Since the mid-1990s, port services have changed dramatically. Today, it contains a modern oil harbor and facilities for grain, fertilizers, coal, and cement. It has terminals dedicated to the export of scrap, break-bulk, and timber.

The ferry port has terminals for handling combined cargoes, forest products, and roll-on/roll-off cargoes. Its passenger terminals serve a busy traffic between Germany and Scandinavia, Russia, and other Baltic countries. The cruise ship industry has also grown substantially since the 1990s. The cruise port in Warnemunde is a favorite German destination for tourists.

The Hafen-Engwicklungsgesellschaft Rostock (HER) protects the interests of the Federal State of Micklenburg-Western Pomerania and the City of Rostock, who own the Port of Rostock. HER is responsible for developing and operating port facilities and marketing the port’s services.

Seehafen Rostock Umschlagsgesellschaft (SHRU) is the major cargo-handling company with facilities for transportation, storage, and port logistics. In 2007, the SHRU handled about 13.2 million tons of cargo.

Major cargoes passing through the Port of Rostock include general, project, and heavy cargo, steel products and scrap, forest products, sugar, coal and ores, building materials, wood chips, peat, grain and oilseeds, fertilizers, paper, and liquid cargoes.

A joint venture between SHRU and Grosstaklager-Olhafen operates facilities for oil and fuels. With total capacity for 700 thousand cubic meters of mineral oils, vegetable oils, and other liquid cargoes, the oil port offers six berths that can accommodate ships to 100 thousand DWT. Its berths and tanks are connected by pipeline to refineries, and the facilities have railway connections. In addition to mineral and vegetable oils, the facilities handle naphtha, biodiesel, bioethanol, methanol, pyrolytic petrol, and liquid fertilizers. Berths range from 140 meters to 295 meters in length with alongside depth from 5.3 to 13 meters.

Services for grain cargoes are provided by Getreide Service Rostock GmbH (GSR). GSR’s four berths handle grains, fertilizers, oilseeds, malt and building materials, and its ship loader has capacity to handle 1000 tons per hour. At dock silos can handle 85 thousand tons of grains, and GSR has external grain silos for 360 thousand tons and open storage of 32 square meters. The fertilizer quay has capacity for storage of 60 thousand tons. Berths range from 215 to 300 meters in length with alongside depth from 10.4 to 13 meters. Berth 12 is 360 meters long with alongside depth of 10.4 meters. It has a conveyer belt system from ship to storage, and it has two covered stores, each with capacity for 30 thousand tons.

Bulk Terminal Rostock GmbH (BTR) handles one million tons of hard coal every year. In addition, its three berths handle complex ores, fertilizers, building materials, peat, alternate fuels, peat, and other dry bulk. A dedicated coal store with 300 thousand tons capacity serves the nearby coal power station. The berths range from 240 to 320 meters in length with alongside depth of from 10.1 meters to 13 meters. The facilities include storage with reach of the cranes for 20 thousand meters of cargo.

The Hansa Quay includes 13 berths that handle general cargo, heavy lift cargo, and bulk cargoes. The Port of Rostock’s General Cargo Terminal GmbH (GCT) handles over one million tons each year that includes steel products, plaster boards, project cargo, nonferrous metals, bags, scrap, cement, and other heavy cargoes. The facilities at Hansa Quay include three warehouses of 63 thousand square meters and open storage of 105 thousand square meters. All quays and stores have connections for rail, road, and water routes. The General Cargo Terminal’s 13 berths have total length of 2680 meters with alongside depth from 9.5 to 10.6 meters.

In 2007, the intermodal transport services handled over 60 thousand units and about 1.3 million tons of containerized cargo. Rostock Trimodal GmbH operates the terminal. The intermodal terminal covers 70 thousand square meters and is adjacent to the roll-on/roll-off and ferry facilities.

Papier-Lager-und Umschlaggesellschaft mbH (PLU) handles paper, ferry, and roll-on/roll-off cargo on Pier I. PLU offers three storehouses covering 30 thousand square meters, particularly for roll-on/roll-off and paper storage. The facility handles about 500 thousand tons of paper from paper mills in Scandanavia and northern Europe. This state-of-the-art facility includes four berths of a total 715 meters in length and alongside depth from 8 to 10.4 meters and six berths for ferries with total length of 1450 meters and alongside depth from 8.1 to 9.5 meters. Storage facilities include 200 thousand square meters for ferry services, three roll-on/roll-off paper sheds, one paper shed covering 35 thousand square meters, and open storage areas of 40 thousand square meters.

The Port of Rostock’s ferry services transported about 2.4 million passengers and 15 million tons of cargo in 2007. Roll-on/roll-off cargo was dominated by paper imports from Finland, representing a record 1.3 million tons in 2007. Paper makes up 40% of all roll-on/roll-off cargoes. Paper exports to the US and Great Britain have increased dramatically since 2002. The Port of Rostock supports 25 block trains serving inland Germany and Europe every week carrying combined cargoes. In 2007, over 60 thousand cargo units with 1.3 million tons of combined cargoes moved through the port’s terminal.

In 2007, the Port of Rostock handled about five million tons of bulk cargoes, representing a significant decrease since 2006, primarily reductions in wheat and rye handling. Important bulk cargoes include coal and construction materials, fertilizers, and grains. The Port of Rostock is home to one of Europe’s most modern malt houses, located next to the grain harbor and serving the local brewery.

In 2007, the Port of Rostock handled 1.1 million tons of general cargo. Much of that represented the export of wind turbine generators and heavy cranes from local industries. In the same year, almost four million tons of liquid cargoes (primarily crude and heating oil) moved through the oil port.

In 2007, the Port of Rostock handled 26.5 million tons of cargo. Of this, 15.1 million tons was ferry cargo, five million tons was bulk cargo, 3.9 million tons was liquid cargo, 1.3 million tons was roll-on/roll-off cargo, and 1.1 million tons was general cargo. Ferries carried 2.4 million passengers in 2007.

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