Construction has begun at Kiel’s new Schwedenkai Terminal. On October 28th, the first ground was broken during a ceremony at the site by Angela Volquartz, Lord Mayor of the federal capital, Dirk Claus, Managing Director of the Port of Kiel (SEEHAFEN KIEL GmbH & Co KG), Ulrich Kock, Freight Manager of Stena Line Scandinavia AB and Ulrich Gremmelspacher of architects KSP Engel und Zimmermann. “An architectural landmark for Kiel is being built at the Schwedenkai and it will be of great economic significance for our port”, said Angela Volquartz. Dirk Claus commented: “the new terminal building will offer top quality handling and improve still further our already excellent traffic processing on this terminal site”. Ulrich Kock said “this structure will be a symbol of the close co-operation between Stena Line and Kiel. It creates the conditions for the further development of liner services between Germany and Sweden”.

The new building is being built to the south of and adjacent to the existing terminal building and will line up with the Hafenstraße and the Holstenbrücke, thus optically opening up the Kiel City Centre to the Bay of Kiel. The new terminal building will combine services for passengers and cargo on its lower levels with administrative functions on the office levels above. Dirk Claus said “the decision to erect a new building on the Schwedenkai with optimised space was based on pure economic considerations. By comparison, a renovation of the old building would not have been economical”. With the financial support of the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein, the SEEHAFEN KIEL is investing a total EUR 16 million in the new Schwedenkai. According to current plans the terminal building is due to be ready for service at the end of 2009. The operational areas that go with it are expected to be finished and ready by April 2010, just in time for the start of the new season.

In addition to fulfilling the ferry requirements of Stena Line, the new terminal will also handle cruise ships, which are now calling at Kiel in ever increasing numbers with more and more tourists. “The new Schwedenkai will further cement our competitive position in ferry traffic to western Sweden and in the cruise shipping market sector”, said Dirk Claus. With this in mind, the ship berth at Bollhörnkai-Nord will be linked to the terminal building via a new passenger walkway. In addition to this all demands placed on port security are also being fully met.

The Port of Kiel operates Kiel’s commercial port on behalf of the Schleswig-Holstein state capital of Kiel and is a 100% subsidiary company of the City. The port has three passenger terminals for ferry and cruise ships very close to the City Centre.