Ports in the Benelux region of northern Europe have had a good start to the year when it comes to containerised cargo handled. However, recent weeks have seen serious congestion emerge at several terminals in Rotterdam and Antwerp, with barge and coastal shipping services mainly affected. Solutions need to be found, and quickly, as some lines  have already shifted some operations.

Figures released by the Port of Rotterdam Authority (HbR) and the Antwerp Port Authority (APA) for the first quarter of 2018 reveal what a good start to the year it has been, with  the volume of containers handled up by 6.1% (to 3.5M TEU) and 10.7% (to 2.74M TEU), respectively.

“The continued growth in container throughput is a confirmation that Rotterdam is taking an increasingly important position in the maritime networks of the large shipping alliances  [2M, Ocean and THE], and this means an increased concentration of cargo at the port,” explained Allard Castelein, CEO of HbR.

The executive explained that this trend was having a knock-on effect on Rotterdam’s feeder and shortsea services. Respectively, these sectors posted rises of 6.5% (to 600,000 TEU)  and 6.9% (to 700,000 TEU) in Q1 2018.

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of APA, expressed similar sentiments. “Our current growth figures in the container sector not only confirm the need for additional capacity, but also make it clear that our operational capacity will soon be exceeded. We need to add handling capacity much sooner than originally planned.”

Big ships, more boxes

The strong rise in box traffic has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the number of Neo-Panamax ships and ULCVs calling at northern Europe’s two largest box ports. This is  causing the two port authorities, their terminal operators and transport service providers, including barge operators, truckers and rail companies, considerable challenges.

Since March, container exchanges per vessel have risen sharply, while periods of poor weather, ships arriving off-schedule and priority being accorded to mainline operators have  meant barges and some shortsea vessels having to wait for berths. In some cases, the waiting times for inland waterway craft, which are the last to be given access to a berth, have  exceeded 80 hours.

Regular updates provided by Mannheim-headquartered Contargo, which transports over 2.3M TEU a year by barge and rail, reveal the seriousness of  the situation. “At present [early May], the waiting times for our barges in Antwerp are between 24 and 48 hours, and in Rotterdam anywhere between 12 and 48 hours,” the company said in a statement. Only when the situation improves we will reduce the surcharges.”

Contargo’s congestion surcharge of €19.50 for both full and empty containers covers all navigational reaches of the Rhine waterway and terminals in Antwerp and Rotterdam.

The congestion situation has become so problematic, and cargo owners’ supply chains so strained, that both ports – in conjunction with their various stakeholders – have stepped up  efforts to deal with the problems.

HbR’s anti-barge congestion plan involves at least 20 parties, drawn from the cargo owning, freight forwarding, barging, inland and deepsea terminal operating  and shipping line  sectors of the business. According to Castelein, “these stakeholders seriously acknowledge the congestion problem, and are willing to address it”.

He elaborated: “We [the Inland Container Shipping Sector Consultations] have clearly identified the bottlenecks, and the stakeholders have developed a better understanding of each other. It’s vital that we now test the roadmap of solutions available.” 

To date HbR has:

• ? Improved slot application procedures for inland vessels and barges by storing information on any changes in scheduling and craft sizes in the authority’s Portbase port  community system. These measures make it easier for both terminal operators and barge operators to draw up their schedules and gain better insight into the current status of  the handling process. 
• Secured agreements for the HbR to develop a chain performance dashboard. This will create a fact-based inventory of performance indicators covering crucial transfer elements  in the inland shipping chain. In turn, this will allow participating parties to identify the reasons for congestion, and then jointly work towards solutions.
• Increased the number of bilateral agreements between chain parties. This allows available slot capacity to be better utilised, and schedule reliability to be improved. In  particular, it has led to a reduction in the number of ‘no shows’, and increased the use of capacity that becomes available, often at short notice.

HbR is backing several of its anti-congestion initiatives with capital. The authority is, for instance, supporting the partnership recently established between Gorinchem-based HTS  Intermodaal, Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) and the D3T inland terminal in Duisburg. This group offers a fixed day of the week barge service between Duisburg, Gorinchem and  Rotterdam.

HbR believes that further progress will result from the development of Nextlogic, a digital platform that will allow operators of barges and cargo terminals to exchange information. It  is due to go live by the end of 2018.

 
Bolstering the ranks

Elsewhere, several private companies have tackled the congestion problem by recruiting additional staff, revamping existing services and starting new ones. In addition, initiatives,  such as guaranteed berthing widows for operators of the bigger barges are becoming increasingly available. For instance, Kramer Group, which provides a full range of container  terminal and logistics services in Rotterdam, has forged a close working relationship with the Danser Group, and increased the number of dedicated shuttle services between its main handling complex in Eemhaven and the deepsea terminals in the Maasvlakte area of the port. 

Currently, Kramer offers three sailings a week between Eemhaven and RWG, and daily sailings to/from APMT’s Maasvlakte I and II terminals. All sailings areon a fixed-time basis,  with Kramer using its facility as something of a container holding and clearance centre.

Andre Kramer, the company’s CEO, explained: “Inland vessels that cannot be handled on time at the Maasvlakte terminals, or do not meet the call size obligations of the deepsea  terminals, can unload their containers at our City Gate Maasvlakte facility in Eemhaven. We then ensure, in close cooperation with the deepsea terminals, that these containers are scheduled on one of our regular sailings.”

