23.05.23

Official signing of the contract between the shipping company G2 Ocean and the port service provider J. MÜLLER in Oslo

This week, Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil and Lower Saxony's Minister for Economic Affairs, Transport, Building and Digitalisation Olaf Lies are travelling to Norway and Estonia with a delegation of around 60 representatives from politics, business and science. Key topics are the expansion of renewable energies, the green transformation in the economy and the strengthening of economic relations and partnerships between the countries and Lower Saxony. Within the framework of this delegation trip, the official signing of the contract between the representatives of the companies Arthur English, CEO G2 Ocean AS, and Jens Ripken, COO J. Müller Weser GmbH & Co. KG, took take place yesterday in the premises of the German Embassy in Oslo.

Jens Ripken, J. MÜLLER: “We are delighted to have agreed on a strategic partnership with the highly successful shipping company G2 Ocean. Our companies are united by the goal of achieving operational excellence to provide our joint customers with an optimised logistical solution for imports and exports in the iron & steel, wind power, project cargo and forest products sectors. The trimodal port of Brake is already an excellent location for German industry and the industries of neighbouring countries, especially in terms of sustainability and carbon emissions. For example, most of the inflow and outflow of goods to and from the port of Brake is already achieved by rail and the trend is continuing to rise.”

Arthur English/G2O: "We are committed to providing the safest, most reliable, effective and sustainable shipping services to our customers. By choosing the Port of Brake, we are pooling our logistics expertise and are in an ideal position to serve our customers there, while continuing to expand our business."

Lower Saxony's Minister of Economics and Ports, Olaf Lies, emphasised at the signing ceremony: "The Port of Brake is of great importance to the region, not only because of its handling of grain and animal feed. In this segment it makes a significant contribution to food security far beyond the borders of Lower Saxony and has also expanded its break bulk handling enormously in recent years. As Germany's largest import port for pulp and a firm partner of the German steel and lumber industry, it is also perfectly oriented as a wind power location and therefore an important logistics hub. It is therefore also a building block for the future of Germany and the transformation of our economy. This contract signed today is another building block in our efforts to consistently expand cooperation with our Norwegian partners further, not only in the energy sector, but overall."

More than 100 employees were hired to handle the growing volume of breakbulk at Niedersachsenkai. In addition, investment has been made in an additional outdoor storage area of 68,000 square metres [investment volume 4.5 million euros] as well as in cargo handling equipment and industrial trucks [investment volume 5 million euros]. As early as 2019, the J. MÜLLER group of companies commissioned two new hall buildings with almost 30,000 sqm of covered storage space [investment sum 13.8 million euros] directly on the deep water of the Niedersachsenkai for seagoing vessels in order to ensure efficient, sustainable and flexible handling.

Jens Ripken, J. MÜLLER: “The new business with the shipping company G2Ocean has resulted in a number of challenges. J. Müller AG has invested massively in indoor warehouses and outdoor storage space. At the same time systematic renewal of crane operations has been initiated and more than 100 new jobs have been created at the site. The new colleagues have participated in special induction training programmes, and many are career changers in the port logistics sector. Regardless of the measures taken by J. Müller AG, the growth of the infrastructure of the port of Brake is of tremendous importance.  This is also a challenge for upstream and downstream logistics, especially rail transport.”

Arthur English/G2O: "The Port of Brake offers optimal coordinates:  Trained staff, extensive storage facilities and the know-how to handle a wide variety of transhipment goods in a timely and customer-friendly manner - and all this just a few kilometres away from the mouth of the Weser River."

Following a phase of familiarisation and fine-tuning of the commercial and operational processes, both partners can look back on a good start, which is positive for the future despite the economically challenging environment.

Arthur English/G2O: “By concentrating the calls of our multi-purpose freighters and special pulp carriers, we can optimise departures in Brake. The location and infrastructure of the port of Brake and its potential for expansion are also geared to the future.”

Jens Ripken/J. MÜLLER: “Germany as a business location needs efficient import and export interfaces so that industry and trade are put in a logistically competitive position on the global market.  Looking ahead, the port of Brake can make a significant contribution to taking even more traffic off the roads and thereby help improve CO2 emissions. To achieve these goals, work on the shipping channel of the Weser and also an additional berth at the Brake site are necessary. The larger vessels of the future must be able to call at Brake when they are fully loaded.”

Olaf Lies: "The state of Lower Saxony continues to invest in Brake, as we have recently shown by commissioning the large vessel berth. This will offer greater handling possibilities. In 2022 alone we invested a total of 10.3 million euros in infrastructure here at the site. Such investments in the port are investments in the future. Only those who invest continuously and reliably in the future of our seaports, as we do, can secure their competitiveness and performance. Above all, our ports are important players and service providers in the overall German economy. They are not only important employers in the region, but are also part of our strategy to create real added value and therefore new jobs here in the north with the transformation of our economy."

Picture: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Bauen und Digitalisierung

Picture: Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Bauen und Digitalisierung
From left to right: Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil, Jens Ripken/J. MÜLLER, Arthur English/G2O, Lower Saxony's Minister for Economic Affairs, Transport, Building and Digitalisation Olaf Lies and State Secretary Prof. Dr. Schachtner from the Ministry of Science and Culture