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here for a list of all OT Africa Line agency offices
ASMAR (Associated Maritime Shipping Agencies) was founded
in 1982 in Antwerp. ASMAR provides- sales and marketing, documentation,
equipment control, ship’s husbandry, accounting, inland transportation
and operations.
OT Africa Line Service Brochure
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For comprehensive details highlighting our service from Spain please
see our latest service
brochure.
Antwerp
Port Information
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The implementation of the ISPS code came into effect on the 1st
July 2004, a global maritime security standard introduced by the International
Maritime Organisation (IMO) for member nations.
Below are the details of the Antwerp port plans for 2004:
An approved port facility security plan has been approved
Security is present at the terminals
CCTV is being fully implemented
Fences are being checked and repaired if necessary
Further investments are also being made
Hessenatie was founded in 1859. The concession for the first privately owned
terminal in the port of Antwerp was granted to Hessenatie in 1964. Soon after,
Hessenatie built several other terminals which were more or less specialized
in certain commodities. In the sixties Hessenatie handled the first containers
in Antwerp, resulting in full container terminals in 1980 and 1990. The most
recently built terminal, a ro/ro facility, was designed in close consultation
with our customers. Today Hessenatie can offer its customers tailor-made terminals
for the handling of all types of break-bulk cargo.
Hessenatie's turnover further increased in 2000 and reached a
new record with BEF 14bn. Hessenatie handled more than 31 million tons of general
cargo in
2000. There was an increase of 1 % on 1999. Container handling is Hessenatie's
single largest activity both in terms of volume and turnover. Some 500,000
cars, mostly new ones, were driven in and out of sea-going ro/ro vessels. Pre-delivery
inspection (PDI) activities showed a similar growth.
Barge
Service: Rotterdam to Antwerp
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At the present time, OTAL does not have direct calls in Rotterdam, having
switched its Dutch calls to Amsterdam. Therefore we are now able to offer customers
a new barge link between the port of Antwerp and Rotterdam.
The HT Holland barge terminal is a smaller dedicated facility which will allow
OTAL to offer a regular and reliable daily barging service between Rotterdam
and Antwerp with a sailing time of 10 hrs.
The HT Holland terminal is located at Seinehaven in the Botlek
area of the port. It is easily accessible by road too and offers stuffing and
stripping
facilities as well as storage facilities for hazardous cargo.
Covering 102,000m2
and with a quay length of 300 meters, it has a capacity of 150,000 containers
per year.
Port News ----------------------------------------------------------------------
New Antwerp EC Depot - December 2009
Two Antwerp port operators, DP World [www.dpworld.com] and Euroports [www.euroports.com]
[Manuport, Westerlund] have taken an option on a 10-ha parcel of land alongside
the Albert Canal in the future Beverdonk industrial zone near Grobbendonk,
with a view to developing an empty container depot and, in a second stage,
a barge terminal for full containers shipped over Antwerp. DP World and Euroports
are already working together in the TriLogiport project in Liège.
The objective is to downstream EC depot activities from the deepsea terminals
in Antwerp and at the same time relieve congestion on the E313 motorway,
as empties could be shipped by barge. If the project develops as planned,
warehousing could be added for CFS [Container Freight Station] activities.
The depot facilities would be open to all terminal operators. [WCN Dec 2009]
New
CEO Euroports Belgium - December 2009
Effective 01/01/10, Marc Pirenne has been appointed Chief Executive Officer
of Euroports Belgium replacing Nick West.
Antwerp Volumes Fall By 16% In 2009 - 30/12/09
Provisional cargo throughput figures from the Port of Antwerp indicate that
it will have handled some 158m tonnes in 2009, a decline of 16.7% from 2008.
The port authority attributes this drop simply to the economic recession.
This represents a slight improvement from the first half of 2009, when cargo
volumes were 20% down from a year earlier.
For the full year, general cargo volumes fell by 18% to just over 100m tonnes.
Containerised cargo was down by 14.1% to 87.1m but conventional general cargo
plummeted by 39.4%. This big decline in a relatively labour intensive segment
resulted in a large rise in unemployment among dockworkers. The port authority
commented that the fall in containerised cargoes reflected a significant shift
in trade patterns with liner operators cutting entire service loops and deploying
fewer but larger vessels.
On a positive note the port said that new river Scheldt navigation
regulations, which received final approval on 09/12/09 following a number of
trials, permit
the largest containerships to reach the upriver port complex more quickly.
Further dredging work in the Scheldt is due to start early in 2010.
