Annually, some 30 million metric tons of goods (from sea freight and inland transport) are handled in our ports, and in excess of nine million passengers are transported. Every year, more than 40,000 ships call our ports. So, what happens when a ship docks in the port? What tasks do we as port managers have to fulfill at that point? This is where our about 100 colleagues from the Port Office come into play.

That's a serious amount of vessel movements.

The Port Office colleagues are the first point of contact for ships and therefore for the port operation at NPorts. This area controls the complete process of ships’ calls, from the registration to the mooring, assisted by our mooring crew, to the billing of our services. Fresh water or old garbage – they know how to supply it, or, in the case of the latter, how to properly dispose of it. Without fail, they operate locks so that the ship traffic runs like clockwork. The Port Office has a wide range of tasks, which are carried out in the fields of nautics/navigation (Harbor Master, amongst others), port services (Harbor Attendant, amongst others), fees & dues tallying and invoicing, and the PFSO (Port Facility Security Officer).

The Port Office is on site around the clock to ensure smooth operation. That means that our colleagues are available 24/7 days on 365 days a year.

Safety is Key.

Our measures serve both the prevention & defense against dangers and threats, and the security of our customers' cargoes. We have prepared ourselves for this task with plans for the Alert and Emergency Management, which give us a clear framework for action in the field.  We are also responsible for the physical security of the port facilities pursuant to the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. For this purpose, a PFSO (Port Facility Security Officer) was appointed for each of our port facilities. They ensure and check that the legal requirements in the 17 safety areas are complied with.

In the Port Office, we take over sovereign activities for the Niedersachsen Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor, Transport and Digitization. These are, for instance, the verification of ship declarations, the preparation of permits or the port supervision.