in the Deurganck dock in the port of Antwerp. H&S already operates on this route, but is raising the frequency to twice per week thanks to financial support from Antwerp Port Authority. The support offered to H&S Container Line is the result of a Call for Proposals (CfP) launched in October last year by the Port Authority to attract projects for improving the rail connectivity between Antwerp on the one hand and the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main regions on the other. In addition to H&S Container Line several other operators also submitted projects, but not all of them met the conditions for financial support.

Blohm+Voss has appointed Jean-Gabriel Tridon as General Manager and Dieter Pladeck as Finance Director for its new maintenance and refit facility in La Ciotat in the south of France. The company has filled the two management positions only two weeks after winning the local tender of La Ciotat Shipyards for the setting up of the new site. In La Ciotat, Blohm+Voss will focus on the maintenance and refit of megayachts of over 80 meters in length. Fred van Beers, Chief Executive Officer at Blohm+Voss: “We are filling these key positions with familiar faces.

Multimodal network operator Samskip and inland waterway transport provider Pro-Log are celebrating the 10th anniversary of barge operations connecting Rotterdam and Duisburg by adding a second vessel, increasing service frequency to six times weekly. May 1, 2016 completes the first decade in the cooperation between the two unitised transport specialists, one a pan-European operator of ships, trains, trucks and multimodal equipment, and the other a dedicated river barge operator. “Reliability is a cornerstone in the competitive case for multimodal transport, and nowhere is it more crucial than in the corridor between Rotterdam and Duisburg,” says Leo Osseweijer, Samskip General Manager Procurement & Equipment Control.

The port of Antwerp is set to achieve a freight volume of more than 200 million tonnes for the first time ever in 2015. When it comes to containers Antwerp is performing extremely well this year: with expected growth of almost 8% it will easily pass the milestone of 9 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units, i.e. standard containers) for the first time in its history. About half of the container volume is currently handled in the port area on the Right bank of the Scheldt, but once the Swiss shipping company MSC transfers its operations to the Deurganck dock then the Left bank will inevitably become the main focus of container handling in Antwerp.

September 9, 2015 marks 270 years of manufacturing for the German based hoist and crane manufacturer J D Neuhaus, and after seven generations, the company is still managed by a descendant of the original owner. Load handling equipment supplied by J D Neuhaus is now utilized throughout the world, from small engineering workshops up to large organizations and including some of the heaviest and most demanding handling operations, even under extreme operating conditions. The company's world market status is backed by a service and supply organization established in more than 90 countries together with over 70 branches. Lifting equipment has been the backbone of the manufacturing company, with its first wooden shaft winch being produced in 1745.

The Port of Kiel can post positive results for 2014. Both cargo handling and passenger totals continued to rise. The port turned over 6.43 million tons of cargo, 1.6 % more than in the previous year. Stena Line’s Kiel-Gothenburg route recorded the biggest increase in general cargo handling while Color Line’s Kiel-Oslo service posted the strongest growth in passenger transport. During the year a total of 1.98 million passengers started or ended a ferry or cruise ship journey in Kiel - an increase of 1.9 %. Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co.

Port of Kiel invests in hinterland rail links. A new portal crane has arrived at Kiel’s Schwedenkai Intermodal Terminal, meaning that trains involved in rail-ship cargo handling in future will be loaded and unloaded using the new unit instead of two Reach Stackers. The crane, built by Finnish manufacturer Konecranes, arrived in Kiel on September 25th from Gdynia in Poland aboard the heavy load vessel “Meri”. The unloading took place under the crane’s own power via a ship ramp. Dr Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co.