The port authority confirmed that port dues and fees in 2010 will be frozen
for the second year in succession at their 2008 level. For conventional general
cargo the port has gone further and applied a 10% reduction in handling tariffs
in an effort to limit the rapid fall in volumes, but it called on employers
and trades unions to make greater efforts to improve efficiency. [LL 30/12/09]
Antwerp Hub Keen For Dredging To Start After Decade-Long
Hiatus - 19/10/09
The Dutch government decision to implement the treaty to deepen the River
Scheldt is a major boost for the Belgian container and general cargo hub
of Antwerp.
The saga of dredging the Scheldt, the key access artery for inland Antwerp,
has been dragging on for more than a decade because the shallower thresholds
and draught-constraining “hot spots” - 12 in all - lay within
Dutch territory. The two countries’ heavy historical baggage, plus
a Belgian suspicion that the Dutch authorities were delaying the process
to afford mega-port Rotterdam further commercial advantage, did not help.
The move by Dutch environmentalists in April to add further delay, via a
complicated court case on other green issues, had brought threats that Belgian
would seek action from the European Commission.
The legal logjam appears to be broken, and dredging work will
provide Antwerp with a minimum access depth of 13.1 m, independent of tide,
and extend the
tidal window for vessels of 14,000 teu to call at the Belgian port fully laden.
The treaty says the works have to be ended this year.
The Flanders government will fund roughly two thirds of the estimated €300m
($447.80m) dredging cost and one third will be met by the Dutch. The dredging
vessels and other equipment could start straight away and take 6 months to
complete the project.
The big advantage is that vessels will be able to go further inland and thus
closer to the hinterlands of France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
[LL 19/10/09]
Main European Ports Report First Half Results - 14/08/09
During the first six months of this year the port of Antwerp handled just over
77Mt of freight. This represents a drop of 19.9% compared with the same period
last year, when the volume was more than 96 Mt. The worldwide economic crisis
has naturally had a negative impact on the figures for the first two quarters
of this year. However, in percentage terms the figures are somewhat distorted
by the comparison with the exceptionally strong performance in the first
half of 2008, which in turn was partially due to the industrial dispute in
Le Havre during the period April-July.
The degree of decline in freight volume is more or less in line
with the expectations voiced by Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx earlier
this year when presenting
the figures for 2008 as a whole. “At that time we estimated that the
volume would down by around 15%,” he says. “In fact we expected
the decline in conventional/breakbulk to be smaller, but the volumes have stabilised
in the past few months, with the amount of shipping freight remaining the same
in the second quarter. We suspect that this trend will continue for the remainder
of the year. At the moment there are not enough signs for an economic revival
in the second half of 2009.”
The volume of bulk freight fell by 18.5% in the first half of
2009, to 27.1Mt. This was mainly due to the decline in dry bulk, which was
down by 43.6% to
7.9Mt, with ore down by 61.5%, coal by 42.8% and fertilisers by 48.9%. The
volume of liquid bulk, on the other hand, remained more or less stable at
19.2Mt. The volume of conventional/breakbulk was down by 35.5% to 5.4Mt. The
volumes
of fruit, fertilisers and chemicals fell only slightly, but steel and forest
products were down by 40%.
The container volume dropped 17.7% from 52Mt last year to just
under 43 Mt in the period January-June 2009. In unit terms the volume was down
by 18.5%
to 3.6M TEU. Ro-ro traffic declined by 33.1%, to 1.6Mt with car numbers
down by 32.5% to 341,997. The number of ship calls was down by 17.6%, to 6906.
Dutch Delay Scheldt Deepening - 01/08/09
The Port of Antwerp, Belgium, has expressed concern over a decision of the Council
of State in the Netherlands to suspend the routing decree and one of the implementation
permits for deepening the navigation channel in the Western Scheldt. The decree
covers deepening of 12 shallow points that are currently not deep enough for
the largest ships. Antwerp, which has long pleaded for deepening so as to afford
tide-independent navigation for ships with a draft of up to 43ft [13.10m],
says that the project is of crucial importance for further economic development.
[WCN 01/08/09]
‘Year Of Two Halves’ For Belgium’s
Box Leader - 19/03/09
Antwerp [www.portofantwerp.be] stepped up one place to a lucky number 13
in 2008, after notching a 6%
increase in container volumes to 8.66m TEU. Antwerp port bosses emphasise
that the Belgium box hub’s
Deurganckdok container terminal site has another 5m teu of unused capacity
available on the landbank. The
argument is that Antwerp can offer readily available container space when
European rivals are either space
constrained or still spreading the concrete.Antwerp wants to move more Chinese
cargo and want to raise its visibility in that market, whilst retaining
traditional trades of North America, South America and Africa.
