Almost 50 feeder services provided an average of over 140 weekly departures in 2008. The Port of Hamburg was able to gain a new feeder service for the North Sea region and another for the Baltic Sea in 2008. Thus the port further strengthened its role as a transport hub for seaside foreign trade. In 2008, 2.6 million TEU of cargo were transported between Hamburg and the nations in the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions.

Big ships employed in intercontinental, “deep sea,” traffic only call at ports that have heavy cargo volumes. Smaller ports, with only a limited volume of cargo, or ones that are off the main shipping routes are usually served by feeder ships. Smaller container ships with appropriate capacities are used in such feeder services.