Odense (Funen Island Denmark)

Odense is Funen's principal port and biggest city as well as Denmark's 3rd-largest city by population (around 180,000) - following Copenhagen and Aarhus. The city is in the center of Funen Island (with a river-sea connection to the Port on the northeastern coast) and the Odense River (length 60 km / 37 mi) flows through it. Odense is also considered a Metro City grouping Funen's (former Funen County's) entire population of around 0,5 million. The city is Funen's commercial, industrial and cultural center with a large shopping quarter/district, several major industries, large-capacity sports facilities, museums, signature landmarks from the 18th-19th centuries, and various tourism-related businesses.

Funen Island has total area approx 3100 km2 (1197 mi2) with Odense being its largest/principal city followed by (ranked by population) Svendborg, Nyborg, Middelfart, Faaborg, Assens, Kerteminde, Ringe, Otterup, and Bogense.

Cruise ships visiting Funen usually stop in Nyborg or Faaborg. In Odense/Munkebo is based Knud E Hansen AS (naval architecture and ship design) - a 1937-founded Danish marine engineering company specializing in mid-size ferries and expedition cruise ship designs.

By road, Odense City is approx 47 km / 29 mi north of Svendborg (via Funen Route 9), approx 146 km (90 mi) south of Aarhus (mainland Denmark/via highways E45 and E20), approx 165 km / 103 mi southwest of Copenhagen (via highway E20) and approx 136 km / 85 mi east of Esbjerg (via E20). Odense Fjord (to the north) is connected by a canal to Odense Havn. The Fjord's largest island - Vigelso (1,32 km2 / 132 hectares / 326 acres) is part of SPC 94 (special conservation area) designated as an important breeding ground for migrating birds.

Odense Havn (Harbour Port/Terminal North) is to the northeast (near Munkebo) and adjacent to the new (2014-opened) Lindo Industrial Park (Terminal South, former Odense Steel Shipyard/Staalskibsvaerft. Odense Port's core businesses are renting buildings and storage facilities and shipping services (crewing, pilotage, bunkering, drydock repairs/hull works, heavy equipment lifting/transportation/loading/offloading).

Port Odense Harbour

Port Odense Harbour (locode DKODE) is along Odense Canal and has capacity to handle vessels with max LOA length 160 m (520 ft) and max draft 6,8 m (22 ft). The commercial wharf outside the Port (on the Canal's southern side) can accommodate larger ships (with max draft 7,5 m / 25 ft) including oil tankers, general cargo-, bulk and gas carriers. By annual cargo shipping volumes, Odense Havn is Denmark's 7th-largest.

The Port has land area approx 4 km2 (1,55 mi2), water area ~1 km2 (0,4 mi2), three main docks, total quay line length ~4,2 km (2,61 mi), and two terminals - Inner Harbour/City Terminal (Odense Erhvervshavn at the Canal's end, in the city proper) and Munkebo's Steel Terminal (Odense Ervervshavn, adjacent to the Steel Shipyard). The former Steel Shipyard's site was acquired by the Port in 2012 and is now the Lindo Industripark. The former shipbuilding facility has an open-air drydock and a large gantry crane and currently handles mainly vessels that serve off-shore industries (oil, gas, wind farming), heavy machinery, ship repairs (including cruiseferries).

Odense Erhvervshavn (the commercial port) has 3 docks and total quay length ~3,35 km (11000 ft), of which ~ 2km is owned by the Havn and ~1,35 km by the Municipality. Munkebo's harbor terminal (Odense Ervervshavn) has one quay (length 630 m / 2070 ft) and can handle ships with max draft 11 m (36 ft). Odense Ervervshavn has a large truck parking, storage (~1100 m2 / 12000 ft2 warehouse space) and a separate area for the silos (1000 m2 / 11000 ft2). An infrastructure development plan includes the extension of the Odense Steel terminal with an additional mooring quay (length 1 km / 3300 ft) and the building of additional warehousing facilities (500 m2 / 5400 ft2).

Odense Havn was officially opened in 1803 while the artificial Odense Canal was completed in 1807. Due to the ships' increasing volume and weight, the Port started infrastructure developments adding a new turning basin (1885-opened) and dredging the Canal in 1904 (deepened and widened) to allow access to bigger steamships. Most of the Port's traffic in the late-19th-early-20th centuries was coal trade (import and export). Inner Harbour's last expansion was the new dock opened in 1964. To be able to serve large ships, in 1992 was opened the Odense Steel Terminal (near Munkebo).

