Travemunde-Lubeck (Germany)

Port Travemunde is the cargo, ferry and cruise port for the Hanseatic City of Lubeck, both being part of Germany's Schleswig-Holstein state. Port Lubeck (locode DELBC/Lubecker Hafen) is on Trave River while Port Travemunde (locode DETRV) is on the Baltic Sea and serves both cargo and passenger vessels, including regularly scheduled ferries linking to Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland.

Travemunde was established in the 12th century as a fortress guarding Trave River's mouth), received town rights in 1317 and is a seaside resort since 1802. The town's fortifications were demolished in 1807. The lighthouse (Germany's oldest on the Baltic) was built in 1539. Another attraction is the Flying P-Liner Passat (museum ship anchored in the river's mouth). The annual Travemunder Woche is a Baltic sailing race week.

Lubeck's population is around 215,000. The city's old part is on an island enclosed by the river. The Elbe-Lubeck Canal connects both rivers (Trave and Elbe). Among the city's landmarks and best-known attractions are the Old Town's medieval architecture and narrow streets, Lubecker Dom (12th-century cathedral)), Marienkirche (14th-century St Mary's Church), Lubecker Rathaus (13th-century Town Hall), Katharineum (16th-century gymnasium), the houses of Thomas Mann and Gunter Grass, churches (Petrikirche, Jakobikirche, Propsteikirche Herz Jesu, Aegidienkirche), Salzspeicher (6x salt storehouses/16th-18th-centuries).

Lubeck is also among the best Christmas Market river travel destinations in Germany, with its handicrafts market inside the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital (Konigstrasse). The city is also known worldwide for its marzipan industry, with Niederegger being the best known local marzipan producer.

Both ports (Travemunde and Lubeck) provide shore-to-ship power capabilities. The technology (by Nidec Corporation, Japan) enables docked vessels to receive electricity from the city's power grid. From the berth, vessels can plug in directly to the grid which allows full onboard operations without using the diesel engines (being shut down right after docking). The Japanese company has installed such shore-power systems in the US ports Los Angeles CA, San Francisco CA, Juneau AK, as well as in other European ports (Goteborg, Livorno, Genoa).

In 2017, Port Lubeck had scheduled 14 cruise ship calls (9 different vessels), including 2 roundtrips. In 2018, both ports (Lubeck and Travemunde) handled 22 ship calls, which in 2019 dropped to 14.

In June 2022, Avenir Marine Ltd (subsidiary of Avenir LNG Ltd) conducted Port Lubeck's first LNG bunkering (fueling with liquefied natural gas) of the TT-LINE’s cruiseferry Nils Holgersson, at Skandinavienkai Terminal/Scandinavian Quay. The LNG bunkering at Skandinavienkai is via partnership between TT-Line GmbH, Avenir LNG, Landwarme GmbH (biomethane trading company) and LIQUIND 24/7 GmbH (LNG infrastructure provider). A portion of the bunker fuel is BioLNG.

Travemunde-Lubeck cruise terminal