Owing to the geographical location, the harbour and fishing industries, as well as the transport and logistics markets are at the heart of the local economy. The Cuxhaven Fishing Harbour is the second largest center of the fishing industry in the country. Moreover, the Port of Cuxhaven serves as a way-port, and the surrounding waters are deep enough to accommodate sea-going ships, it is of considerable significance to economic development. The transport of commercial vehicles is thus a meaningful enterprise.

Located outside Nordholz, the Sea-Airport and the adjoining Sea-Airpark is a potential air cargo and industry center, and in collaboration with the port cities of Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven seeks to create inspiration for further regional development. Also part of the equation are the international delivery services, and an extensive net of companies serving the harbour and logistics industries.

For more information on the harbour industry, see the page Hafenwirtschaftsgemeinschaft Cuxhaven.

Cuxhaven

The seaport Cuxhaven lies directly on the deep waters at the mouth of the Elbe. There is also a quick route between the Baltic Sea and Cuxhaven by way of the Kiel-Canal. The harbours encompass 319 hectares in total, with 231 hectares being land and 88 hectares of water. The harbour is owned and administrated by the state of Lower-Saxony.

In the eastern section of the Amerikahafen is Cuxport, multi-purpose transfer/shipping grounds (operated by Cuxport GmbH), with three berths.

In the western section of the Amerikahafen is a transfer/shipping and equipment quays for parcel service ships (Gooss Logistic GmbH at Lentzkai) as well as bulk goods ships.

Furthermore the E.H. Harms Automobile-Umschlag company operates there, and cruiseships are dispatched from it as well (Steubenhöft).

Other areas of the harbour include the Neue Fischereihafen with transfer / shipping and equipment quays for the handling of fish, the Alte Fischereihafen with equipment quays for the cutter fishing market, as well as the Alte Hafen and the Ritzebüttler channel as a multi-purpose port for shipyards and ships going to different resorts and islands.

The multi-purpose transfer point Eurokai has a total length of 690 meters and a water depth of 15.8 meters. The Amerikahafen has four main areas: Cuxcargokai, Imperatorkai, Neuer Lentzkai, and Alter Lentzkai. It has a total length of over 800 meters and a water depth of 6 to 7 meters. The Steubenhöft has a quay over 400 meters and is ca. 14 meters deep. The Lübbertkai has a waterfront of 300 meters and a depth of 800 meters. The Neue Fischereihafen reaches from the Elbe over a channel, and is 190 meters long and 24 meters wide. This area of the harbour has a 2.815 meter quay length, and a water depth of 9 meters. The Alte Fischereihafen lies on a channel, and is 190 meters long and 24 meters wide. The quay length stands at 1.210 meters, the water depth at ca. 5.5 meters. At the ferry port are two RoRo bridges (quay length 110 and 275 respectively) and water depths from 6 – 12 meters.

The remaining area in the harbour is around 220,000 square meters; also available are 98,000 meters of covered sheds, and around 100,000 square meters of cold-storage depots.

Accessibility
The Port of Cuxhaven is situated directly on the Elbe river. Through the Elbe it is connected to the German inland-waterway network. Cuxhaven is on the Stade – Hamburg – Maschen line of the Deutsche Bahn AG railway. It is connected to the highway network through the A 27 (to / from Bremen and Bremerhaven), and the B 73 (to / from Stade and Hamburg). The harbour is 18 km from the Sea-Airport Cuxhaven / Nordholz, and is easily reached by way of the A 27. There are direct connections to passenger and freight transportation available.

Functions
The harbour in Cuxhaven serves as a multi-purpose port (dominantly a RoRo harbour), with an emphasis on the shipping and transfer of parcels, RoRo traffic (trailer and container), commercial vehicles, frozen fish and bulk goods (primarily construction materials).

At the end of the 1990s, Cuxport Terminal was inaugurated as a modern and efficient harbour, primarily intended for RoRo traffic. Trailers, containers, and automobiles are transported to and from England and Scandinavia. It’s main client is the DFDS shipping company, that has integrated Cuxhaven into further shipping transportation lines.

The E.H. Harms Automobile–Umschlag company conducts the shipping of cars from Cuxcargo facilities, making use of the Cuxport Terminal.

