NORDFROST has started operations at the port in Wesel

NORDFROST GmbH has now started operational ship handling at its new port location in Wesel on the Lower Rhine. Just before Easter, the first containers were successfully unloaded from the inland vessel using the company’s own mobile harbor crane. The premiere went successfully. A logistics center is planned to be operational in 2023.

(Schortens/Wesel) At its new terminal in Wesel on the Lower Rhine, NORDFROST has now taken the first step towards commissioning. After the family-owned company, headquartered in Schortens, Friesland, has upgraded around 6,000 m² of quay area along the 175-meter-long pier with initial construction measures, a mobile harbor crane will be permanently stationed there. The Liebherr LHM 180, which was delivered to NORDFROST in early March and assembled on-site, was used for container loading for the first time. The cargo ship “Amphira,” sailing under the Belgian flag, arrived on the morning of March 31, 2021, with fifteen 45′ containers, which were smoothly unloaded by the logistics provider. The ship was able to depart from the NORDFROST terminal as planned and on time.

Test loading was successful

This first test loading will be followed by continuous further ship handling, which will also involve the NORDFROST cold stores located in the regional vicinity of the terminal with their extensive storage capacities. In parallel, the operation of a container depot, including services such as washing, repairing, and PTI checks, will commence. With the commissioning of the cold store directly at the terminal, a container bridge will also be used, for which the crane runway tracks have already been laid.

The NORDFROST port location in Wesel is connected to the ARA ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam with daily inland shipping services and also offers short sea direct services to other European seaports. Over time, a deep-freeze warehouse, storage for goods in the positive temperature range, and general cargo and project loading halls are planned for the 16-hectare area. The commissioning of the logistics center is scheduled for the beginning of 2023. A three-digit number of reefer loading stations will also ensure optimal conditions for handling refrigerated traffic, for which the port location is also integrated into the so-called Cool Corridor: an initiative of the Port of Rotterdam and DeltaPort Niederrheinhäfen GmbH, aimed at optimizing the usual supply chains from ecological and efficiency perspectives.

Photo: © Nordfrost