Port of Antwerp and the global operator PSA International have agreed to deepen the quay wall and the berths at the PSA Antwerp Europa Terminal, which began operations in 1990 as the first tidal container terminal at the Belgian port.
[s2If is_user_logged_in()]The two companies will have to demolish the current quay wall with a length of almost 1,200m and replace it with a new one in order to increase the maximum draught from 13.5 to 16m.
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp, said, “this deepening is in line with our ambition to continue to grow as a port in a sustainable way and will contribute towards maintaining our position as a world port.”
With this deepening project, Port of Antwerp and PSA Antwerp aim to enable the Europa Terminal to handle the largest container vessels and confirm their ambition to make the best and most sustainable use of the existing space at the port.
“This major investment meets the needs of the major shipping alliances,” highlighted Jan Van Mossevelde, managing director of PSA Antwerp, and pointed out, “When the works are completed, we’ll be able to handle two megamax ships simultaneously at a brand new and innovative terminal.”
As extensive maritime works, which are expected to start at the end of the year, will be necessary to achieve this deepening, the project will be carried out in three phases in order to limit the operational impact. This will allow a large part of the terminal to remain operational during the period that deepening works are taking place. In the meantime, another part of the capacity will be diverted to Antwerp’s Noordzee Terminal, which is also operated by PSA.
PSA Antwerp is responsible for the renovation of the layout of the adjacent front quay, including new flooring and the installation of large container cranes. The quay wall will be equipped with infrastructure measures that will enable the implementation of shore power. Additionally, an underwater dam will protect the nearby Galgenschoor nature reserve.
Currently the Europa Terminal offers 790 reefer plugs, while the Belgian port handled a total volume of 1 million TEU in reefer containers during 2020, which represents a noteworthy 10.5% growth from 2019.
The refurbished terminal aims to develop this business as The Port of Antwerp said that the increased demand for healthy foodstuff worldwide has played an important role in the increase of reefer traffic.
“We have noticed that traders in perishables attach great importance to solid service. In order to play a pioneering role in this respect, Port of Antwerp is investing heavily in digitalisation. The use of real-time data, both with regard to the transport and the products, facilitates the timely detection of bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the supply chain,” commented Vandermeiren.
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