At the same time, the number of ferry and cruise travellers that went through the port's quays rose in the first half of this year - up by 5.5% year-on-year to 964,604 passengers.

A little over 15k cargo units was rail-handled at the Port of Kiel over 2018's first six months, a downtick of 6.2% on the result for the corresponding period last year.