Dockers’ protests at the RWG gate

The Netherlands and Brazil ink cooperation deal on green port development.

The aim is that by 2030 a large percentage of seagoing vessels will be ‘plugged in’ when at berth. Diesel generators can then be switched off.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority has this week officially commissioned the Container Exchange Route (CER). Three years overdue, the CER constitutes a closed road network between the deepsea container terminals, container depots and, ideally, most of the warehouses located on Maasvlakte I and II. Effectively, the fenced, concrete 17-kilometre track is an inter-terminal transport system between five competing deepsea container terminals who jointly handle about 13.5M TEU a year.

RWG will develop one deep-sea berth in the first phase of its expansion in Rotterdam, with an “automated container depot system” planned for a future phase.

Pressure is growing on both sides to settle this damaging dispute, as shippers worry about further action when the “peak” season is underway

New “premium” service will connect Rotterdam terminal to the Upper Rhine region.