Benny Carlsen presents Helsingør Havne - Port of the Week

Benny Carlsen, Port Manager at Helsingør Havne, presents Port of the Week The picture shows Benny Carlsen, Port Manager, Helsingør Havne Benny Carlsen, Port Manager at Helsingør Havne, presents Port of the Week. Hear more about what it's like to run a port with over 1 million visitors and about seeing his new DKK 1 million tractor drive out into the harbor. About the work to launch "Service Port Elsinore", which, based on the successful clusters in Funen and North Jutland, will attract some of the 32,000 ships that pass through the Port of Elsinore every year. What do you do at Helsingør Havne - what is your area of responsibility? I am the harbor manager at Helsingør Havne, which is a bit of a mixed bag. We consist of the Port of Elsinore, which is an autonomous port with a turnover of approx. 12 million DKK, and then Nordhavnen, which is a municipal marina with approx. 1,000 berths and a turnover of approx. 13 million DKK. Of course, we run separate accounts. We have a total of 14 employees, all of whom are employed at Nordhavnen, except for me, who is employed half-time at both ports and an assistant who is employed full-time at the Port of Elsinore. What makes your job the best? I'm 68 years old, but it's still really interesting to be here. The synergy that we have been working on for several years has now been realized, as the harbour board (which is also the municipality's economic committee) is now also the political committee for the North Harbour. This provides more coherence between the two ports. One of the results is that the North Harbor is in the process of a DKK 34 million renovation project, where we are also building a harbor promenade, which will be completed in spring 2016. This will create a better connection between Nordhavnen and Kulturhavn Kronborg, which was renovated for more than DKK 1 billion between 2007 and 2013. These are all things I've been involved in planning since 2006, so it's very interesting to be involved in completing it, but it's not going to be easy to get away from here. After all, I've lived in a servant's quarters right in the middle of the harbor for almost 25 years. What inspires me the most is the fantastic way the employees and the workplace work. I often wonder how different we are and how much communication is required, but the fact is that we have been very successful with the major reorganization of work tasks that has taken place at the ports since the opening of the Cultural Harbour. What was the last success you had at the port? The northern part of the ferry port has become a cultural harbor that has been hugely successful. At Kulturhavn Kronborg alone, we have over a million visitors a year - tourists and locals alike. And all kinds of associations and companies are lining up along with the major cultural organizers. The success has made it difficult for us to keep up with the secretariat, so we are currently running with temporary assistance. At the same time, ferry traffic is on the rise again after the economic downturn, which gives cause for optimism. The rebuilding and renovation of the North Harbor has also turned out to be going according to plan, and the economy seems to be holding up so far. When was the last time something truly unexpected happened? The most surprising thing was in the spring when our almost new tractor, worth around DKK 1 million, decided not to brake and therefore continued in the harbor in 2.5 m of water. It has also surprised me that it takes so much time to spend DKK 34 million on the renovation of the North Harbor, which requires many construction meetings. This, along with the day-to-day running of a marina and ferry port, means that I never find time to be bored, but then again, I don't want to be. What are your expectations for the future of the Port of Elsinore? Until a few years ago, the Port of Elsinore has been somewhat invisible in terms of business. Ferry traffic, together with the major rebuilding, has taken up most of the energy. But the port board has decided that we need to be much more visible to the business community. We therefore launched "Servicehavn Helsingør" in March 2015, where we try to reach some of the 32,000 ships that pass the port within one nautical mile every year. I think we have some really good competitive parameters. We have a one-hour drive with direct trains to Kastrup three times an hour. We have Denmark's best anchorage with +20 m water depth only 5 minutes sailing from the port, and we have more than 100 maritime companies within a distance of 50 km. We are currently exploring the possibility of establishing a bunker facility. All of which makes calling at Servicehavn Helsingør more interesting. In addition, we have launched the North Zealand Maritime Cluster together with Hundested, Gilleleje and Helsingør ports and not least the municipalities' business departments. Europe's Maritime Center is the coordinator and has so far received a grant for a 1-year pilot project. The cluster is called "Maritime Cluster Copenhagen North". The model is, of course, the North Jutland and Funen clusters, which have great success in attracting and developing companies and jobs. In service port Elsinore we have around 20 partners and in the cluster collaboration there are currently around 75 companies spread across North Zealand. The port board has also wanted to initiate a study on the possibilities of limiting wave turbulence in the harbor, which can be very turbulent during southern and eastern wind conditions. At the same time, the possibilities of establishing an external cruise quay are also being investigated. "We have a study from 2012 which concludes that we can have around 30,000 cruise guests already in the mid-2020s if we establish an external quay for the ships. Right now we are intensifying the marketing of cruise ships, especially to the expedition ship segment, as we can receive ships up to 150 meters in length along the King's Quay, which is about 200 meters from the city center.We are still working hard to get Queen Mary 2 back. She came several years in a row where we took in 2,500 guests in two hours with tenders. It would be great if these calls were resumed, as it was fantastic marketing for both the port and the city. Facts about Elsinore Ports (latest figures) Size (m2) approx. 300,000 Revenue: in total approx. 25 million DKK (HSH 12 and NH13) Freight turnover: approx. 800,000 tons (trucks) Ferry connection/passengers: hh + sb = 1,409,977 Main industries at the port: ferry service How many companies are established at the port: 8 at the North Port. Only ferry companies at the Port of Elsinore. Main institutions at Kulturhavnen: Kronborg, the Maritime Museum and the Culture Yard, which also houses the main library. Number of calls in 2014: hh sb = 8.616 http://www.helsingor-havne.helsingor.dk/ Download image of Benny Carlsen here. Download image of Helsingør Havne here. Credit: Helsingør Havne. Read more news from Danish Ports here.