Port of Zeebrugge Steering ahead

A young seaport with modern port equipment suitable for the largest ships, the port of Zeebrugge has an ideal location to serve the markets of continental Europe as well as the British Isles. This Flemish port is one of Europe’s prime RoRo and container ports and handles 43 million tonnes of cargo every year. Zeebrugge mainly handles unit loads (containers, trailers and new cars). In addition, large volumes of conventional cargo (fruit, wood pulp), high & heavy cargo, natural gas and bulk loads transit in Zeebrugge where they are handled on specialised terminals. In an exclusive chat with Indian Transport and Logistics News (ITLN), the port of Zeebrugge’s Chief Executive Officer Joachim Coens says the port is looking forward to a promising year ahead in the automotive business. 1.As a major European container port, what are some of its major advantages and a few of its key challenges? Zeebrugge enjoys a favourable geographical position at the North Sea, the busiest shipping route in the world. Zeebrugge is a deepsea port which can accept the biggest vessels without compromise and can offer a very quick vessel turnaround. The coastal port offers recent state-of-the-art port infrastructure. Our biggest challenge is to maintain our position and growth rate despite the heavy competition and the overcapacity in the market. 2.The port of Zeebrugge handles a great deal of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). How have developments in the European energy sector affected the work of the port? What do you see as the challenges for the future? LNG is said to become the future bunkering fuel for the shipping industry. In this respect the world’s first LNG bunkering vessel will be operating in the port of Zeebrugge, having more than 25 years of LNG experience. Zeebrugge becomes the official distribution point for Russian gas from the Yamal Peninsula. In this respect considerable investments are planned (5th storage tank and 3rd jetty) in the port.

3.What are some of the recent developments in terms of improving infrastructure facility at the port of Zeebrugge? In terms of infrastructural improvements, the opening of De Hanze terminal, which is a facility for car handling for international car operators and deepening and strengthening of the quay wall at the PSA – CHZ terminal to accommodate the largest container vessels are among the recent developments at the port. 4.Port of Zeebrugge is known for its Ro/Ro business, could your give us a sense of the volume in your Ro/Ro traffic on an yearly basis and how significant is the growth rate in this sector for the port? Being one of the world’s leading ports for the export and import of new cars, last year, the port handled a record volume of 2.2 million handled units on a yearly basis. These new cars are shipped not only within Europe but also worldwide. 2015 promises to be another very strong year for the automotive sector in Zeebrugge, as our terminals are very successful in attracting new business agreements. The port registers growing volumes and extra departures shorts to roro destinations. The total roro volume in 2014 amounted to 13.04 million tonnes (+4% in comparison to 2013). 5.On the container volume, can you give us the numbers for the last calendar year? The container traffic amounted to 20.51 million tonnes in 2014, an increase of 0.5 percent over the previous year.