The Gellenstrom is a

shipping channel In physical geography and hydrology, a channel is a landform on which a relatively narrow body of water is situated, such as a river, river delta or strait. While ''channel'' typically refers to a natural formation, the cognate term ''canal'' de ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and forms the northwestern access to the ports of

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

and

Strelasund The Strelasund or Strela Sound is a sound (geography), sound of the Baltic Sea which separates Rügen from the Germany, German mainland. It is crossed by a bridge called the Strelasund Crossing from Stralsund. It runs northwest to southeast from a ...

. It is located in the

west of the peninsula of

Gellen The Gellen or Gellen Peninsula () is a spit at the southern end of the island of Hiddensee off the north German Baltic coast. Its southern part is protected as an important bird reserve and is part of protection zone I of the Western Pomerania Lag ...

which gives it its name and which forms part of the island of

Hiddensee Hiddensee () is a Auto-free zone, car-free island in the Baltic Sea, located west of Germany's largest island, Rügen, on the Germany, German coast. The island has about 1,000 inhabitants. It was a holiday destination for East Germany, East Germ ...

. In addition, it is the main route from the

Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain The Darss-Zingst Bodden ChainMüller, Felix et al. (2010). ''Long-Term Ecological Research: Between Theory and Application'', ''Coastal Lagoons - Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain'', Sect. 12.3.3, Springer, Heidelberg, London, New York, p. 173. () is a w ...

to the Baltic. The Gellenstrom has a guaranteed depth of 3.70 metres and is controlled by the

light which marks its northern approach. The maximum speed limit is 10 kn. To the south is the port of Barhöft, which is also accessible from the Gellenstrom via the Barhöft Creek (''Barhöft -Rinne''). To the west is the island of

Bock Bock () is a strong German beer, usually a dark lager. History The style now known as ''Bock'' was first brewed in the 14th century in the Hanseatic town of Einbeck in Lower Saxony. The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers ...

, which was formed from sand dredged from the channel.

References

{{Coord, 54, 27, 59.566, N, 13, 3, 31.36, E, type:waterbody_region:DE-MV_dim:2500, display=title Baltic Sea Vorpommern-Rügen Hiddensee Shipping channels