A Hub Today and in the Future

The Port of Aarhus has already established a position for itself as a hub in the Baltic Sea. Ocean-going container ships call at AAR.HUB to load and unload cargos which are transported to or from Aarhus on feeder ships from various countries around the Baltic Sea.

However, the port is now being extended to make space for even bigger volumes. In 2007 a new container terminal will be ready. Preparing for it will involve almost 300,000 square metres of harbour area being added to the existing terminals.

AAR.HUB has the potential to become the main hub in the Baltic Region. Today, large volumes of cargo are being traded withinthe Baltic Region, and approx. 80 per cent of the containers being shipped in the Baltic Sea are on route to the overseas destination.

Formany of the countries, theirrelatively new EU membership will result in a market increase in the volume of exports and imports in the coming years.

There is a good basis for developing the harbour. The Port of Aarhus is already the largest container port in Denmark, handling over half of the total number of containers in Danish ports.

The port is ideally located in relation to the home market - not far from the centres of consumption as well as production in Denmark. Furthermore, nature has provided the port of Aarhus with a range of significant advantages, for example a natural water depth of 14 metres to match the requirements of large, ocean-going container ships.

As goods volumes increase, it is necessary to find faster and more efficient ways of transporting them.

There is significant pressure on the North European motorway network and on the container ports that flank the European continent to the west. To relieve the traffic problems, the EU has declared that sea transport must be promoted so as to reduce the volumes of cargo transported by road.

The most recent development has been the introduction of a motorway toll on goods traffic in Germany.

The port of Aarhus is close to the new markets around the Baltic Sea. Very close. And in using AAR.HUB, one avoids the time-consuming queues in the congested ports.