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Port Dialogue between Emden and Dörpen Gains Momentum

Hafendialog Emden-Dörpen gewinnt an Fahrt

Port Dialogue between Emden and Dörpen Gains Momentum

Cooperation between the two ports to be further intensified 

The port dialogue between the Port of Emden and the port of Dörpen (Emsland district), launched in February at the initiative of Hartmut Moorkamp (CDU), a member of the Lower Saxony State Parliament representing the Emsland region, is gaining further momentum. At the invitation of the Emden Port Promotion Association (Emder Hafenförderungsgesellschaft e. V. – EHFG), representatives from politics and the port industry of the Emsland municipality recently visited the Port of Emden. The visit highlighted the close and long-standing cooperation between the two ports, which are connected via the River Ems and the Dortmund-Ems Canal. 

For more than 40 years, Anker Schiffahrts-Gesellschaft mbH, with Managing Director Jan Remmers and authorised signatory Tilo Hoff, has reliably supplied UPM Nordland Papier GmbH in Dörpen with cellulose via the Port of Emden’s outer harbour. This raw material is required for paper production in the Emsland region and arrives at the port at the mouth of the River Ems primarily by seagoing vessels from Brazil, but also from Finland. Some of the cellulose is transferred directly onto inland waterway vessels, while the majority is stored in Anker’s warehouses in the outer harbour and delivered to Dörpen according to demand, with a transit time of just six to eight hours along the River Ems. Around 175 inland waterway vessels leave the Port of Emden for Dörpen each year. Each vessel has a capacity of approximately 1,300 tonnes, replacing around 55 truck journeys. Over the course of a year, this amounts to almost 9,500 truck transports being replaced by environmentally friendly inland waterway shipping.
 

The second stop on the tour of the Port of Emden was Omya GmbH, represented by Raul Magalhaes, head of the company's facility on Eichstraße. The company, headquartered in Switzerland, operates a storage tank facility for calcium carbonate slurries in Emden, as well as a production plant for calcium carbonate-kaolin mixtures. These materials are also required for paper manufacturing. They arrive by seagoing vessels from Norway and are likewise transferred onto inland waterway vessels in Emden.

The third stop at the Port of Emden was epas Ems Ports Agency & Stevedoring Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, represented by Managing Director Timo Siebahn. At the North and South Quays, the company handles components for the energy transition and already stores some of them temporarily in Dörpen. These primarily include enormous cable drums, which are transported from Dörpen to construction sites throughout Germany and are used to transmit electricity generated by offshore wind farms in the North Sea. From next year onwards, cooperation between Emden and Dörpen will also be extended to include additional wind turbine components. These are likewise expected to be transported to Dörpen predominantly by environmentally friendly inland waterway vessels, where they will be temporarily stored.

 
According to EHFG Board Member Reinhard Hegewald, cooperation between Emden and Dörpen has traditionally been very close and is set to become even stronger in the future. In his view, it represents a successful example of cooperation between East Frisia and the Emsland region. Hermann Wocken, Mayor of the Dörpen Joint Municipality, has already invited participants to the third port dialogue, which will take place in the Emsland region in early 2027. The programme will include a visit to the paper mill, the largest employer in Dörpen. 

Images: EHFG

Loading cellulose at the Port of Emden’s outer harbour by Anker.