bremenports to Take Part in Developing Finnafjord Port in Iceland
German port management company bremenports has received the green light from Bremen’s senate to become a member of the development company for the port construction project in Iceland.
In May 2016, the Icelandic government signed an agreement with the municipalities of Langanesbyd and Vopnafjordur, the engineering company EFLA and bremenports to plan and construct a multipurpose port in Finnafjord in the northeastern region of Iceland.
“Both the Icelandic government and the general public regard the Finnafjord Port Project (FFPP) as the country’s most important infrastructure project right now,” Martin Günthner, Bremen’s Senator for Economic Affairs and Ports, said.
“Shipping and logistics will increase significantly in this part of the world in future. Iceland consequently wants to profit from this trend and establish a new port on the central Arctic shipping route,” the senator added.
The business model for the Finnafjord port project initially envisages that the two municipalities will set up the Finnafjord Port Authority (FFPA), which will be responsible for granting licenses, for instance, to port owner and operators.
Port development company Finnafjord Port Development (FFPD) will be officially founded in the first half of 2017, with initial shareholders including the two municipalities, EFLA and bremenports.
“Comprehensive nautical and structural studies will be necessary before the project can make progress and these can only be conducted with external financial partners,” Robert Howe, bremenports Managing Director, said.
Once completed, Finnafjord (Finnafjörður) port will serve as a deep sea port in the North Atlantic ocean for transshipment sailing the Northeast Passage or Northern Sea Route and as a base port for exploration and production (E&P) operations for the oil and gas industry.
