Connecting Germany to the world

As MSC, we offer you reliable and efficient transport and logistics services to and from Germany, one of the largest European economic markets. Whether you need information about our extensive range of services or have questions about booking or releasing your cargo, here you will find the information and contacts you need to ensure the smooth transport of your cargo to or from Germany.

MSC Germany - Key figures

Calls at 4 ports in Germany
Hamburg
Bremerhaven
Wilhelmshaven
Lübeck

Handling at 6 terminals
Hamburg – Eurogate CTH
Hamburg – HHLA Terminal Altenwerder
Bremerhaven – MSC Gate
Bremerhaven – NTB
Wilhelmshaven – Eurogate CTW
Lübeck - Cargo-Terminal Lehmann

16 liner services and 3 feeder services call at German ports

Direct liner connections to 13 regions worldwide:
Southeast Europe
Scandinavia and Baltics
Africa
North America
Central America
South America
Mediterranean Sea
Canary Islands
Israel
Middle East
Indian Subcontinent
Far East
Australia Pacific

+ feeder connections to literally every major port

Around 700 employees work at the MSC offices in Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Lübeck, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.

MSC Intermodal Germany –

Your supply chain partner: Keeping you connected

MSC Germany intermodal solutions are tailor-made and precisely adapted to your needs. We can manage your cargo from end-to-end, at any time.

In Germany we...
· serve 5 main ports (Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Trieste)
· offer 4 dedicated train connections to the north port of Bremerhaven
· offer 4 dedicated train connections to the west ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp
· offer 2 dedicated train connections to the south port of Trieste
· offer around 70 commercial barge and train solutions

· operate 2 MEDREPAIR depots (Bremerhaven & Hamburg) & 31 third party depots

· have more than 50 local intermodal & logistic experts in Bremen and Hamburg
· offer value added services like VGM and assistance in export and import customs clearance via our partners

Your advantages when booking your intermodal services with MSC Germany:

· access to our MSC dedicated national road and train network
· Pick up & Drop off charges included
· improved equipment availability for carrier’s haulage bookings
· efficient cargo transportation planned by our highly experienced team

FIND OUT MORE

For availability and bookings:

Imports:

Import Westports: DE459-imp.westports-transports@msc.com
Import North Ports Truck: DE459-imp.truck-transports@msc.com
Import North Ports Rail: DE459-imp.rail-transports@msc.com

Exports: please contact your customer service expert

For general enquiries about our transport services, please contact our Intermodal team on

DE459-teamintermodal.salesde@msc.com.

Contact our team to request a quote, book or find out more about our local services

LOCAL OFFICES INFORMATION

Terminals

MSC calls at the three major seaports in Germany Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven with its container ships.

At in total five terminals all types of containers and goods, from toys from China in 20-foot containers to grape imports from South America in reefer containers, are handled efficiently.

In Bremerhaven, MSC operates its own MSC Gate together with EUROGATE to offer you optimal and flexible handling of your cargo.

Hamburg

EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg GmbH
Kurt-Eckelmann-Straße 1
21129 Hamburg
Germany
+49 40 7405 0
For more information click here

HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder GmbH
Am Ballinkai 1
21129 Hamburg
Germany
+49 40 53 309 0
For more information click here

Bremerhaven

MSC Gate Bremerhaven GmbH & Co. KG
Senator-Borttscheller-Straße 1
27568 Bremerhaven
Germany
+49 471 1425-02
For more information click here

North Sea Terminal Bremerhaven
Senator-Borttscheller-Straße 14
27568 Bremerhaven
Germany
+49 471 944 64 00
For more information click here

Wilhelmshaven

EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven GmbH & Co. KG
Ozean-Pier 1
26388 Wilhelmshaven
Germany
+49 4421 7744-0
For more information click here

Regulatory approval status

As of 1 July 2016, the SOLAS VGM Directive requires the timely reporting of the Verified Gross Container Weight (VGM) to the carrier worldwide.

In Germany the regulating body, BG Verkehr, follows a strict procedure and allows a zero percent tolerance. The tolerance is defined by the weighing method, a scale weighing class III or weighing class IV is necessary, and therefore amounts to a variance of -/+ 2 percent.

The BG Verkehr performs random spot checks.

Fines may be placed in case of wrong VGM (verified gross mass) declaration.

