Iceland to build new Arctic port

Feasibility studies and planning for the new facility are already underway, with Icelandic company EFLA Consulting Engineers and Bremenports having drawn up a Letter of Intent, with personal backing from Iceland’s President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. The new port’s location at Finna Fjord will ensure that the port is free of ice all year round, due to the Gulf Stream.

On completion of the preliminary examinations, a contract will be signed for the entire development planning. The port planners from Bremerhaven are to be granted the right to act as sole coordinators until conclusion of the Finna Fjord project.

Citing regional oil, gas and mineral deposits, as well as the new north-west passage routes becoming available to commercial shipping lines, Robert Howe, technical director at Bremenports, said: “The people of Iceland want to systematically exploit these opportunities.”

“This is not only a great opportunity for bremenports, but also a first sign of further business potential,” said Martin Günthner, Bremen’s senator for Economic Affairs and Ports. “The protection of natural resources and the environment will be key features of the agreed cooperation. Other actors in the Federal Land of Bremen, from members of the port and logistics business to the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, will also be involved in the project.”

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