The Project of the New Jade-Weser-Port

A giant new deep water container terminal in Germany, theproject of the 'Jade- Weser-port' is being pushed forward by differentactors in German shipping and transport politics. The articlediscusses the possibilities, the pros and cons of such a projectagainst the background of the latest developments in globalisedcontainer shipping. Thus, new trends in containerisation,shipbuilding and global economy are taken into consideration,as well as the specific aspects of the proposed project in the vicinityof the competing harbours in the same port range. The focusis placed on the German ports, since they are part of thesame legal and political framework, in which different interestsare at stake. Specifically Hamburg's position as a possibleshareholder or opponent of the JWP project, which is alreadyunder way, are discussed in detail. A critical evaluation of theJWP is given at the end.