World Championship in record summer (Port of Aarhus vol. IV)

The debut season for Aarhus’s new connected harbour and city could not have been better.

The period from May to the beginning of August 2018 sets out to beat previous Danish summer records in terms of sun hours and high temperatures from 1947, 1976 and by 1997. That same period also framed the realization of Aarhus’s vision of bringing the city and the nearby harbour together as one united urban area.

A_bustling_Port_of_Aarhus_at_Sailing_World_Championships_003 — The Russian replica of Tsar Peter the Great’s SHTANDART and the beautiful newly renovated Danish training ship GEORG STAGE. I the distance, with Aarhus Ø as a background, Molslinjen’s EXPRESS 3 calls from Zeeland. **Above:** A dedicated traffic control centre has been set up to handle the meeting between commercial traffic and the world championship’s many participating sailboats. Molslinjen’s EXPRESS 1 and ‘EXPRESS 2 meets, while two container feeders just left the East Port. The long north-facing promenade at Aarhus Ø also acted as the main spectator area during the competitions.

The first apparent step was taken with the opening of Havnepladsen (Harbour Square). With its quay and location between the big commercial port and the city centre, it seriously proofed its worth as the multifunctional place for gathering during the summer’s World Cup in football, where it provided a big screen and a lively venue for the national TV coverage of the match.

A_bustling_Port_of_Aarhus_at_Sailing_World_Championships_007 — The well-attended Havnepladsen towards Basin 2. In the background, among others, GEOREG STAGE and MILAN MÆRSK with Containerships’ premises in the middle.

Later, during the decade’s best summer, Havnebadet (Harbour Bath) opened in what once was the port’s container terminal. Now, the container terminal of the present day is eastward, with its post panamax cranes and the weekly light blue and black giants from Maersk Line and MSC, as a unique backdrop for bathers.

A_bustling_Port_of_Aarhus_at_Sailing_World_Championships_010 — Basin 5 transformed into a colourful ocean of buoys and boats, while the product and chemical tanker BOTHNIA is alongside the quay 126 at the Oil Terminal. Further in the background, SERENADE OF THE SEAS is one of two cruise ships that day in Aarhus, why it had to be located at the remote Omni Terminal.

As a culmination of the debut year, Aarhus and its harbour hosted the Hempel Sailing World Championships from the beginning of August with 1,400 sailors from 90 nations and their total of 1,100 sailboats. These photos are from the first two days of the sailing event, which combined with the weather and summer holiday for many, created a wonderful bustling atmosphere – all along with the busy commercial port present in the background.