AJOT correspondent Stas Margaronis made his first visit to Rotterdam’s Massvlakte 2 terminal complex back in 2010. A great deal has happened in the ensuing years at Maasvlakte 2’s terminals, both of which are expected to begin operations in November.
A visitor returning to the Massvlakte 2 (or M-2) site at the Port of Rotterdam is overwhelmed by the new container terminals that have replaced sandbars and dredgers in just four years.
The marine complex began construction in 2008. Container ships are expected to begin operations at the APMT and Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) terminals in November.
A staggering amount of work has been done to prepare the port for opening. Contractors placed 240 million cm (314 million cubic yards) of sand, constructed a 3.5-km hard seawall with 7 million tonnes of stone and 20,000 concrete blocks from the old seawall, built several kilometers of quay wall and laid down roads and railway lines. The port now has 700 hectares (1,729 acres) more land with another 300 hectares (741 acres) to be added in the second phase. Work is still underway to link Maasvlakte 2 infrastructure to the existing port area.
A tribute to the effective design and engineering is the fact the EURO 1.55 billion project was completed at 10%, or EURO 150 million, below the projected cost.
Aerial view of the Massvlakte 2 site at the Port of Rotterdam
The M-2 project is designed to handle growth over the next 25 years. For example, the M-2 offers terminals with a 65-foot draft alongside now. So, unlike many U.S. ports, which are dredging to 50 feet, the Port of Rotterdam is already a generation of boxships ahead. The new container terminals will have the capacity to handle the largest container ships in the world, says Sjaak Poppe, press officer for the Port of Rotterdam. “The [M-2] project called for the Port of Rotterdam to build a quay wall 40 metres (131 feet) in depth with a draft at the quay of 20 metres (65 feet), which is not now necessary for the current size of ships but could be in the future.”
Poppe noted that once the terminals become operational, the Port would enhance the lead over its competitor at the Port of Antwerp (Belgium). “We expect the first ships to arrive at the new Massvlakte 2 terminals in November 2014. Both APMT [owned by Maersk] and Rotterdam World Gateway [owned by Dubai Ports] terminals are in the process of testing cranes and integrating their informational and stack operations. We see Maasvlakte 2 as a long-term investment in the Port of Rotterdam expansion plans over the next twenty-five years. We do have competition from the Port of Antwerp which is also expanding rapidly and they are keeping us sharp, but they do not have a Maasvlkte 2 complex.”
APM Terminals looks to benefit from Maasvlakte 2 productivity. Maersk expects to benefit from opening up its new APMT terminal at M-2 in November, because of the limitations of its M-1 terminal. Poppe explained, “The APMT terminal at Maasvlakte 1 is not so full, but Maersk has built these 18,000 teu vessels and they cannot be as efficien tly accommodated at the Maasvlakte 1 terminal as they will be at the Maasvlakte 2 terminal. So the opening of the new Maasvlakte 2 terminal will help Maersk handle the bigger vessels.”
According to Poppe, APMT will also benefit from higher productivity through terminal automation. “At Maasvlakte 2, the crane operators no longer sit in the cranes as they do at the Maasvlakte 1 terminal. Instead they sit in an office and unload the ship using video cameras and joysticks. This improves the number of containers you can unload.”
Supporting the existing APM Terminals Rotterdam terminal, Maasvlakte 2’s on-dock rail terminal will initially include four tracks, expanding to eight tracks at full build-out with a direct connection to the Betuwe rail line, a 160 km (100 mile) dedicated double track electric-powered freight line which links the Port of Rotterdam with the German border at Zevenaar-Emmerich. The use of electrification of all equipment and green energy generated power will enable APM Terminals’ Maasvlakte 2 facility to be free of all CO2, NOx and particulate emissions. APM Terminals Maasvlakte 2 terminal will also provide access to the existing European river transportation network with a 500 meters dedicated barge quay.
When open in November, the new terminal will have an initial annual throughput capacity of 2.7 million TEUs, and will be capable of handling the world’s largest containerships with 1000 meters (3,281 feet) of quay with a depth alongside of 20-meters (65 feet).
Rotterdam World Gateway Terminal: Maasvlakte 2
In June the ZPMC vessel Zhen Hua 14 arrived at Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG), delivering the rail cranes and RWG’s last three container cranes.
RWG’s quay will be occupied by eleven gantry cranes and three barge/feeder quay cranes. With the delivery of these five cranes, RWG’s terminal is more and more taking shape. In the coming months the equipment, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) systems and business processes will be tested. Simultaneously educating and training of staff continues, the company says.
Besides the terminal, the RWG organization is also taking shape. Presently at 80% of its intended size, the RWG workforce is nearly at full strength to start the operational activities on the terminal. RWG says it will become one of the world’s safest, most sustainable, efficient and competitive terminals. By the end of 2014, RWG will be set to handle the newest generation container ships.
The new complex comes online at a time when Europe is still struggling from the aftereffects of the great recession. According to the Port’s report for the first half of 2014, the number of ocean-going vessels that visited the port declined by 1.5% to 14,417, but there were small improvements in container volumes: “Container throughput increased by…1.9% in terms of TEUs (standard measure for containers). This growth especially persisted from March onwards, with an average monthly growth of 4.5% in comparison to the same period in 2013. Deep sea cargo increased by 3.2% (in tonnes and TEUs) due to an increase in volumes along the east-west routes, including Asia-Rotterdam as well as North America.”
The Port Authority expects the throughout for all of 2014 to grow approximately 1%.
