The Port of Antwerp saw a 5 per cent increase in transhipment traffic to 120m tonnes during the first six months of 2021 compared with the same period last year. Despite the ongoing pandemic, throughput reached 120m tonnes.
Transhipments with the UK and Ireland also show positive figures; the expanded shortsea connections in response to Brexit are proving effective.
Containers are the only cargo type that has continuously grown since 2014,upby4.3 per centin the first half of the yearcompared to 2020, andby3.9 per cent compared to 2019 (in tonnes).
Conventionalbreakbulkgrew by 41.2 per cent compared to 2020 to equal the throughput of the first six months of 2019.
With an annual cargo flow of around 15m tonnes, the UK is the third largest maritime trading partner for the Port of Antwerp.
The start of Brexit at the beginning of this year therefore created major challenges due to increased administrative complexities and more controls, which resulted in congestion, longer transit times and higher costs.
As a result, the flow of goods between the EU and the UK is decreasing, the port said. Despite these difficult conditions, however, the port of Antwerp recorded growthin total throughputof 11.1 per cent with the UKand 12.1 per cent with Irelandin the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2020.
In preparation for Brexit, Port of Antwerp put all its efforts into further expanding short sea connections with the UK and Ireland in order to achieve the modal shift from ferry to container transport.
Five years after theBrexitreferendum, the port of Antwerp is now connected with 12 British and Irish ports. In fact, Irish importers and exporters are increasingly abandoning the land bridge over the UK and are instead opting for a direct maritime connection.
This way, cargo remains within the European Union and British customs formalities and duties are bypassed. For example, Eucon, an Irish shipper, has expanded its shortsea sailings from Antwerp to Ireland with an additional ship, mainly between Antwerp and Dublin.
Meanwhile, the Antwerp@C consortium said it was making good progress in the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon port.
The feasibility studies have been completed and the consortium is preparing to enter the design phase. The project, an initiative by Air Liquide, BASF, Borealis, ExxonMobil, INEOS,TotalEnergies,Fluxysand PortofAntwerp, has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions in the Port of Antwerp by half by 2030. It will do this by capturing CO2 and using it or storing it permanently.
Serge Amorgaste, sales manager at Eucon, said:'The strategic location of Antwerp and the reliability and flexibility of the network offered from and to Antwerp, ensure the right transit time to meet the growing demand of our customers. Multimodal transport is the right tool for this door-to-door concept.'
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO at Port of Antwerp, commented:'We knew that Brexit would have major consequences for the transport of goods between Europe and the UK.
“By preparing ourselves well and focusing on short sea connections and LoLo cargo, we can convert the challenges into opportunities.
The positive half-year figures for transhipment with the UK and Ireland confirm this. After Brexit, Antwerp wants more than ever to be the gateway between Europe and the UK and Ireland.'
Annick De Ridder, Port Alderman, added:'Despite the difficult circumstances in which we started 2021, we can show that the port is holding its own and is once again even recording growth in container handling.
“The economic urgency for extra container capacity is clearly demonstrated, more than ever. The figures are a confirmation of the resilience of our port and of the flexibility of all employees who ensure that everything keeps running.”
