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The Port of Rotterdam is running smoothly, but it aims
to do even better. Every year it carries record amounts
of cargo. In 2006 378 million tons passed through the
port, an increase of eight million tons over 2005.
Target volume for 2020 is 480 million tons. Aside from
growth, the port aspires to offer quality services,
convey an image of excellence, maintain a safe
working environment, and reduce carbon dioxide
emissions to half of their 1990 level by 2025.
Ambition is a department in which the Port of
Rotterdam is rarely lacking.
When it comes to growth, the construction of the
Second Maasvlakte is a very important development,
not only for the rapidly growing container transport
sector, but for the continued growth of chemical
industry as well. In 2007 a final decision was made to
reclaim this land, now a part of the North Sea.
Construction will commence in 2008 and in 2013 the
first container ship will sail through the Yangtzehaven
towards the newly harbour basin to load and unload
the first containers.
The fact that this decision was made in 2007 was of
great consequence for the Port of Rotterdam. The
demand for industrial lots in and around port is still
increasing, and as the port grows, every foot of
dockside and square foot of industrial lot will be hotly
contested. The construction of the Second Maasvlakte
means an increase of twenty percent over the current
amount of land zoned for industry. Thousands of acres
are to be added, even though 12,350 acres, of a total
surface area of 24,700 acres, are still vacant in port.
It was generally expected that Rotterdam would have
to turn down companies hoping to set up shop or
expand their activities in its port from 2014 onward.
The latter would have constituted an especially large
business risk, since companies that are unable to
expand locally tend to take their business elsewhere.
In addition, Rotterdam needs extra space to harbour
its growing container transport sector. Not only in
order to remain Europe's largest port in container transport, but also because the European hinterland
requires an increased capacity for importing and
exporting containers. One could say that the port is
fulfilling a societal need by expanding. The
Netherlands and the rest of Europe depend on the
Port of Rotterdam, and they need it to grow. By now the
rest of the Netherlands has been convinced of this
fact, paving the way for the construction of a new
4 million TEU (Twenty Feet Equivalent Unit) large
terminal. A concession for the building's construction
was signed in August 2007 by Hans Smit, president of
the Rotterdam Port Authority and representatives of a
consortium of shipping agents and the future operator
of the terminal. The Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG)
consortium consists of Dubai based DP World (owning
thirty percent of shares), shipping agents APL, HMM
and MOL (joining forces in The New World Alliance,
each owning twenty percent) and CMA CGM (which
owns ten percent).
Collectively these parties expect to invest 900 million
euros in the new 358 acre large terminal in the Michiel
de Ruyterhaven, opposite a construction site were
APM is erecting another 4.5 million TEU large terminal.
DP World is in charge of the total realization of the
RWG-terminal, from the drawing board to its actual
construction. DP World is a recognized name in the
business. It manages 42 terminals worldwide.
The Rotterdam Port Authority has negotiated a
remarkable condition in granting the construction
deal. The Port Authority has required that of all
containers carried inland, a minimum of 45 percent
will have to be transported over water. A huge amount
considering that inland shipping now accounts for
approximately 35 percent of container transport to the
hinterland. The processing of this cargo is a heavy
burden on the two operators (ECT and APM) at the
Delta terminal and that is frequently plagued by
congestion. Tackling this problem is considered a
major priority in Rotterdam.
The decision to transport cargo over water in spite of
these known issues is motivated by environmental
concerns and the condition of the road network
surrounding the port. A final decision on the Second
Maasvlakte was delayed by years when the Council of
State of the Netherlands found that the resulting air
pollution had not been sufficiently taken into account
by decision makers. A possible solution to this
problem was shifting a large fraction of cargo
transport from road to water, the latter being far less
polluting. Despite arguments to the contrary, it is an
established fact that inland shipping is far cleaner per
ton transported than road traffic, especially now that
higher environmental standards have been introduced
for the diesel engines used in inland shipping. In
addition, the shipping industry has recently adapted
low sulphur fuels, making soot filtering possible.
An additional argument for transport over water is the
fact that the A15 highway has a limited capacity to
absorb further traffic.
The N15/A15 highway south of Rotterdam connects
port and hinterland over an east-west axis. This
congestion prone road is a bottleneck for all transport
further inland. In the planning of the Second
Maasvlakte it has been taken into account that this
road will not be enlarged in the coming decades,
meaning an alternate route had to be considered. The
alternatives, namely rail and water transport, have been debated extensively. The railway referred to is, of
course, the freight train running from the Maasvlakte
to Zevenaar, known as the Betuwe Route. The Betuwe
Route is extensively discussed elsewhere in this
publication. Inland shipping is considered as well in
another chapter, but it is of great importance for the
future of the port that a significant fraction of inland
transport be carried out over water.
In 2007 the Rotterdam Port Authority introduced a
new strategy to reduce the usage of the A15 in favour
of inland shipping. Huge barges were to ship large
amounts of containers directly from the Maasvlakte to
terminals in the immediate vicinity of Rotterdam, in
Gorinchem or Dordrecht for example. From here on the
containers could be transported further by ship, truck
or train. These satellites of Port of Rotterdam were
referred to as 'transferia'. This is merely an example of
the creativity that the Port of Rotterdam brings to bear
in combating traffic jams in and around port and in the
continued promotion of Rotterdam as the world's
leading port.
Once the Second Maasvlakte has been constructed,
the Port of Rotterdam will be able to compete
effectively yet again. Before 2013 however, the
Second Maasvlakte will see no cargo passing through
it. In the meanwhile additional terminals are to be
constructed. The Euromax in the Yangtzehaven is an
important example, but 2007 and 2008 will also see
the construction of terminals dedicated to inland and
short sea shipping.
The Euromax terminal will be operational by 2008,
adding an additional 3.5 million TEU in capacity.
The takeover of P&O Nedlloyd by the Danish Maersk
concern - owner of APM Terminals - in 2007 ended the
joint construction of the Euromax Terminal by
P&O Nedlloyd and ECT. The latter will continue
this project alone.
Entrepreneur André Kramer opened a terminal
dedicated to inland and short sea shipping in 2007,
located on the Maasvlakte. In doing so, he is cleverly
exploiting the increased demand for maritime
transport and the need for a reduction in road traffic.
In 2008 ECT will open a terminal targeting the same
market on the tip of the Delta Peninsula. Expectations
are high for this terminal because smaller ships are to
be handled separately and will not have to wait until
a large crane becomes available on either side of
the peninsula.
The limited capacity of these cranes led to huge delays
for inland shippers over the course of 2006 and 2007.
An unacceptable situation, since barges usually
operate on a strict schedule, but the Port of Rotterdam
is optimistic that this problem will be solved soon
enough, as the port continues to grow towards a target
of 480 million tons of cargo transported in 2020.
It can be done.
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