Mode of transport - Water
Four of the ten largest inland ports in Germany are located in Baden-Württemberg
550 km of waterways
In Baden-Württemberg, there are around 550 km of waterways forming a well-developed, cohesive network for use in commercial inland shipping. The modes of transport of rail, water and road are linked at the ports of Baden-Württemberg, which allows them to function as logistical hubs of supraregional importance to all three modes of transport.
Rhine, Main and Neckar
Rheinau port in Mannheim
The River Rhine, which is the most important inland waterway of Europe, extends for 284 km between Mannheim and Basle. The River Neckar, which is Germany's third-largest waterway, has a length of 203 km between Mannheim and Plochingen. In the North, the River Main also runs through the territory of Baden-Württemberg over 38 km.
The flood of containers arriving at the main seaports (the main hubs) must be transported into the hinterland as quickly as possible. The River Rhine is well suited as a transport route for the western ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp (ARA ports).
Goods transport on inland waterways
Port of Stuttgart
Inland shipping is of high importance for goods transport. In direct comparison, 342 million tonnes of goods were transported by rail in Germany in 2006 and 243 million tonnes were transported by ship. Over 211,000 containers were transshipped in Baden-Württemberg in 2006, with over 180,000 of these on the River Rhine. The ships which travel on the River Rhine have an average transport capacity of approx. 3000 tonnes, which is the equivalent of 150 trucks carrying a load of 20 tonnes each.
Tonnage handled by German inland ports in 2006
| Ranking | Port | Tonnage handled 2006 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duisburg | 15.6m t |
| 2 | Cologne | 10.7m t |
| 3 | Neuss-Düsseldorf | 9.7m t |
| 4 | Mannheim | 7.9m t |
| 5 | Ludwigshafen | 7.5m t |
| 6 | Karlsruhe | 7.1m t |
| 7 | Heilbronn | 4.7m t |
| 8 | Kehl | 3.4m t |
This ranking emphasizes the importance of the River Rhine for inland shipping and shows that Baden-Württemberg is one of the most important inland shipping locations in Germany. In the ranking of tonnage handled by German inland ports, four ports in Baden-Württemberg can be found in the top 10 - with the Port of Mannheim the clear leader.
The importance of the Rhine ports of Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Kehl, which handle over half of the port tonnage in Baden-Württemberg, is clear. Although the volumes transported on the River Neckar are lower than those on the River Rhine, which is an international waterway, the volume is nevertheless significant up to Plochingen and provides considerable relief to the road and rail goods transportation networks both inside and out of the Stuttgart metropolitan area. The most important ports on the River Neckar are Heilbronn and Stuttgart, which have high shipping volume requirements mainly due to their heavily industrialized catchment areas.
Second largest inland port in Europe!
Port of Mannheim at night
As the logistical core of the cross-border Rhine-Neckar metropolitan area, the ports of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen make up the second largest inland port in Europe.
Extension of locks on River Neckar
The River Neckar, which can be used for inland shipping from Plochingen up to its confluence with the River Rhine, is of particular importance for shipping bulk goods for the Stuttgart metropolitan area. Over the coming years, the locks of the River Neckar will be extended from 110 m to 140 m. This will allow modern goods transport ships of a length of 135 m to negotiate the River Neckar from Mannheim to Plochingen.
Port infrastructure on the River Main
Baden-Württemberg has a port infrastructure on the River Main at Wertheim in the extreme north of the state.
Spare capacity for the future
Inland container shipping has experienced heavy growth in recent years. There is significant spare capacity for the future on the inland waterway network. A report by the Federal Ministry of Transport found that the volume of goods transported via container on inland waterways is expected to double by 2010.