The joint container promotion by the Ter Haak Group and Port of Amsterdam is paying off. Three container shipping companies have chosen the Amsterdam port for the supply of West African cocoa beans to the European market.

The West Africa ARN service of Mitsui Osk Lines (MOL), the NAF service of Zim and the WAX service of Hapag Lloyd are set to call in Amsterdam. During the peak of the cocoa season the container services will make their way to Amsterdam, unloading at the United Stevedores Amsterdam terminal (a subsidiary of the Ter Haak Group).

"We are delighted with this development. It's a good start to putting Amsterdam back on the map as a container port," says Richard ter Haak, Chief Executive Officer, Ter Haak Group. "And at the USA terminal we provide all the services a shipping line needs."

ARN’s, NAF’s and WAX’s routing includes: Dakar (Senegal), Tin Can Island (Nigeria), Tema (Ghana), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), San Pedro (Ivory Coast), Antwerp (Belgium), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Hamburg (Germany) and Thamesport (United Kingdom). The first scheduled vessel, the Buxsailor (Zim), will call at the USA terminal on December 26th. The Buxsailor has a capacity of 1,684 TEUs.

"Amsterdam is a flexible, efficient and reliable port for containers," says Anja Vonk, press officer, Port of Amsterdam. "A congestion-free, intermodal port with excellent hinterland connections. An environment where we create tailor made solutions for our customers.''