The Port of Helsingborg can be moved south

Summary from the City of Helsingborg’s press conference on January 11.
Photo: Bertil Hagberg

There will be more and larger feeder vessels in the future. At the same time, the city needs the opportunity to continue to develop. The Port of Helsingborg and the City of Helsingborg are now looking at a solution that involves moving the container port.

– The opportunities for urban development are closely linked to the port’s development, said mayor Peter Danielsson (M) during a press conference yesterday.

The number of handled containers in the Port of Helsingborg has grown steadily since the mid-1990s and this development is expected to continue. At the same time, the ships that ply the port are becoming larger and thus need quays with deeper water. Marie Weibull Kornias (M) chairman of the board of the Port of Helsingborg, believes that Helsingborg has developed as a logistics city and that many companies want to establish themselves in the region.

– This means that the flow of goods through the port increases. The export industry in southern Sweden is also an important pillar in our container flow, she says.

– We need another quay with a water depth of at least 13 meters and in addition, we need the opportunity to expand our business. The port has investigated this together with the city for almost a year and a half and together we have come up with alternatives that give us the opportunity to build a modern terminal and which at the same time give the city better opportunities to develop, says Bart Steijaert, CEO of the Port of Helsingborg.

The solution is to move the Port of Helsingborg South.

– The big advantage of moving the port south is that we get greater opportunities to develop within the University area, Husar area, and Gåsebäck. It provides an opportunity to open up the southern parts of the city towards the sea and it would also make it easier to build a line between central Helsingborg and Planteringen and Miatorp. There are of course challenges in, for example, the environmental area, but we see that it is financially profitable, says Mikael Kipowski, Chief Development Officer in the city of Helsingborg.

The city is now expected to make a decision to initiate a change in the general plan for the H+ area.

– This provides fantastic opportunities for urban development for the people of Helsingborg. The port of Helsingborg is the second-largest container port in Sweden and it is important that the port, as well as the city, is given the opportunity for development, says mayor Peter Danielsson (M).

And he is supported by the Leader of the Opposition Jan Björklund (S):

In order to meet our climate goals, we need to reorganize transport to rail and shipping. Helsingborg has a strong position as a logistics hub, which creates jobs and increases tax power. This is necessary for us to manage welfare, he says.