The port of Mannheim is booming: transshipment with inland waterway vessels on record!

The port of Mannheim is booming: transshipment with inland waterway vessels on record!

A lot is happening in the Mannheim ports: waterborne throughput rose to an impressive 401,214 tons in May 2025. This means that the volume has increased by 5.77 percent, i.e. 21,883 tons, compared to the same month last year. These figures show that inland shipping is flourishing in the region. Port director Köhn particularly emphasizes how important the waterway transport system is for relieving congestion on motorways and roads. A clear indication that we are dealing with a promising development here, which is also reflected in the annual figures to date.

In the first five months of the year, the Mannheim ports handled a total of 2,576,959 tons, which corresponds to an increase of 6.21 percent. The growth was particularly strong in the “solid mineral fuels” goods group, which increased by a whopping 36,490 tons or 195.80 percent. Other food and feed also recorded an increase of 22,533 tons, which is 21.59 percent. But not everything is in the green: declines had to be accepted in the goods groups “crude oil, mineral oil, mineral products, gases”, “iron, steel and non-ferrous metals” and “chemical products”.

Challenges and setbacks

Interestingly, there was a decrease of 6.20 percent in waterside container traffic, from 67,747 tons in May 2024 to 63,554 tons now. Traffic for 20-foot containers also fell: from 7,125 TEU last year to 6,425 TEU this year, which corresponds to a decline of 9.82 percent. This is particularly notable as continental transport in other European ports, such as Rotterdam, has also come under pressure. Goods throughput there fell by 4.0 percent to 151.3 million tons, which clearly shows the disruption caused by the Ukraine conflict and the associated sanctions against Russia.

The current development in Mannheim contrasts with the general trends in many European seaports. As inland-navigation-market.org illustrates, important ports such as Antwerp-Bruges and Constanţa were struggling with declines, while the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Ismail were affected by the EU-Ukraine initiative “Danube Solidarity Lanes”. exceptional growth was recorded.

EU-wide data and trends

At EU level, freight transport on inland waterways plays an important role. According to Eurostat, 13 EU Member States are obliged to provide data on the transport of more than one million tonnes of goods per year on inland waterways. Countries such as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands deserve particular mention here. This data not only provides information about developments in inland waterway transport, but also about the needs of transport infrastructure in Europe.

Overall, the situation in Mannheim shows that despite certain setbacks, there is still potential that needs to be exploited. While the challenges posed by global events cannot be ignored, inland waterway transport continues to be an important part of logistics and transport in Europe.