# Kiel (DE KEL)

**UN/LOCODE:** DE KEL  
**Country:** Germany  
**Water Body:** Baltic Sea; North Atlantic Ocean  
**Harbor Size:** Large  
**Harbor Type:** River (Basins)  
**GPS:** 54.3167, 10.1333

Step onto the Ostufer quays and the picture is Baltic ferry country: ropax vessels loading trailers, paper reels rolling off Swedish ships, and cruise liners alongside. Kiel set a record in 2024, handling 7.89 million tonnes of freight and 2.82 million passengers on the inner Kieler Förde beside the locks of the Kiel Canal. Daily ropax services link the port to Oslo (Color Line), Gothenburg (Stena Line) and Klaipeda (DFDS), while Sweden's SCA lands forest products on a regular RoRo run. The Ostuferhafen combines six berths with LoLo and RoRo facilities and an intermodal rail terminal for trimodal handling. For forwarders, Kiel is principally a port for accompanied and unaccompanied trailer traffic, paper and project cargo into the Baltic, rather than for deep-sea containers. Road and rail links across Schleswig-Holstein, plus the canal locks, keep the hinterland well connected. Deep-sea boxes are normally cleared through Hamburg, with Lübeck the closest alternative for Baltic RoRo.

## Transit Times & Routes

- [Hamburg → Shanghai](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/hamburg-shanghai)
- [Hamburg → Shenzhen](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/hamburg-shenzhen)
- [Hamburg → Guangzhou](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/hamburg-guangzhou)
- [Hamburg → Hong Kong](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/hamburg-hong-kong)
- [Hamburg → Tokyo](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/hamburg-tokyo)
- [Hamburg → Busan](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/transit-time/hamburg-busan)

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*Freight Academy — Seaport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/kiel-port-de-kel](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/kiel-port-de-kel)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/kiel-port-de-kel](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/seaports/en/kiel-port-de-kel)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/seaports/kiel-port-de-kel/llm-summary?lang=en*