The Port of Andernach is creating the conditions for professional multitasking. With the investment in a second bridge crane, the simultaneous handling of ships and trains will be possible. The new facility at the KLV Terminal CSA Andernach is scheduled to start regular operations at the end of June 2021.Thanks to decades of close cooperation between the port operator Stadtwerke Andernach and HSL, the Andernach location offers customised logistics solutions and opportunities.
The reason for the increase in capacity is the steadily rising volumes since the container handling facility in Andernach went into operation in 2000. Lars Hörnig, Commercial Managing Director of Stadtwerke Andernach, reports: “Our market study came to the conclusion that the current KLV terminal will reach its capacity limit in the mid-2020s with moderate growth.” The current development points in the same direction. In 2019 and 2020, Stadtwerke, as the port operator, recorded a much stronger increase in the container sector. In 2020, the 200,000 TEU mark was exceeded for the first time.
“With the additional gantry crane, the largest port on the Middle Rhine is positioning itself more broadly. The higher handling capacity creates the conditions for further growth at the trimodal location,” explains Felix Zocher, General Manager at HSL. Several advantages result from the use of the second bridge crane: reduced throughput times, barge-to-barge transshipment if required, as well as fail-safety through the creation of redundancies.
The crane, which cost almost seven million euros, has a lifting capacity of up to 55 tons. The lifting height is 15.5 m and the water-side outhaul is 34 m. The KLV Terminal Andernach is integrated into HSL’s intermodal liner services, which maintain regular traffic to the seaports of Antwerp and Rotterdam by barge, rail and truck. The expansion of capacities supports the joint “Think Trimodal” strategy of Stadtwerke Andernach and HSL.
