Bremen and Bremerhaven Lift Container Volumes 5.7% as Hamburg Slips
Germany's second port complex handled 2.6m teu in the first half while its larger rival fell 3.1%
The twin ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven handled approximately 2.6 million teu in the first half of 2026, a 5.7% increase on the same period a year earlier, extending a run of growth at Germany's second-largest seaport complex by cargo volume.
Total seaborne throughput across the two locations rose 5.9% year on year to 34.5 million tonnes, on figures released on 21 August. Bremerhaven accounted for the bulk of that, handling approximately 29.2 million tonnes, up 5.3% on the first half of 2025, while Bremen's city ports recorded the sharper relative gain, moving around 5.3 million tonnes for a 9.3% increase.
The breakdown shows growth across most of the cargo book rather than a single strong segment. General cargo, the core business, climbed 5.4% to 30.2 million tonnes. Within that, non-containerised general cargo advanced 9.8% to 3.5 million tonnes. Bulk cargo grew 9.6% to 4.3 million tonnes. Vehicle throughput, a significant business for Bremerhaven, increased 2.4% to approximately 614,000 units.
Robert Howe, managing director of bremenports, attributed the result to strength across the ports' principal business lines. "The figures for the first half of the year show that the ports of Bremen and Bremerhaven are well positioned even in a challenging market environment," he said. "Throughput is growing in key areas, particularly in container traffic."
The comparison that matters domestically is with Hamburg. Germany's largest port reported a 3.1% year-on-year decline in total throughput to 56.1 million tonnes over the same period. Hamburg remains substantially larger in absolute terms, but the divergence between the two gateways has widened for another half-year, with container handling the clearest driver on the Bremen side.
