Rostock Port
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Rostock Port is a large German port on the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, it is located on the
Unterwarnow Unterwarnow is the estuary of the Warnow River in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. Connected with the Baltic Sea in Warnemünde. On the coasts of the estuary, the city of Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and Universi ...
estuary in the city of
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
. Most of the port infrastructure is owned by Rostock Port GmbH (until 2016: Hafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft Rostock mbH "HERO"), a joint venture between the state of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
(25.1%) and the Hanseatic City of Rostock (74.9%). The port operations are carried out by Euroports Germany GmbH & Co. and other private companies. With a total throughput of 28.8 million tons (2017), the ports of Rostock is the fourth largest German port (after
Port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by volume ...
,
Ports of Bremen The Ports of Bremen, Bremen Ports or Bremish Ports, in German "Bremische Häfen" consist of the commercial ports in Bremen and Bremerhaven. They are managed by ''bremenports GmbH & Co. KG'', a company of private status in public property. In 201 ...
and
Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
port). The ports of Rostock include the Rostock seaport located on the east side of the Unterwarnow (built since the 1960s), the chemical port for Yara located east of it at Breitling, the independent freight and fishing port (RFH) in the west side of the Unterwarnow, the cruise terminal at the passenger quay in Warnemünde and other smaller facilities such as the Maritime Industrial Park (MAGEB) and the Quay of Alba Nord north of the RFH and the Rostock city port, where goods are handled no more.


History

The history of the Rostock port goes back to the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, especially in the days of the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...
, the port was an important hub of trade with
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
and the
Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
. With the decline of the Hanseatic League, the port lost its importance. The relocation of (world) trade to the area of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic , connected with the discovery of America and the sea route to India , led to the descent of the port. After a brief boom due to grain exports in the mid-19th century, it was only of local importance. At the change from the 19th to the 20th century, a modest port expansion began. Under the leadership of the city and port construction director Kerner, the port was expanded to the west, the coal quay and the Haedgehafen were built. The port received the first modern port crane and crane bridges for handling coal. At the same time the construction of railway – ferry began from Warnemünde to Gedser, as part of the Copenhagen – Berlin route, which greatly improved the access to the port. In Warnemünde estuary, a channel was created as a wider and, above all, better entrance to the Rostock port.The fairway in the port was deepened to 4.1 m to 6.7 m, so that the ships common in the Baltic Sea at that time could now call at the port without any problems. In the years up to the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the quays at Eschenbrücke and Kehrwieder were built to the west of the Haedgehafen. The New Land in the east of the port was planned as an expansion area for the Holzhafen and the Osthafen expansion area was prepared on the eastern bank of the Unterwarnow. The outbreak of war in August 1914 initially put an end to all expansion plans. In the years before the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the development of the aircraft industry also gave the port an upswing, albeit a small one. As part of the Nazi government's Reich Storage Program, modern grain silos and a new oil mill were built on the Silo Peninsula in the 1930s . During the war, the Allied air raids, which were primarily aimed at the aircraft industry and the residential areas of Rostock, also hit and damaged the port. The division of Germany made it necessary to build an efficient seaport on the Baltic Sea coast of
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. In 1950 Walter Ulbricht had also stated: “We examined the project of a high sea port on the Baltic coast and came to the conclusion that we should refrain from building a new high sea port because we are convinced that the time will come when the foreign trade of a democratic Germany will again Ports of Hamburg and Lübeck are available. Until then, on the basis of an agreement with the Polish government, we will use part of the Polish port of Szczecin for our deep-sea fleet.” However, this decision was quickly revised. After examining several options, the decision was made in favor of the Rostock port. As early as 1951, the press reported on the first construction work in Rostock. "In Rostock, large excavators are at work and are creating the most powerful sea port in our republic." However, there were significant delays in construction as a result. The New Germany wrote in 1957: "So far, some of the tasks of the centrally managed industry have not been fulfilled because the cooperation with the districts has been inadequate. The involvement of the local organs was neglected. Now that is being changed. For example, shipping was previously planned by departments, which has led to a delay in the expansion of our deep-sea ports. Only now is there a uniform plan that corresponds to the plan for economic development in the Rostock district." The new port was opened on 30 April 1960 and operated by the VEB Seehafen Rostock. The port became the home port of the ships of the Deutsche Seereederei (DSR) and was able to record a steady growth in throughput until 1989, mainly through bulk cargo. With the
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, a repositioning of the port was necessary. The ferry traffic to Gedser (Denmark) and Trelleborg (Sweden), temporarily also to Helsinki or Hanko (Finland), Gdynia (Poland) and the Baltic States was expanded.
Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
traffic also gained in importance, especially for the transport of forest products from Finland.


Privatisation

In 1996, following several years of decline in port traffic, the Rostock city council agreed to sell the port to Kent Investments Ltd., a company headed by the British politician and businessman
David Young, Baron Young of Graffham David Ivor Young, Baron Young of Graffham, (27 February 1932 – 9 December 2022) was a British Conservative politician, cabinet minister and businessman. Early life David Young was born into an orthodox Jewish family in London. His father w ...
. Together with two Israeli businessmen Menachem Atzmon, and Ezra Harel. It was later discovered that Lord Young was only a frontman for the Israeli investors. The two were later under investigation by Israel Securities Authority, suspected of fraud and breach of trust. They acquired the port by obtaining a loan from Rogosin Industries, a public company they controlled, which raised the money by issuing bonds. Rogosin Industries then received an option to buy 25 percent of the port in exchange for forgiving the loan. Rogosin Industries eventually exercised this option, which left Harel and Atzmon owning 75 percent of Rostock Port using Rogosin's funds. The case was investigated after Rogosin Industries defaulted on its bonds, as it run out of cash to pay its bondholders. The company later went into liquidation. In 2012, the Rostock city council decided to buy back the port and bring it back again under public ownership


References


External links


Rostock Port – Official Website

Port of Rostock

AfZ Rostock for port education

Deutsche Seereederei

Cruise Calendar for Rostock-Warnemünde
{{coord missing, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
Ports and harbours of the Baltic Sea Ports and harbours of Germany