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Logistics in Rostock: a major port city on the Baltic Sea

With around 210,000 inhabitants, Rostock is the largest city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. As a former Hanseatic city, it has traded across the Baltic for centuries, and its university, founded in 1419, is one of the oldest in northern Europe. The seaside resort of Warnemünde, which is part of the city, is a well-known cruise port.

The seaport is the backbone of the local economy. Rostock is one of the largest German ports on the Baltic, handling ferries, roll-on roll-off traffic, bulk goods and general cargo. Regular ferry services link the port with Trelleborg in Sweden and Gedser in Denmark, which makes the city an important gateway between central Europe and Scandinavia. Many industrial and logistics businesses have settled around the port area on the eastern bank of the Warnow.

The maritime industry, shipbuilding and suppliers for offshore and onshore wind energy are important employers, as are food production, research institutes and tourism along the coast. Rostock-Laage Airport lies to the south of the city. For suppliers in Britain, Rostock is therefore both a destination in its own right and a practical stepping stone for freight transport onwards to Scandinavia and the wider Baltic region.

The route from the UK to Rostock

After crossing the Channel on the ferry from Dover to Calais or on Le Shuttle from Folkestone to Coquelles, the vehicle drives through Belgium and the Netherlands into northern Germany. The A1 leads past Bremen and Hamburg to Lübeck, where the A20, often called the Baltic Sea motorway, continues east along the coast directly to Rostock. From the Rostock interchange, the A19 heads south towards Berlin.

For shippers in the north of England, a North Sea crossing, for example from Hull to Rotterdam, can shorten the road section on the Continent. In the city itself, the Warnow Tunnel, a toll tunnel under the river, connects the western districts with the port area and can save time on deliveries across the Warnow.

Customs for freight to Rostock

Since Germany is part of the EU, goods from Great Britain need an export declaration in the UK and an import declaration in the EU. Both the sender and the importer need EORI numbers. At Dover and via the Channel Tunnel, the declarations are attached to the vehicle in GVMS by means of a Goods Movement Reference. DAGO Express does not prepare these documents, so please discuss the requirements with your customs agent before collection, especially if the goods continue by ferry to Sweden or Denmark.

Your freight forwarder for the UK and Rostock

More than 50,000 vehicles in 38 countries form the DAGO Express network, which over 15,000 companies use for their shipments. Verified partners holding a valid EU licence, and an ADR licence where the goods require it, carry out the cross-border runs. On a long route to the Baltic, it matters that a replacement vehicle takes over at once if a breakdown occurs. Our team monitors all shipments around the clock, including weekends and public holidays.

We are ISO 9001 certified, and your freight is insured through the Schunck Group up to 8.33 SDR per kilogram of gross weight. Additional insurance for higher-value goods can be arranged at short notice. A tracking link arrives after booking, and emails keep you informed at collection and delivery. The DAGO ShipperHub lets regular shippers manage orders, check ETAs and KPIs and export real-time reports to PDF or Excel, with an API for connecting their ERP system.

You can work out the price for your haulage in the online calculator by entering postcodes, dimensions and weight, and the result appears in seconds. You can also book in the DAGO app or request a quote by email. From Rostock, the network also reaches Poland, Denmark and Sweden.