Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam (ECT) and a consortium of inland terminals and barge operators launched Barge Transferium Maasvlakte (BTM) at the ECT Delta terminal at the start of June.
Within the partnership, ECT has agreed to make a section of terminal quay as well as a crane and a crane team available to the consortium on fixed days and times at a fixed rate.
The barge operators will handle planning themselves, and the participating parties determine in consultation when, and how often, they wish to use the quay. Since this arrangement is not subject to minimum call sizes and other restrictions, users are rewarded with a unique level of flexibility.
Port of Rotterdam Authority continues to update the handling of inland shipping in the major Dutch port with solutions like Barge Transferium Maasvlakte, Nextlogic and Fixed Windows.
It has been some two years since ECT first shared its ideas about a transfer point of this kind with the inland shipping sector and discussed them with interested parties. In response, the Danser Group and Combi Terminal Twente presented a plan to further flesh out the concept together with ECT. The two companies subsequently formed a consortium with 26 other parties to ensure that the transferium capacity would be utilised. After several pilot projects, BTM is now officially ‘open for business’.