Lindo North Terminal (berths 70-72) has quay length 290 m and max depth 11 m.

Lindo North Terminal (berths 73-76) has quay length 340 m and max depth 11 m.

Lindo South Terminal (berths 61-64) has quay length 530 m and max depth 7,5 m.

Lindo Port's berths 77-79 and berths 80-85 are served by two mobile gantry cranes - 1x Liebherr LHM-550 (lifting capacity 144 tons) and 1x Liebherr LHM-800 (lifting capacity 308 tons).

Inner Harbour's City Terminal has combined quay length 3350 m and max depth 7,5 m.

Odense Shipyard

Odense Staalskibsvaerft (1917-founded/2012-defunct) was a Danish shipbuilding company (subsidiary of Moller-Maersk) that specialized mainly in the construction and repairs of some of the world's biggest container ships.

In the 1960s/70s, the shipbuilder produced mainly petroleum tankers (VLCC-Very Lage, and ULCC-Ultra Large) for AP Moller and Royal Dutch Shell. Containership building started in 1980 with the Maersk L-class boxships (TEU capacity 3300). The shipyard built all of Maersk's M-class ships (4400 TEUs), C-class (1600 TEUs), K-class (6000 TEUs), S-class (6600 TEUs), D-class (7000 TEUs).

Odense Yard's largest boxships were Maersk E-class (8x units) each with cargo capacity 11000 TEUs, volume 171542 GT-tons, length 398 m, width 56 m, draft 15,5 m. They were constructed in the period 2006-2008 and delivered in 2006 (Emma, Estelle), 2007 (Eleonora, Evelyn, Ebba, Elly, Edith) and 2008 (Eugen).

Odense Lufthavn/Airport (Hans Christian Andersen Airport) is in Beldringe (approx 9 km / 6 mi to the northwest of Odense. The airport serves mostly seasonal charter flights to (mainly Mediterranean) resort destinations.

The suspension bridge Storebaeltsbroen (Great Belt Fixed Link/Bridge) has length 6,8 km (22280 ft), width 31 m (102 ft), height 256 m (841 ft) and crosses the entire Great Belt Strait connecting Funen with Zealand Island. The Great Belt Bridge carries Fynske Motorvej (Funish Motorway, part of highway E20) and has a separate railway tunnel for trains. The 1998-opened bridge provides faster train connections to Aarhus (~90 min) and to Copenhagen (75 min). Odense Station serves both domestic and international trains (linking to Hamburg Germany). A separate passenger railroad interlinks Odense with Svendborg. Bus lines (by FynBus) serve the city and all connections to Funen's coastal towns (previously interlinked with railroads). Odense Letbane/Tramway (2022-inaugurated) is a 2-track tram line with length 14,5 km (9 mi) and a total of 26 stations. The new tramway starts in the Tarup suburb and (via Odense Station) ends in the Hjallese suburb, serving around 35,000 passengers daily. There are plans the railway to be extended with a second tramline (7,5 km / 4,7 mi in length).

Odense City's current-day economy is heavily supported by large businesses like Albani Bryggerierne (Albani Breweries/1859-founded), ABB Ltd (1988-founded/ASEA Brown Boveri, manufacturer of electrical equipment), Fristads Kansas Group (1961-founded/Kwintet AS, workwear manufacturer), Plus Pack AS (food packing), Riegens UK and SG Produktion (lighting), shipping and Port-related businesses (Lindo Industrial Park/production and storage of offshore farm components), GASA Group (1929-founded/Gartnernes Salgsforeninger, supplier of flowers, fruits, vegetables and plants), retail shopping (Rosengardcentret Mall/1971-opened, Denmark's largest with 150+ shops, restaurants, cinema, fitness). The tourism industry hugely benefits from Odense Zoo (1930-opened, Funen's most visited attraction and Denmark's 11th most popular, with 400K+ visitors annually) which covers ~3,6 km2 (~9 acres) and houses ~2000 animals (147 species). The city's nightlife also attracts both domestic and foreign tourists with prestigious restaurants, cafes, lounges and bars, music club, premium hotels.