The Port of Antwerp, in Belgium, is arguably Northern Europe’s second largest and in terms of services offered, one of the most comprehensive ports. The port’s portfolio includes everything from product carriers, mega-boxships, dry bulk, multi-purpose vessels to an extensive barge traffic linking the European hinterland. Because of its inland location, one of the lesser-known advantages of the port is it is able to work through storms longer than other North Sea ports with more direct exposure.
A curious geographic factor sometimes overlooked with the successful menagerie of ship services is that the Port is located nearly 50 miles inland from the North Sea and is effectively cut off from expanding westward by a strip of the neighboring Netherlands, which the Port of Rotterdam is a part.
But the port, located on the Scheldt River, has a long history of being resourceful and the current five-year (2014-18) Business Plan is a good example of making use of the advantages of the port region’s unique geography. With a year into the five-year plan, the port has already posted impressive numbers and made significant progress on the infrastructure projects designed to build up the port’s various commercial activities.
Box Totals Point Out Need for Expansion In 2014 the port set a record, just shy of 200 million tonnes of freight, an increase of 4.3% in comparison with 2013, a year that was itself record breaking. The new record came despite breakbulk off -2.0% and dry bulk another -6.1%. However, container traffic was up 5.9% and liquid bulk 5.6% to help lift the tonnage totals.
And it looks like the record run will continue. First quarter numbers for this year are up 5.9% with box volumes having increased by 9.5% to 2,351,299 TEUs.
The trend of the mega-container ship call was a big part of the story. The number of ULCS (ultra-large container ships of 10,000 TEU or more) calls was 266 ships, which was 68 more than 2013, an increase of 34.3%. The growth was particularly notable in ships of 13,000 TEU or more, with an increase of 82 (65.6% increase) in the number.
Wim Dillen, Senior Business Development Manager, Port of Antwerp said in an interview with AJOT, that part of the reason for the bump in containerized cargo “is the 2M alliance of Maersk and MSC [Mediterranean Shipping Company]”. The alliance added TEUs to the already substantial MSC tally at the port, along with the bigger ships.
MSC currently operates Delwaide dock on the right bank area of the port. However these operations are being shifted to the Deurganck Dock on the left bank of the Scheldt River.
Dillen explained, “Delwaide dock had reached full capacity [estimated since 2010] so the way to growth seemed blocked, but by shifting to the larger location in the Deurganck dock, MSC showed its [commitment to] growth” in the port. With larger ships on the way, MSC also wanted to be at a terminal outside the locks system with open access to the Scheldt River.
The new facility at Deurganck has access to open water and with some of the world’s largest and most advanced gantry cranes, can handle the mega-container ships. The facility will have annual capacity of 11 million TEU.
The end of the Deurganck Docks also provides access through a lock to the facilities on the Waaslandkanal. These facilities are principally accessed via the Berendrecht lock, which involves a longer transit on the Scheldt and building a new lock would not only save time, but also allow access to larger vessels.
The new gates were built in China by well-known gantry crane constructor ZPMC (Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company Ltd). Reputed to be the biggest lock gates in the world, they arrived aboard the heavy lift ship Zhen Hua 15 at the Port of Antwerp on May 25th for installation. The Deurganck dock lock is 4 m deeper than the Berendrecht lock, to enable larger ships access to facilities in the basin behind the gates. The four lock doors have dimensions of 70L × 11W × 27H m and weigh in at 2,000 tonnes each. The locks cost Euro 340 million with 50% of the price tag financed by the EIB (European Investment Bank).
Future Projects
Although the opening of the Deurganck terminal significantly boosts Antwerp’s capacity, the latest forecasts for the port suggest the need to build in significantly more container handling capacity as of 2020-2021.
According to Dillen the Authority has already began planning for the eventuality by planning to add terminal capacity in a designated 1,000 hectares area on the left bank, which will be phased in as the market dictates.
The Port Authority plans for the first phase of the Saeftinghe dock to be operational as of 2021, with 1,400 m of quay and a minimum capacity of 5.1 million TEU. The costs for this first phase of the dock are estimated at Euro 660 million. While it is uncertain when the second phase of the Saeftinghe dock will be completed, the eventual length is expected to be 4 kilometers.
Another site that is likely to come on stream in the near future is 150 Delwaide dock site that MSC is vacating.
On May 4th The Port Authority announced it would open exclusive negotiations with the Saudi Arabian company ERS (Energy Recovery Systems) for the southern and northern sides of the concession, representing an area of 150 hectares. ERS proposes to use the site to set up a new production unit for “green” ammonia and urea, representing an investment of Euro 3.7 billion euros.
