Renewable Energy Sector Stimulates RoRo Freight Growth at European Multimodal Port Facility

GERMANY – FRANCE – Cuxhaven, on the mouth of the River Elbe, may be best known for its tourist potential, but it is also home to the deep water multimodal facilities of the Cuxport Terminal, part of the Rhenus group's logistics empire. Now a new Ro/Ro freight service has been launched which operates to and from the north German port and Nantes Saint-Nazaire in France.

The route will be operated by French shipping specialist, LD Seaplane and this expansion the partners say is due to the flexibility and speed of operations possible and the level of demand, particularly from the aviation, automotive and specialist services industries. Oliver Fuhljahn, head of automobile logistics at Cuxport, commented:

“Cuxhaven has been able to demonstrate its strength through the efficient handling of operations at the Cuxport terminal, once again illustrating the huge potential at the port. A key driver for the successful expansion of the service has been the fantastic relationship we’ve enjoyed with the shipping agent, Herbert C. Meyer.”

The portfolio of short sea routes served by Cuxhaven includes destinations in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the UK, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Cuxport officially presented the new route to Saint-Nazaire at the Breakbulk Europe Exhibition in Bremen at the end of last month. Once again renewable energy has played a major part in a North Sea freight operation and Julien Brault, commercial manager at LD Seaplane, concluded:

“The new route to France is significant because it creates a link between the German offshore industry centre in Cuxhaven and the offshore wind industry in France. We believe there is a great deal of potential to expand this relationship further.”