Danube port of Krems: 15 per cent more ship handling in 2017

The Danube port of Krems again achieved a very good turnover in 2017. Last year, 1.45 million tonnes of goods were loaded and unloaded at Lower Austria’s largest transhipment point on the waterway. “Compared to 2016, this is an increase of three per cent,” as reported to the newspaper NÖ Wirtschaftspressedienst by Gerhard Gussmagg, Managing Director of the operating company Rhenus Donauhafen Krems GmbH & Co. KG.

Last year the port of Krems achieved its strongest growth in ship handling, although in January and February 2017 the entire Danube navigation between Bavaria and Romania was severely hampered by extreme winter cold and icing of the river, and sometimes even came to a standstill. “Overall, we moved 535,000 tonnes in this segment. That’s an increase of 15 per cent,” says Gerhard Gussmagg.

The Danube port of Krems also recorded a plus in lorry handling, which grew by three per cent in 2017 to 565,000 tonnes. By contrast, rail transhipment showed a minus of 11 per cent to 352,000 tonnes. The groups of goods that recorded the highest growth in the previous year were steel, mineral raw materials and components for wind power plants. Among other things, the port of Krems has invested in the expansion of the container terminal, a new weighbridge and a new wheel loader in 2017.

At the end of February, the German logistics group Rhenus will become the sole shareholder of Donauhafen-Gesellschaft Mierka Beteiligungs GmbH (MBG). At the same time, the former co-partner and long-term managing director Hubert Mierka will leave the company.

“Under a new flag, we will continue on our journey of growth in 2018,” Gerhard Gussmagg says optimistically. They cooperate with the city of Krems and its subsidiary Kremser Hafen- und Industriebahn GmbH (HIB).

www.rhenus-hafenkrems.com; www.wirtschaftspressedienst.com