Logistics hub Skandinavienkai: New orientation at the Port of Lübeck - ECL as intermodal specialist

Lübecker Hafen-Gesellschaft (LHG), which also includes European Cargo Logistics GmbH (ECL) as a subsidiary, employs a total of around 800 people at five terminals with a total area of 1,800 square metres. These consist of Skandinavienkai, Nordlandkai, Seelandkai, Schlutup and Konstinkai. In addition to vehicles (RoRo) and forestry and steel products, heavy general cargo is also handled. With a handling capacity (year 2022) of 22.4 million tonnes of goods, 745,000 trailer units/trucks, semi-trailers, swap bodies and 123,000 container units at the Baltic Rail Gate, the Port of Lübeck is the most important handling location in the entire Baltic Sea region and one of the most important ports in Europe.

In order to consolidate or further expand this status in the future, the LHG launched comprehensive restructuring measures in 2017, which were completed last year in 2022. The aim was to increase efficiency within the port, create new logistics space (52,000 square metres of hall space including canopy) and expand the steadily growing intermodal activities through European Cargo Logistics GmbH. Lübeck's Skandinavienkai, a central and attractive logistics and transport hub on the Baltic Sea, is the main beneficiary of the restructuring. But Nordlandkai (the second largest of a total of five terminals operated by the LHG) has also been given a completely new utilisation concept. This includes, among other things, the settlement of new freight groups and external logistics service providers.

As a universal port, Skandinavienkai will continue to be THE fast and highly frequented logistics hub for RoRo transports, forest products, automobile transports, heavy goods transports and intermodal transports to and from Northern and Eastern Europe as well as Western and Southern Europe. The realignment and restructuring measures will also benefit the transport and logistics companies, as they will receive all-round processing from A to Z in the port.

Special attention was also paid to the intermodal activities. A track extension to the ideal dimension of 740 metres and the installation of a third crane system at the Baltic Rail Gate should increase capacities here to 260,000 units. Further capacity expansions are also relatively easy to implement.

This is particularly convenient for European Cargo Logistics GmbH. As a specialist in the field of intermodal transport, its own Europe-wide "one-stop shop" network can be served even more extensively. ECL enables fast, safe and reliable transports to and from all over Europe. The main focus is on shuttle connections to and from Milan and Verona (both Italy) as well as Ludwigshafen and Duisburg (both Germany). In addition, there are connections to the entire Scandinavian region (Norway, Sweden, Finland) as well as to the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia). Furthermore, a new shuttle connection to and from Rotterdam is about to be integrated into the ECL network.

All further information on ECL's intermodal transports can be found here.