Private company

Contargo

Logo: Contargo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Logistics service provider

Contargo GmbH & Co. KG is an internationally active logistics service provider performing trimodal transport between the seaports and the European hinterland and providing all auxiliary services, such as empty container depots and repairs. Contargo transports 2.1 million TEU annually in its network (24 terminals, four inland shipping lines and several rail lines) along the Rhine and its main tributaries up to Switzerland.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

2004Founded1

Contargo GmbH & Co. KG is an internationally active logistics service provider performing trimodal transport between the seaports and the European hinterland and providing all auxiliary services, such as empty container depots and repairs. Contargo transports 2.1 million TEU annually in its network (24 terminals, four inland shipping lines and several rail lines) along the Rhine and its main tributaries up to Switzerland.2

The story

Contargo was founded in 2004, bundling the activities of various enterprises in container hinterland logistics, some of which had been active since 1976 in combined transport by barge and truck and the operation of container terminals.

2004 start of operations at the Ludwigshafen Terminal in the Kaiserwörthhafen

2004 Participation in rail operator NeCoSS, extending Contargo's interest to include container rail transport.

2006 Takeover of the activities of barge operator Interfeeder Ducotra B.V. in Dordrecht, NL

2008 April: Combined Service GmbH & Co. KG (CCS) and Interfeeder B.V. merged to form Contargo B.V.

2008 August: 100% takeover of Contargo Container Escaut Service (CCES)

2009 February: Service Point opened in Tokyo, Japan

2011 January: Contargo Alpina AG, Basel and BMT Basel Multi Terminal AG merged to form Contargo AG

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2011 November: Contargo takes over the Pöhland Group with six subsidiaries

2011 December: activities at the Aschaffenburg terminal discontinued and transferred to Frankfurt

2012 January: Contargo takes over six Wincanton terminals

2012 March: Contargo Koblenz GmbH renamed Contargo Rhein-Main GmbH

2012 May: full takeover of Rhinecontainer (purchase of remaining shares from Kühne & Nagel)

2012 September: Mainz terminal closed and moved to Gustavsburg

2012 October: integration of the Karlsruhe and Wörth terminals to form Contargo Wörth-Karlsruhe GmbH, inclusion of the Ludwigshafen and Mannheim terminals in Contargo Rhein-Neckar GmbH, extension of Contargo Rhein-Main GmbH to include the terminals Gustavsburg and Frankfurt-Ost

2012 December: following the takeover of inland barge operator Rhinecontainer B.V. and Transbox B.V. these are integrated into Contargo B.V. The new shipping company operates as Contargo Waterway Logistics

2013 January: with effect from 1 January Contargo gives up its 49.8 percent share in rail operator NeCoSS and now operates its own container rail link Hamburg – Hof

2013 December: Contargo takes over Neuss Intermodal Terminal GmbH (NIT) from APM-Terminals (APMT) and changes its name to Contargo Neuss GmbH [4]

2014 September: The Contargo terminal site in Germersheim, previously a branch office of Contargo Network Service GmbH & Co. KG, is affiliated to Contargo Rhein-Neckar GmbH.

2014 September: at the end of the month Contargo sells its share of Neuss Trimodal GmbH, Neuss, Germany.

2014 October: Transbox United BVBA (a joint venture of Contargo subsidiary Transbox and United Container Transport), with its headquarters in Antwerp, commences operations.

2014 December: Contargo Container Escaut Service becomes Contargo North France SAS, with its headquarters in Bruay-sur-l'Escaut.

2015 January: Contargo North France becomes the operator of the Escaut Valenciennes Terminal in the town of Bruay-sur-l'Escaut.

2015 May: Contargo receives Eco Performance Award

2016 March: NYK Line awards Contargo with its Environment Prize "Captain Eco 2015"

2016 July: Contargo founds Contargo Rail Services GmbH

2017 January: Terminal in Germersheim no longer operated by Contargo

2017 January: Contargo increases its participation in the Rhein-Waal Terminal in Emmerich and renames it “Contargo Rhein-Waal-Lippe GmbH”, in conjunction with the as yet unopened terminal in Voerde-Emmelsum

2017 January: Contargo Road Logistics also offers direct trucking based on Hamburg

From Wikipedia’s article on Contargo, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Services

Terminals: Contargo operates a network of hinterland terminals and transport lines along the Rhine and its main tributaries up to Switzerland, also using canals. The western seaports of Amsterdam, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Zeebrügge are the major interfaces for European imports and exports. Contargo's multimodal network of hinterland terminals links up primarily with these, but the northern seaports of Hamburg, Bremen and Bremerhaven are integrated into the container logistics network via rail links, and the north-western French terminals of Prouvy and Saint Saulve via inland waterways.

Transport services: transport of containers by barge, rail and truck

Heavy load transports and special transports

Repair services

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Sale and hire of containers

Subsidiaries and holdings

Contargo Wörth-Karlsruhe GmbH, Karlsruhe, Wörth, Germany

Contargo Waterway Logistics B.V., Zwijndrecht, Netherlands

Contargo Rhein-Neckar GmbH, Ludwigshafen, Mannheim, Germany

Contargo Rhein-Main GmbH, Koblenz, Frankfurt, Gustavsburg, Germany

Contargo Sàrl, Ottmarsheim and Strasbourg, France

Contargo AG, Basel, Switzerland

Contargo North France SAS, Prouvy, Saint-Saulve and Bruay-sur-l'Escaut, France

Contargo Network Service GmbH & Co. KG, Zwijndrecht, Netherlands

DIT Duisburg Intermodal Terminal GmbH, Duisburg, Germany

Contargo Industriepark Frankfurt-Hoechst GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany

Rhein Waal Terminal GmbH, Emmerich, Germany

NWL Norddeutsche Wasserweg Logistik GmbH, Bremen, Germany

Container Terminal Dortmund GmbH, Dortmund, Germany

Contargo Road Logistics B.V., Zwijndrecht, Netherlands and Hamburg, Germany

Contargo Neuss GmbH, Neuss, Germany

Contargo Network Logistics GmbH, Hof, Döhlau, Luhe, Glauchau, Hamburg, Germany, Plzeň, Czech Republic

Transbox United BVBA, Antwerp, Belgium

Contargo Weil am Rhein, Weil am Rhein, Germany

Contargo Rail Services GmbH, Mannheim, Germany

From Wikipedia’s article on Contargo, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 2004Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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