Official TEU figures for the last quarter of 2008 versus 2007
show a 3.1% fall to just over 2-million. But
January 2009 container handling figures for the Antwerp Gateway terminal alone
indicate a 38.6% fall in
volumes to 43,300 teu from 70,000 teu a year earlier.
DP World, which owns 42.5% of Antwerp Gateway, would not comment on those figures.
But DP World’s
managing director for Europe and Russia, Flemming Dalgaard, said that 2008 “had
been a year of two
halves, because first half volumes were quite strong while in the second half
they started to slow down”.
Strikes at the French port of Le Havre in the first half of 2008 saw containerships
diverted to Antwerp,
boosting volumes at the Belgian hub. From the summer onwards, the strikes were
effectively over and the
global financial crisis kicked in. [LL 19/03/09]
Antwerp - African Traffic Fastest Growing Trade - 13/03/09
The port of Antwerp handled 8.7 million TEU in 2008, up 6% year-on-year. Full
boxes accounted for 84% of throughput. With a 38% share, Asia [comprising
Middle East, Indian Sub Continent and Far East] was the main trading partner,
followed by the Americas [North and South]. Africa traffic was, by a small
margin, the fastest grower [+9%], followed by Asia [+8%]. [DY 13/03/09]
Belgian Rail Creates Rail Force - 06/12/08
Belgian Rail has created a new freight division to focus on transport of
new cars and chemical products. Rail
Force will be the third product-specialised division of Belgian Rail’s
freight arm B-Cargo, after IFB/TRW
[Intermodal] and Xpedys [steel and bulk] and it will assume responsibility
for new cars and chemical products
business currently handled by Inter Ferry Boats [IFB]. [WCN 06/12/08]
Antwerp To Develop Saeftinghe Dock - 10/11/08
Antwerp is consulting the market on its plans to develop the multipurpose,
tidal Saeftinghe dock, north of its
latest Deurganck container dock port expansion. Besides logistics and industrial
activities, the project also
comprises a container facility. Fast-growing Antwerp handled 6.6 million TEU
in the first nine months of this
year [+9% year-on-year]. [DNL 45]
Rotterdam Looks Beyond Roads As Traffic Increases -
10/11/08
Rotterdam must develop new logistical concepts to cope with the expected
increase in container volumes
passing through the port. The Dutch port expects volumes to have doubled
to 20m teu by 2019 and is well
aware that moving these containers to the hinterland presents a considerable
challenge. The authority is
putting effort into developing new concepts, such as initiatives for container
transfer points in Amsterdam to
the north of the Netherlands and in Moerdijk to the south.
Rotterdam, where trucks will offload containers on to barges
or railways. Five shipping lines - Hapag-Lloyd,
Evergreen, Maersk Line, MOL and APL - have committed to the idea, as have terminal
operators APMT,
ECT and RWG. Other signatories include BCTN, an operator of four Dutch inland
shipping terminals;
specialist fruit stevedore Kloosterboer; UCT, an empty container depot operator;
and DHL Global
Forwarding. The planned site is a 17 ha area at Alblasserd with a quay on the
River Noord. Mr Toet said that
the transferium could take around 550,000 teu a year off the roads.
An inland barge terminal is also being developed for Heineken
in Alphen aan de Rijn, 75 km from Rotterdam.
This means that around 600,000 truck movements could be taken off the busy
A15, which is the main artery
to the port and is also due to be widened in the next few years. But this constituted
only 2% of total road
traffic in this area, while the port’s aim was to reduce traffic by at
least 20% during peak hours. Uniquely in
Europe, the Netherlands has given one single and independent traffic organisation
the mandate to organise
this reduction in road traffic.
In September, a port-wide pilot project involving night-time
trucking started. If trucks could visit the port
outside peak hours, this would ease possible bottlenecks.
The major terminal operators in Rotterdam, ECT and APM Terminals, are also
looking to introduce a truck
appointment system. In the respect of the container transferium, creating
this pre-gate to the east of
Rotterdam, 50 km from the terminals, would allow for an even tighter management
of supply and demand on
the A15.
Port of Rotterdam Authority has already made contracts agreements
with the new terminal operators on the
port expansion development Maasvlakte 2, stating that no more than 35%
of all hinterland transport should
go by truck. And it is planning similar agreements with port operators
as their contracts come to an end. But
a cut of 35% would still leave 6m teu to be moved by road in the future,
compared with 2m teu at present.
