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 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R00020011022-9

Most of East Germany's maritime trade, which in 1972 amounted to a total port cargo turnover of some 15.9 million tons, is conducted through its major ports. Rostock (including Warnemuende) handles about 60% of the tonnage—about six times the amount handled at Wismar, the second leading seaport. At Rostock (Figure 9) an extensive program of expansion during the past decade, including a completely new deepwater port, has made it one of the prime seaports in the Eastern European Communist countries. Its modern facilities include equipment and storage areas specially designated for containerized cargo, a new and well-equipped petroleum-transfer harbor, and two major shipbuilding yards. Further development of the port may include a new and more efficient specialized container terminal and, in the roads outside the port, construction of an offshore oil terminal capable of accommodating supertankers. Wismar handles mainly bulk cargoes (Figure 10) transferred directly between ship and railroad car; it is also the site of one of the most modern shipbuilding yards in East Germany. Stralsund, the third ranking seaport, is accessible only to small oceangoing vessels but is a key rail center and site of an important shipyard. Sassnitz, important as a terminus of the train ferry between East Germany and Sweden, is an active fishing port and site of a naval operating station. Peenemuende is primarily a naval operating base. The minor ports handle commercial cargoes, accommodate naval vessels, and serve shipbuilding and repair

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R00020011022-9