If you wish to obtain the VGM by using Method 2, your company must be ISO or AEO certified. If your company does not have one of these certificates please refer to the documents on www.deutsche-flagge.de.

At this point, German ports will allow containers to gate-in without VGM.

What to include in your VGM instructions

• Booking or Bill of Lading number
• Container number
• VGM
• Authorized person’s name
• Responsible party name
• Weighing date

How to submit your VGM

• myMSC
• EDI-Booking or Booking Update (IFTMBF)
• EDI-Shipping Instructions (IFTMIN)
• INTTRA
• Other providers
• VERMAS message
• Customized xml, csv, idoc, txt files.

Deadlines for sending your VGM instructions

• The respective VGM submission EDI deadlines will be displayed on your individual booking confirmations with immediate effect.
• As an additional service and to inform you proactively of missing VGMs, MSC Germany will send a notification the day prior to the VGM cut-off, which gives enough time to provide MSC Germany with the VGM before cut-off.

Status change Fee due to difference in payload

A status change is triggered whenever information relevant for storage at terminal or stowage on vessel is changed after the container has been received at terminal, thus requiring manual change of planning and/or change of storage and stowage.

Since the implementation of the VGM regulation changes between declared payload at time of booking and declared VGM is creating a status change at the terminals, as it might require a change of storage at the terminal and a change in the stowage plan. The exact criteria that trigger a status change due to weight difference are:

balance between original weight and VGM is larger than1.000 kg and change into another weight class:

class	lower weight limit (kg)	upper weight limit (kg)
1	1	10.000
2	10.001	15.000
3	15.001	20.000
4	20.001	25.000
5	25.001	30.000
6	30.001	99.999

Fees for a status change triggered by changes in vessel/voyage or POD are already charged.

Since 1st of June 2017 this status change fee is also charged for status changes triggered by changes in weight as listed above.

Recommendations

• VGM records should be stored three months after ships vessel arrival in POD.
• MSC Local agency should be informed in advance about the appointment of 3rd parties to provide the VGM.
• Weighing at terminals in Germany is not likely.

Questions about VGM?

Contact one of our local offices in Germany.

Booking processes in Germany

We would like to improve the speed and quality of our booking confirmations.
For this purpose, it is necessary that the following data is always entered during the transmission of your booking.
By submitting this data, you avoid queries in advance and the associated delays of booking confirmations.

Data	Details
Routing	Port of loading and discharge ETS or ETA (preferably the desired vessel)
Carrier Haulage	Pre- and on-carriage information Pre-run included: Full load address Loading reference Requested delivery time Mode of transport (train, barge, truck) Preliminary price offered
Merchant Haulage	Desired depot Mode of transport (train, barge, truck) Date of pick-up
Container	Container type Number of containers Special equipment requirements
Commodity	Cargo description Weight In the case of dangerous goods, a copy of the DGD
HS Code	This must be specified when booking in order to ensure correct verification of the import regulations in the country of destination
Customs	Information if MSC is to take over the customs declaration For Trieste shipments, abandon the Transit Customs Clearance (TCC) agents Container numbers must be stated in the export accompanying documents (ABD)
Payment Conditions	Contract number Place of payment Named Account

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your local office of MSC Germany.

Imports

Waste
Cultural assets

Meat and milk and any items thereof from non-EU countries, with the exception of limited amounts from Andorra, Croatia, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and small amounts of specific products from other countries.

Protected species and products as listed by the CITES. For more information, please visit the CITES website here.

Though the above items are prohibited, most EU countries have heavy restrictions on a number of other items. For more information, see the link below.

Exports

The same items as imports when shipping to another EU country. No prohibited goods when shipping to a non-EU country.

For full details of prohibited and restricted cargo click here.

Container Weighing (VGM)

All MSC local offices provide certified scales to record and verify container weight (verified gross mass or VGM) in line with Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS) regulations. VGM instructions are mandatory for all shipments for safety reasons and vessel operators can only load a container if its weight has been appropriately verified. Contact your local MSC team for more information and support.

Fumigation

Our team of in-house forestry experts enables us to provide dedicated cargo fumigation services for the seamless shipment of wood. As a specialist in log shipments, including a long track record of shipping wood to the Far East, we provide tailored support for all of our customers, including those with specific requirements due to the bark beetle infestation in Northern Europe.

Our Solutions