The leading North European ports are looking at strong and long-term growth all the way up to the year 2025, when the current instability in the Euro zone has worn off. A new analysis by British Ocean Shipping Consultants states that the North European container ports bounced back as early as 2011 as a result of, in particular, the growth in the Baltic, with a 22 percent - or 57.9 million teu - increase compared to the recession year of 2009.

And coming years are looking even better. Ocean Shipping Consultants expects a growth in so-called gateway demand of 41-59 percent in the period 2011-2022, of between 60.1-67.8 million teu. The explanation is primarily the growth of the Russian market, which is serviced by a series of feeder-companies, including German shipping companies along with Unifeeder. The analysis points out that this is a volatile region, with the Russian economy as the biggest, but the growth in Poland is also developing fast. All together, this looks like good news for major Danish shipping companies, such as DFDS and Unifeeder.