Denmark’s largest commercial port

The Port of Fredericia has at its disposal a total of four kilometres of quays with water depths of up to fifteen metres. Each year, more than 2,000 freight ships dock at the harbour, and in the year 2000 a total of 16.3 million tonnes of goods were handled by the port. This included 10.8 million tonnes of crude oil, while Shell handled 2.1 million tonnes of oil products at the quayside.

The Port of Fredericia has achieved its status as one of the largest harbours in Denmark following several centuries of continual development. For the first 150 years following the foundation of the town in 1650, Fredericia did not have a harbour, only a few unsheltered jetties jutting out into the Little Belt. The first real harbour not was established until the beginning of the 19th century. However, back then, activities at the harbour were not successful due to the bankruptcy of the Danish State and high harbour dues.  Fifty years later, things began to go in the right direction. A boat harbour was established for the rapidly growing fishing industry, and in 1866 the arrival of the railway in Fredericia enabled the harbour to also handle ferry transport. This status as a ferry terminal was maintained by the town until the old bridge over the Little Belt was opened in 1935, since when the bridge has also carried railway traffic.

Freight traffic to and from the Port of Fredericia increased dramatically at the end of the 19th  century, and in 1905 the first plans for a harbour in Møllebugten were drawn up. However, 50 years would pass before the oil terminal in Møllebugten became a reality in 1958, when it was ready to be used by a number of oil companies.
The inauguration of the oil terminal marked the start of extensive developments of the harbour area, including land reclamation projects, the deepening of harbour areas, new quays, warehouses, cranes and docks.

The harbour now handles many new and different types of goods compared to when the Port of Fredericia was first opened in 1811. For example, thousands of Japanese cars are shipped over the harbour quay in Fredericia, and in 1984 a pipeline from the Danish oil fields in the North Sea to Fredericia was taken into use. Today, the harbour is also used by cargo ferry services, container services and a large number of companies that have established themselves at the harbour because they have decided to invest in transportation by sea.

Throughout history, the harbour at Fredericia has been owned and managed by the municipality. However, with the passing of the new Harbour Act by the Folketinget which took effect from 1 January 2000, it was possible to convert the Port of Fredericia into a limited company. It thereby became possible for the port to cooperate with other ports, and in the spring of 2000, the Port of Fredericia and the Port of Nyborg merged to form the company Associated Danish Ports A/S (ADP), with the two respective municipalities as shareholders.
The two ports have joint interests: Fredericia has many regular customers but limited space, while Nyborg has room for expansion on the areas that formed the construction site during the building of the bridge over the Great Belt, but which now lie empty.