Digital solutions

While acknowledging the progress that had been made, HbR’s Castelein stressed that further effort was needed. “Barge congestion remains a complex and systemic problem that we  cannot resolve with a few simple measures,” he argued. “Therefore, we [HbR] will keep facilitating consultation between the chain parties, so that they can work together on new  solutions. In addition, we will continue to develop assets that can contribute to the smooth flow of cargo through Rotterdam – like our Nextlogic planning tool and the construction of  the Container Exchange Route.”

APA’s approach is similar to that of HbR, and is focused on improving planning and collaboration between stakeholders, encouraging cargo consolidation, and making greater use of  digital and information platforms.

 
In particular, the port authority wants terminal managers to provide minimum handling capacities at their facilities for barges, and for owners/operators of barges to collaborate on  issues such as scheduling and pooling of cargo. That way, fewer but bigger and more cost-effective craft could be deployed, thus alleviating some of the pressure on the wharves.

The authority sees the use of new technology as being very important in the process, with NxtPort developing a range of IT and digital platforms that will enable relevant information  to be centralised and then shared in a timely and efficient manner (see p40-41).

In further moves, training is being speeded up for stevedores, and plans put in place to provide dedicated facilities for loading/discharging barges at the port’s main container  terminals.

All ports in the Benelux region are using new technologies and digital platforms to increase their operational performance levels, productivity rates, and to improve their customer  interfaces. Rotterdam has teamed up with IBM and is developing a centralised dashboard that will collect all navigational and weather information, and allow a safer and more  efficient vessel traffic management plan to be devised.

 
Specifically, HbR expects the new system will allow it to reduce ship waiting times by determining the optimal periods for them to transit, berth and undertake cargo handling  activities. It should mean better utilisation of the wharves, and enhanced handling rates in the various terminals.

The port authority has estimated that implementation will result in shipowners/operators saving an average of one hour when it comes to berthing their vessels, which, in monetary  terms, could be worth US$80,000.

C-point portal

In Antwerp, the authority’s well-established port community system has been placed onto a new portal called C-point, which the port says will enhance its community,  communications and connections with its customers and other stakeholders.

“With C-point we offer [our clients] a clear guide to the expanding landscape of IT solutions, thus underlining Antwerp’s position as an efficient and transparent link in the global  supply chain,” said Erwin Verstraelen, chief digital information and innovation officer at APA.

APA is also embracing new technologies, with a view to creating a so-called Smart Port. This will allow all of its activities to be conducted more efficiently, safely and securely. Various  projects are underway, including Waterview and the use of an automatic sounding boat.

Waterview uses a mix of cameras and sensors that allow ships and barges to berth effortlessly, thus maximising the use of the port’s quays. Currently under trial on a section of quay in the northwest section of Deurganck dock, the system also automatically checks that the vessel is at the right berth. In Antwerp, all vessels arriving at the port are preassigned a  berth number.

“If ships fail to keep within the boundaries of their parking space, then this reduces the berthing capacity of the quay,” explained Piet Opstaele, innovation enablement manager at  APA. “The port authority’s dock masters check to ensure that each ship is berthed correctly, but, if the ship has already moored, then it is too late, as manoeuvring a ship to make it  properly positioned takes time and money, which we would rather avoid. Our smart parking initiative prevents this from happening.”

Waterview also aids the authority’s preventative maintenance and repair programmes, as wear and damage can be identified quickly, and action then taken. Potentially, it means  higher commissioning times for the berths, higher levels of productivity for the cargo handling facilities, and shorter and less expensive maintenance procedures.

Meanwhile, as part of a project to create a smart quay, APA has deployed an automatic sounding boat in the Deurganck dock. This carries out echo soundings at the commercial  berths, providing APA with an accurate and up-to-date picture of the water depths available. It means that any dredging that might be necessary can be carried out during periods  that have the least impact on vessel movements.

In another development, APA has joined The Beacon, a business and innovation hub based in the city of Antwerp that assists tech start-ups and employs specialist researchers in  concepts, such as the Internet of Things and use of Big Data. It has also put €200,000 into an electric barge project (discussed on p20).

 
Zeebrugge/Amsterdam

Smaller ports in the Benelux region have also had a good start to the year. At Zeebrugge, tonnage handled in Q1 2018 was up by more than 7% on the same period of 2017, at 9.4  Mt. Ro-ro and container traffic posted the fastest increases, with rises of 9.7% (up to 3.9 Mt) and 16.3%, respectively.

At Amsterdam, traffic volumes have increased as a result of the resilience of the local economy, growing demand for construction materials to support the building boom in the urban conurbation, and the decision of some carriers to use the port, rather than Rotterdam, owing to the latter’s congestion issues.

Samskip, the intra-European shortsea specialist, has started one loop to/from Amsterdam and Hull, and announced the start of a second link. This will use multipurpose general  cargo, ro-ro and container ships, and trade to/from Norway. Samskip is working closely with TMA Logistics (TMA), which operated Amsterdam Container Terminal. TMA also runs a  number of general cargo handling facilities in the port and in Antwerp.

Sjaak Melissant, sales manager, Quay to Quay Trade, Samskip, explained: “We needed some other options, and we found Amsterdam to be very close to some of customers, and to  also offer us a very cost-competitive position. In Rotterdam, we were facing some difficulties in shunting boxes between terminals while barges and rail services were congested.”

He sees many opportunities for Samskip to expand its operations in Amsterdam, referring to the possibilities in working with TMA as “endless” (see p23). 

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This complete item is approximately 2150 words in length, and appeared in the May 2018 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 47. To access this issue download the PDF here.