Germany: MoU Signed at Cuxport to Construct Berth 4
Olaf Lies, the Lower Saxony Minister of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport, and Dr. Andreas Schmidt and Hans-Peter Zint, the Managing Directors of Cuxport, today signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of berth 4 at the Cuxport terminal in Cuxhaven.
Once the planned work has been completed in the spring of 2017, Cuxport will have at its disposal another 290 metres of pier alongside water deep enough for sea-going vessels and about 85,000 square metres of space for port handling operations.
“The Lower Saxony state government is fully aware of the huge significance of the port industry for the economic development of our federal state. The construction of berth 4 at Cuxhaven will create the conditions for further growth in the port sector on the North Sea coast and therefore pave the way for new jobs,” said Olaf Lies, giving the reasons for the involvement of his government.
“We’re delighted by the decision taken by the Lower Saxony state government to expand this terminal with us; we urgently need more handling and storage space in order to continue developing the business site at Cuxhaven. Utilisation levels at the moment do not permit any further growth in terms of volumes,” Hans-Peter Zint emphasised.
The completion of berth 4 will enable Cuxport to meet the steady growth in demand for a wide variety of efficient logistics services in future too. At the same time, the investment will safeguard existing skilled jobs in the Lower Saxony port sector and lay the foundation for creating new ones.
“None of this would be possible without the expansion of the port infrastructure by the state of Lower Saxony. Based on the excellent development and forecasts for this business, particularly in the RoRo and offshore logistics sectors, we assume that the newly created capacity at our multi-purpose terminal will soon be put to full use,” says Hans-Peter Zint, looking to the future. Once the construction work has been completed, the area will be used for port handling and providing temporary storage for goods prior to their shipment by sea or distribution further inland.
Cuxport, February 25, 2014
