Press Release

Creation date: 05 November 2007

Press Release

During recent years, Hanstholm Harbour has worked on a general plan for the expansion of the harbour. At the board of directors’ meeting on 24 September 2007 it was decided that the work now is so far advanced that the harbour will start to concretize the ideas in a Development Plan for Hanstholm Harbour, as detailed below. To carry out the plan will cost an estimated DKK 250-400 million.

The harbour will, in collaboration with the businesses connected to the harbour (Business Group Hanstholm), try to realize the plan within a time frame of 5 to 10 years, while simultaneously aiding a commercial growth spawned by the new opportunities the expansion offers. This especially applies to the further development of Hanstholm Harbour as the central fishing harbour for the landing of fish by transforming the current ferry/fishing pier to a pier devoted solely to fishing. This will be done by moving ferry traffic to the new basin – a move that will provide the ferry lines with new possibilities too.

The harbour’s new transport centre is an important part of the Development Plan, as the board of directors sees great potential in developing not only fishing but also freight. Thus, Hanstholm Harbour expects that the plan will be followed up by the town’s inclusion in the coming experimental use of heavy trucks. These experiments will cover either route 29 from Haderslev to Hanstholm, or, what is more interesting for Hanstholm Harbour, from Hanstholm via route 26/34 to the Herning/Vejle area. Even more interesting would be experiments on both routes, as this would evenly distribute the amount of traffic, promoting traffic safety. The authorisation to operate heavy trucks to and from Hanstholm Harbour will benefit, not only the harbour and the ferry lines, but especially the fishing industry as well as other industry in the western part of North Denmark.

The decision of the board of directors is related to the recent study named ‘Hanstholm Harbour Business Profile and its Importance for the Surrounding Area’. The study showed that Business Group Hanstholm employs nearly 2,300 people and generates a DKK 1.9 billion production value, while creating roughly DKK 800 million worth of income. This equals to 12.5 % of the total income in the new municipality of Thisted. The study was presented at a recently held harbour conference in Hanstholm which celebrated the harbour’s 40 years jubilee. Several contributions at the conference pointed out that fish will play a central part in the improvement of public health in the future. Creating an aquaculture farm on the harbour area could help the harbour and the surrounding area to further growth.