Emden (Germany)

Emden is an Ems River/North Sea cruise port and city in Germany's Lower Saxony state (Urban district) with population around 50,000. The city is located on Ems River (close to North Sea). Regularly scheduled ferries link to Borkum Island (Germany's East Frisian Islands/Ostfriesische Inseln).

The city's economy is heavily based on automobile production and shipbuilding. Here, Volkswagen Group has a large plant (with around 10,000 employees) produsing the Passat models. The shipyard Nordseewerke Emden GmbH (subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp) employs around 1400 workers. The shipyard specializes in building submarines, also various types of cargo carriers, special-purpose ships (including icebreakers) and shiprepairs.

The city also enjoys well-developed tourism as a shortbreak (day-trip) destination for German tourists on the North Sea coast. Fachhochschule (university of applied sciences, opened in 1973) has enrolled over 4000 students.

Port Emden

Port Emden (locode DEEME) is a deepwater seaport located at the mouth of the river flowing into North Sea. Port operator is the Oldenburg-based Niedersachsen Ports GmbH (translated "Lower Saxony Ports") - Germany's largest operator of public seaports.

The port is approx 70 km upstream from the city, on river's estuary, and consists of two parts - Outer Port (tidal deepwater harbour) and Inland Port (non-tidal harbour accessible via sea locks). Outer Port serves mainly Ro-Ro ships (car carriers). Railway links directly the Ro-Ro ramps. Inland Port is ranked Germany's largest non-tidal harbour and is accessed via two sea locks (seeschleuse). The large lock has around 3,3 km long quayside with facilities, almost all of which are rail-linked. As storage facilities, Port Emden has over 100,000 m2 warehouse (enclosed storage) space and 900,000 m2 open-air storage.

The seaport has annual turnover ~6,3 million cargo tons, with major transhipments being cars, forestry products, wind turbines (for German Bight offshore wind farms). Emden is ranked Europe's 3rd largest car export port (after Zeebrugge and Bremerhaven) and is homeport for Volkswagen Group (serving company's new vehicles distribution). In 2017, the port handled 1,92 million vehicles (compared to 1,407 M in 2015).

As cruise port, Emden is not so popular but is surely one of the best-known stops for Meyer Werft-built new cruise liners during their conveyance for sea trials from the Papenburg Shipyard to North Sea. Also from or via Emden in Papenburg arrive all pre-fabricated hull- and superstructure blocks and modules used for the vessels' construction (drydock assembly).

Next is listed AIDAnova ship's Ems River conveyance schedule (2018) that shows cruising times along the route.

Monday, October 8:

• departure from shipyard (Papenburg) - 7 am
• passing sea lock (Papenburg) - 8 am
• passing Friesenbridge (Weener) - 2:30 pm
• passing Jann Berghaus Bridge (Leer) - 7 pm
• arrival at Ems River barrier (Gandersum) - 11:15 pm

Tuesday, October 9:

• passing  Ems River barrier - 1 am
• passing Emden - 2:30 am
• arrival in Eemshaven - 9 am

As regular river cruise port, Emden is included in MS Sans Souci boat's 7-day itinerary from Bremen to Amsterdam, that visits Elsfleth, Oldenburg, Kampe, Dorpen, Papenburg, Leer, Emden, Delfzijl, Groningen, Sneek, Leeuwarden, Hoorn, Amsterdam (debarkation).