The shipping of fish was and still is an important industry for Cuxhaven. Alongside the traditional fresh fish, large amounts of frozen fish are shipped from here. Two large cold-storage houses are on the premises that are operated by Gooss Logistics as a holding and distribution point.

A further important market for the shipping industry is the transport of bulk goods (mainly construction materials), although it has slowed down in recent years. The transport and storage operation is carried out by the Machulez and Mibau firms.

Along with the emphasis on shipping of goods, Cuxhaven has yet another strong industry in passenger transportation, capitalizing on the touristic interest in the sea resorts (such as Helgoland and Neuwerk), as well as cruise lines and international travel.

Cruise ship businesses can use Cuxhaven as a home port, but also establish it on the market as a destination port. Combined with corresponding partners in logistics, Cuxhaven is establishing itself in this future-oriented segment of the market.

Another future-oriented market segment is found in the operation and maintenance of offshore windparks. For this reason the government of the state of Lower Saxony, the city of Cuxhaven, and the Offshore and Certification Center GmbH, which is based in Cuxhaven, have developed a master plan, which provides the foundations for future projects.

Cuxhaven distinguishes itself in this field by means of special infrastructure measures, as an offshore basis for the assembly of components and the construction and service of the offshore wind energy facilities in the north sea. In June 2006 construction was begun on a platform in the eastern extension of the Eurokai. It is one of the strongest structures on the German north coast (maximum load of 90 t/sq meter), which is suitable for the transportation of the completely assembled offshore- wind energy equipment, as well as for the future shipping of individual components. Concrete plans for an eastern platform with a 240 meter quay length are now being initiated It is estimated that the four foundations of the multi-purpose terminal will be completed in 2009.

A section of the Amerikahafen has been granted the status of a free harbour for the operation of various economic undertakings.

Strengths
- Location on the waterways at the mouth of the Elbe with water deep enough for ocean-going ships
- Entry point to the Baltic Sea (via the Kiel-Canal – 16 sq m east from Cuxhaven) with partially modern harbour infrastructure
- Multi-modal (sea ships, inland ships, railways, streets) with characteristic strong points in the RoRo and ShortSea fields
- Offshore-Basis harbour in Lower Saxony with heavy platform and heavy load foundations for assembly, construction, and service of offshore wind parks
- Emphasis on inland ship transport (inland ship container service in the works)
- Regional harbour development plan (2002)
- Involvement in EU projects (e. g. inter-regional collaboration through Motorways of the Sea)
- Close to the Sea-Airport Cuxhaven / Nordholz

Shipping and Transport Statistics
The total maritime transport in the Cuxhaven harbour increased from ca. 1.69 million tons in 1998 to ca. 2 million tons in the year 2000. With a 94 % share in 2005, maritime shipping and transport clearly dominates the economy. At the time of analysis the sea and inland water transportation industry showed no significant changes.

In the past years, the goods being shipped to and from Cuxhaven have changed. The transport of construction materials has continually fallen off in the years between 1998 and 2005. They sunk from 24 % in 1998 to 14.5 % in 2005. The transportation of commercial vehicles, RoRo, fish, other goods climbed from 76 % to 85.5 %.

The container traffic more than doubled from 20,487 TEU in 1998, to nearly 43,400 TEU in 2005. In 2006 a total of ca. 60,000 TEU is anticipated, after the opening of a new service line to Immingham (UK).

The following table illustrates the extent to which different kinds of goods passed the harbour of Cuxhaven in 2005.

Movement of goods within the harbor of Cuxhaven in 2005, listed according to kinds of goods (1.000 t)

Kind of goods	Sea traffic
	incoming	outgoing	total
grit / sand / crushed stone	221,6	11,8	233,4
fertilizer	28,1	10,1	38,2
piece goods (RoRo)	424,9	699,5	1.124,4
cars	27,3	273,6	300,9
fish & fish products	84,0	9,6	93,6
steel	23,7	0,5	24,2
other piece goods	29,8	33,6	63,4
total	839,4	1.038,7	1.878,1
container [TEU]	19.900	23.500	43.400
	Inland traffic
Gas oil / building materials / other	105,9	8,4	114,3
total inland traffic	105,9	8,4	114,3
total seaside- and inland traffic	945,3	1.047,1	1.992,4