July 28 - In the first half year, the Seaports of Niedersachsen handled 26.648 million tonnes of cargo, down 17 percent on the previous year although some sectors saw increases.
In the port of Brake, volumes dropped by 32 percent to 2.135 million tonnes compared to the same period last year, whilst Cuxhaven registered a fall of 38 percent.
Volumes were also down at Emden, although cargoes for the wind-energy sector increased by 14 percent compared to last year - 110,445 tonnes versus 97,218 tonnes in the first half of 2008.
At Nordenham volumes were down 11 percent and a reduction of 12 percent was noted in Wilhelmshaven.
The picture was different at Oldenburg which increased its volumes during the first semester 2009, handling almost twice as much cargo as the same period in 2008, whilst Leer saw its sea-going traffic fall 49 percent and Papenburg witnessed a fall of 59 percent.
A statement the Seaports of Niedersachsen does not breakdown volumes of heavy and OOG project cargoes from the general cargo figures.
