Securing box handling capacity
The container operator Swissterminal and the shipping companies Ultra-Brag and Danser Switzerland want to build a new trimodal terminal facility with a 10,000 teu handling capacity in the inland port of Weil am Rhein. The site in Germany is next to the borders with Switzerland and France. The investment will amount to EUR 15 to 20 million.
In 2029, the city of Basel wants to close the West quay (port basin number 1) to create space for more urban development. The move would impact particularly on Swissterminal that currently operates a handling facility on the West quay. The new terminal in Weil should replace the capacity loss in Basel’s number 1 port basin, as well as cater for the increasing amount of container traffic on the River Rhine.
Port of Switzerland, the manager of the country’s Rhine ports, said that it only expects a new container terminal to be implemented from 2027. The RHG Weil am Rhein is therefore positioning itself as an upstream compatible expansion of waterside handling capacity once the trimodal Basel Nord terminal is built. This planning fits in with the cooperation contract between Port of Switzerland and the RHG Weil am Rhein, a spokesperson said.