Port of Duisburg, World's largest inland port today selected KONGSBERG Multibeam Echo sounder as part of the upgradation of their survey capability which presently uses a single beam echosounder. The Port of Duisburg is located at the confluence of Rhine and Ruhr two major shipping arteries that link central European industry as well as consumers to the seaports on the North Sea coast. ccupying an area of 3350 acres including 21 basins with a total size of 450 acres, the Port of Duisburg moves more than 120 million tons of goods per year. Duisburg Hafen AG, the owner of the public Port of Duisburg informed that with the switch over to the wide swath bathymetry system…

Rail/ship intermodal handling achieves double-digit growth. The port of Kiel said it successfully maintained a sound handling result in 2013. With a performance of 6.32 million tons the result for the previous year was even slightly surpassed by 12,000 tons resp. 0.2 %. The ferry lines form the backbone of the port’s business, rising up to 5.1 million tons (plus 1.3 %) and thereby making up more than 80 % of the total handling rate. The biggest increase was achieved by Stena Line on its route Kiel-Gothenburg, while DFDS Seaways features the highest transport volume.

The Port of Kiel is getting an additional direct intermodal train service. From February 3, 2014, a complete block train will operate three times a week in both directions between the Port of Kiel and Duisburg. The trains are 490 meters long which means that 24 slots will be available per departure for loadable trailers or 48 slots for containers and swap-bodies. The train will be operated by Kombiverkehr KG, Frankfurt, which will serve both Kiel’s Schwedenkai Terminal and Ostuferhafen. The travel time from there to the DUSS Terminal in Duisburg-Ruhrort will be about eight hours.

Classification society BV acquire  LVQ-WP, a German group specializing in non-destructive testing (NDT) and industrial inspection services. Founded in 1994, LVQ-WP is headquartered in Muelheim in the Rhein-Ruhr area, which is a strategic industrial cluster in Germany, and provides services to the power, process and manufacturing sectors in Germany and Eastern Europe. LVQ-WP currently has 120 highly qualified employees and its 2012 revenues totaled around EUR9 million. In Europe, non-destructive testing and industrial inspection services represent an attractive market, estimated at EUR850 million with a growth rate of around 8% per year, in which demand is driven by the need to maintain the integrity of ageing infrastructure.

Statoil ASA (OSE: STL, NYSE: STO) has signed an agreement to exit the Brage licences, farm down in Gjøa and Vega and acquire a 15 % stake in the Edvard Grieg licence near the Johan Sverdrup field in the North Sea. This transaction with the German oil and gas company Wintershall gives Statoil net proceeds of USD 1.45 billion, and begins a strategic partnership between Statoil and Wintershall. The consideration to be paid by Wintershall includes a contingent consideration of USD 100 million relating to the production on Vega. "This transaction realizes significant value for our shareholders, demonstrates the value of our NCS portfolio, and further enhances the financial flexibility of Statoil.

New Jade-Weser-Port container hub, Wilhelmshaven set to become Germany's only deep water port Wilhelmshaven has is the largest German import terminal for crude oil, with pipelines supplying refineries in the Rhine-Ruhr region and Hamburg, and also a major handling location for goods such as petroleum products, coal and chemical products. Soon the city will have a new container port, with depths of 18 m, with the ability to handle Maersk's 'Triple-E' class container ships at any state of the tide. The port, which is costing more than 1.0 billion euros ($1.25 billion) mostly from the regional state of Lower Saxony, is scheduled to open for business on August 5.

European intermodal operator Geest North Sea Line strengthened its sales team in Germany. Jürgen Reinke has been promoted to the position of General Sales Manager for Germany and will be based in Geest's Duisburg office effective 1 April, 2004, and Frank Possel has been appointed as Regional Account Manager, located in Hamburg. Reinke joined Geest in 2002 as Regional Account Manager for the Ruhr area. His early career was in the Hamburg freight forwarding community followed by sales positions with RoRo ferry and trailer operators PTI Portbridge, Norfolkline and DFDS. Possel has joined Geest from Seawheel. "Central and Southern Germany, especially the Ruhr region, have always been important markets for Geest but we now find that we are increasingly competitive in Northern Germany too.