Developing these logistical concepts should allow Rotterdam to cope with
future growth, but the challenge
remained a considerable one. [LL10/11/08]
Boxes Keep Antwerp’s Growth Rate Buoyant - October
08
The Port of Antwerp is experiencing robust growth. During the first seven
months, volumes at the port increased by 7.9% but containers climbed by
12.7%. For
the first half of 2008, teu volumes climbed by 10.4% to 4.4m teu. When
looking at the port’s latest container facility, the Deurganck dock,
the rise in boxes is impressive growing a spectacular 39%.
Green Light for Scheldt Dredging - October 08
Dredging work on the River Scheldt, which started on 20/12/07, has already
been finished on Belgian territory and in the Netherlands the four Scheldt
Treaties have finally been approved by the Dutch parliament. The treaty ratification
process was completed in the summer and this means that deepening can now
start on Dutch territory. The work will enable larger ships to reach Antwerp
whatever the state of the tide. Once the deepening work has been completed,
seven out of 10 ships that currently face problems will be able to reach
the port of Antwerp without tidal constraints. Deepening of the navigation
channel will ensure tide-independent navigation for ships with a draught
of up to 13.10m.
Port
of Antwerp Launches New Website - 24/04/08
The Port of Antwerp has launched
their new website: www.portofantwerp.com. The
site offers the ports latest news as well as access to the port handbook, overview
of all facilities and a link to a vessel departure list.
Antwerp - Introduces Electronic
Access Passes - 22/08/07 As from 20/08/07, access to the Churchill Terminal quay 408/420
will be checked electronically. Truck drivers will have to present their personal
ALPHA Pass to be allowed entrance to the terminal to deliver/pick up their
containers.Drivers who do not have an ALPHA pass will have to buy a Visitor
Access Pass at the security office at the gate. The Visitor Pass costs 5 Euro
and is valid for one visit. As from 01/01/08 the price will increase to 10
Euro.
Belgium Targets Iron Rhine Rail Revival - October 2008
A major priority of the new Belgian state secretary for mobility and transport,
Etienne Schouppe, is that a dedicated European rail freight route, the Iron
Rhine, should reopen by 2016. Germany is in favour of reopening the historic
route which connected the port of Antwerp to Mönchengladbach, via the
Dutch towns of Weert and Roermond. The Belgian government is urging the European
Union to expand the F Corridor rail route, which runs from Russia through
Poland into Germany’s Ruhr area, to include Antwerp and Zeebrugge.
The Iron Rhine would then be a part of this major rail corridor.
Antwerp Traffic Up 8.1% In First Half Of 2008 - 28/07/08
During the first six months of this year more than 96 Mt of freight were handled
in the port of Antwerp, 8.1% up on the first half of 2007. May was the best
month ever, with a total volume of 16.84 Mt and 808,763 TEU. In tonnage terms
container traffic rose by 12% to 52.196 Mt in the January-June period, with
a 10.4% increase in unit terms to 4,434,400 TEU. The volume handled at the
Deurganckdok complex increased by no less than 39% compared with the first
half of last year.
The new dock has clearly brought a tremendous fillip for Antwerp,
but a further boost has come from industrial action in the port of Le Havre,
over the vexed
question of port reforms, which resulted in additional trade being diverted
to Antwerp.
The amount of bulk freight passing rose by 9.2% in the first
half of 2008. The increase is largely due to the growth in volume of dry bulk,
which
was
up by 18%. Iron ore throughput rose by 27.8% and coal traffic rose by 22.8%,
due in large measure to the restarting of a blast furnace in Liège and
producers buying in more and laying up stocks in response to rising prices.
On the "down side," the volume of conventional/breakbulk fell sharply,
with 13% less being loaded and unloaded between January and June. Steel in
particular is down, by 13.7%. Last year there was a surge in imports of steel
from China and India, but now there is less steel coming from these countries.
The volume of fruit handled rose slightly, by 1.7%. As regards ro-ro freight
there was in increase of 3.8%. The volume of cars handled rose by 5.7% to 506,501
cars. [WCN 28/07/08]
Antwerp: Containers Boom But Conventional Needs Attention
- July 2008
Antwerp is preparing the next massive container terminal complex, and steps
are being taken to shore up the port’s position in the break bulk and
neo-bulk sectors. The Port of Antwerp recorded an overall growth rate of
9.3% to reach 183Mt, and growth during the first quarter of this year of
3.4% to 46.2Mt indicates that 2008 performance will overtake the previous
year despite a more pessimistic European economic outlook.
