When winter weather has the Port of Hamburg firmly in its grip, it’s time for the icebreakers to step in. In this episode of “Port is what we do”, we join the crew of the Johannes Dalmann on their mission on the Süderelbe. With temperatures well below freezing and ice up to 25 centimetres thick, the team ensures that the ice can continue to flow freely and that the dykes are protected from immense pressure.   

The Hamburg Waterways Authority (WSA) and the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) have published the first report on the collection of evidence relating to the recent widening of the navigation channels in the Lower and Outer Elbe. In consultation with the federal states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, extensive hydrological, conservation and topographical measurements and surveys are being carried out during and after the channel widening, and the data obtained is being documented as it develops. 

Unfortunately, in the hydrological year 2025, there was once again less water from the Elbe catchment area. We set out the exact figures and the results of the other hydrological parameters in the 2025 hydrological information report.

For 25 years, we have been providing detailed and transparent reports on water depth maintenance for the Port of Hamburg. These include all dredged volumes, broken down by origin and destination, numerous analyses of sediment quality and hydrological conditions, and details of the equipment we have used. This is a comprehensive assessment that takes some time to compile. The report for 2024 is now available.

The Port of Hamburg is Germany’s largest port and the third largest in Europe. A new ‘Port is what we do’ video illustrates what this means in figures.

“Healthy Sediments” – under this motto, around 140 international sediment experts from over 20 countries have now gathered at the 14th SedNet Conference in Madrid. 

Since 23 September, the navigable target depth on the tidal section of the Elbe has been increased by up to half a metre. Shipping operators can now take these new draughts into account when planning their voyages and deploying vessels, thereby enabling them to transport more cargo cost-effectively and sustainably by sea deep into the hinterland.

Ensuring safe water depths in the Port of Hamburg is a complex task, and it only works if everyone works together. And that includes, not least, our reception team. Our new video shows what a typical day in the port looks like for Steven.

The Society for Ecological Planning in Wilhelmsburg (GÖP) has developed an interactive travelling exhibition on the theme of the Tideelbe. It features a section with a traditional information display (exhibition), can also be converted into an escape room, and fits into any foyer. This makes it ideal for schools. The aim is for a group inside the cube to free themselves by solving tasks with the help of teams outside. The puzzles are based on the Tideelbe. In this way, knowledge about the Tideelbe – covering flood protection, port management, tides and nature – is conveyed in a vivid and hands-on way, for children from Year 5 onwards and other interested parties. 

More information is available here.

The Kreetsand shallow water area, completed by the HPA at the end of 2022, continues to attract international attention today as a pilot project for sustainable river engineering. As early as 2013, it was a flagship project of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) and won the PIANC “Working with Nature Award” in 2014. Now, a German-American exchange group (GANBASE) from the “pocacito” network, which focuses on “Nature-Based Solutions” (NBS), has visited the area. 

In total, around 3 million tonnes of dry matter (tDM) of sediment were dredged in Hamburg in 2024, approximately 1.2 million tonnes less than in the previous year. As a result, costs have also fallen significantly. This is due to improved surface water runoff and reduced sedimentation resulting from increased sediment removal and minimised maintenance dredging in previous years. Our new annual report explains how this all fits together, what the constraints were, what we did to maintain water depths in the Port of Hamburg in line with requirements, and what the next steps are.

Is that still water, or is it already mud? And is it still safe to navigate there? These are the very questions being asked at South America’s largest port, the Port of Santos in Brazil. Three experts from the HPA recently visited the site to get to the bottom of the matter.