This year, we were able to start the relocation of mud from the Port of Hamburg to buoy E3 in the North Sea almost a month later than last year, as sedimentation was lower than expected. At the same time, outflows from the Elbe were lower than ever before. Why is that? It’s a success for our dredging strategy!

The Feldhofe dredged material disposal site is an indispensable component of sediment management for the Port of Hamburg. Contaminated and treated Elbe mud that cannot be relocated within the waterway is safely stored here.  
But the silt mound is a living entity: water is continuously squeezed out from beneath the enormous weight of the material itself. To ensure the mound remains stable, this water must drain away through a highly complex drainage system. In this episode of “Port is what we do”, HPA site manager Ulrich Saucke and his team face a dangerous routine task today: inspecting the 30-metre-deep central shaft.

In 2025, the total dredging volumes in Hamburg were just as high as in 2024, and the port was kept in good condition. This is a great success for our strategy, as, unlike in 2024, the headwater discharge consistently was very poor. Our new annual report details the prevailing conditions, what we did to maintain water depths in the Port of Hamburg in line with requirements, and what next steps will be.

You can find the report here (now also available in English, by the way).

Eight leading seaports and inland ports have joined forces to form the “German Ports” alliance and are issuing a joint appeal to the federal government: port infrastructure must be recognised as a strategic priority of national importance and be sustainably strengthened. The following applies to all ports: water depths that meet operational requirements are essential for ports to fulfil their functions.

All ports need to dredge! That’s why we’re in constant contact with other ports and organisations when it comes to sediment management. To show our international partners everything we do in Hamburg to keep the port at the required depth, our Tideblog is now also available in English. Simply select your language in the top right-hand corner.

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.