Double-digit million investment boost for bayernhafen Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg, 15.03.2023 – Despite 2022 being a difficult year, bayernhafen Aschaffenburg showed what it was capable of: Almost 80,000 truck journeys (around 250 per day) were saved by shifting long-distance traffic to the more environmentally friendly transport modes of inland waterway and rail. bayernhafen moved a total of 9 million tonnes of cargo and freight by inland waterway and rail at its six locations of Aschaffenburg, Bamberg, Nuremberg, Roth, Regensburg and Passau – at 1.8%, only slightly less than the previous year. The volume of goods handled at the Port of Aschaffenburg was slightly higher in the same period, totalling 1.38 million tonnes.

Rail handling at Aschaffenburg in 2022 amounted to precisely 683,986 tonnes, a slight decrease of 2.6% on the previous year. However, this could have been much greater in view of the prolonged unmanned DB signal box in Aschaffenburg. Despite equally difficult conditions, the volume of goods moved by inland waterway rose by a gratifying 4.5% to 696,865 tonnes, driven by the return of coal transportation. By contrast, the current lack of shipping capacity (about 120,000 tonnes) due to sales to Eastern Europe is causing difficulties. These ships mainly transport grain from Ukraine. Finally, 2022 was a year with severe and prolonged periods of low water due to the hot summer.

“Despite the challenges, however, we are seeing considerable interest and a fundamental willingness to expedite the change to inland waterway and rail for transport, not only among our customers but also among companies in Bavaria. This entails undertaking investments to counter the bottlenecks that have developed. To ensure that bayernhafen remains the first port of call, last year we initiated multi-year investments of €46 million in our port infrastructure – €9.4 million of which was invested in Aschaffenburg alone last year and €3.8 million this year,” says bayernhafen Chief Executive Officer, Joachim Zimmermann, who is also President of the Federal Association of Public Inland Ports.

The return of river cruises after the pandemic is also developing very positively, with 149 ships calling in at bayernhafen piers – a 75% increase on the previous year. The pier at bayernhafen is mainly used by ships that do not want or need to enter the Floßhafen directly, for example purely for boarding and disembarking passengers who are going on bus trips around the region. Despite the recovery, however, the situation for river cruises in general is still tense due to the shortage of personnel: previously many crews and workers were recruited from Ukraine.

Benefits of modal shift for the greater Aschaffenburg area

Shifting HGV traffic to other modes of transport is particularly important for the greater Aschaffenburg area. The share of heavy goods traffic here, as recently reported, is far above the average in Bavaria. Last year, bayernhafen’s customers were able to save around 80,000 HGV journeys in Aschaffenburg by using the more environmentally friendly transport modes of inland waterway and rail. This is also important from an environmental point of view, as 50,000 tonnes less CO₂ end up in the air as a result. The groundwork for further increasing this figure is currently being done in the port at quays 1 and 2.

Extensive investment in the future

Large-scale infrastructure projects are nearing completion at the Port of Aschaffenburg. Among other things, the quay walls at quays 1 and 2 are being completely modernised and a second railway track is being added to the quay. “Our projects are a prime example of how bayernhafen works hand in hand with its customers to modernise the port. We are significantly optimising the use of land for our customers. In addition, we are strengthening bayernhafen’s own trimodal (inland waterway, rail and road) handling facilities here in order to offer our services directly to even more companies outside the port in the future and to shift HGV traffic to inland waterway, for example,” says Alexander Zeiger, Head of Real Estate Management at bayernhafen Aschaffenburg.

Extensive building work is also underway on the other side of the port basin at quay 3. This is being remodelled with new vertical sheet piling and stabilised in such a way that in future it can be navigated by a mobile material handler, which will bring even more flexibility for bayernhafen and its customers. On the way to quay 6, in Stockstadt, the civil engineering work for the second construction phase of the Port Development Project West is nearing completion.

“We act as the backbone for the supply of goods to society and industry. The sums currently invested in our infrastructure, €13.2 million last year and this year alone, are not something to be taken for granted. In view of the rising prices of raw materials and building materials, such large-scale construction projects would probably have already been stopped in other companies. But, in this way, we will not only remain a cargo and freight hub that is key to the supply of goods today, but will also be perceived as an important and attractive location in the future,” says Anja Bokeloh, Head of Technology and Operations at bayernhafen Aschaffenburg

A home for conferences

Since moving to its new offices on Industriestraße at the end of last year, bayernhafen now also has a conference centre in the form of the “Alte Kranhalle” (Old Crane Hall) in Aschaffenburg. The historic industrial monument was lavishly restored and equipped with multifunctional facilities. “At this dynamic location, emotion and functionality, history and modernity form a perfect blend. The conference centre directly in the port closes a gap in the range of conference facilities on offer in Aschaffenburg,” says Alexander Zeiger, Head of Real Estate Management at bayernhafen Aschaffenburg