Eurogate-Blog

This year, EUROGATE celebrates its 20-year anniversary. Europe’s leading shipping line-independent container terminal group was founded on 1 September 1999 by the private Hamburg-based terminal operator EUROKAI and Bremer Lagerhaus-Gesellschaft BLG (today BLG Logistics).

The start was a success: up until 2008 almost without exception, EUROGATE achieved annual double-digit growth rates in terms of both handling volumes and revenues, opened new terminals in the Mediterranean and established the EUROKOMBI terminal in Hamburg – Germany’s largest container rail terminal for combined/intermodal transport. Employment figures kept pace with this growth, with 1,350 new employees recruited in the first six months alone.

The maritime sector was particularly hard hit by the financial and economic crisis that set in from 2008. After posting its highest ever operating profit in 2008, EUROGATE recorded a double-digit decline in handling figures in 2009. The company nevertheless weathered the storm and managed to overcome the crisis without having to cut jobs, for example by introducing effective countermeasures in the form of an extensive cost-cutting exercise, the introduction of short-time work, a drastic reduction in overtime and stringent cost management.

In the second decade of the company’s history, major milestones included the opening of EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven and the acquisition of Limassol Container Terminal, cementing the company’s presence throughout the Mediterranean region.

In its 20th year of existence, EUROGATE sees itself well-positioned. With some 4,600 employees in Germany and 8,000 in the group Europe-wide, EUROGATE is targeting a total container handling volume at the same level as in the previous year (2018: 14.1 million TEUs).