30 July 2025 | Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg are upgrading their ports. A new IT system is to make container theft and drug smuggling more difficult from October.

Until now, anyone wanting to remove a container from the harbour site has needed a four-digit pin code. This is given to shipping companies, terminal employees, freight forwarders and lorry drivers, sometimes in unencrypted form. A procedure that is susceptible to misuse, explains the Bremen port authority.

The new digital system ensures that only one player is authorised to move a container at any one time. Kai Stührenberg (Left Party), State Councillor for the Port of Bremen, is convinced that this ensures greater security in the transport chain. The Bremen Freight Forwarders' Association also praises the procedure. It is entirely in the interests of the haulage companies.

According to terminal operator Eurogate, the system will be introduced gradually from October. The change is based on new legal requirements for more protection against port crime.

Source: buten un binnen / Radio Bremen