Following COVID-19, North Sea Port recorded a decrease of 11.5%, with 32.4 million tonnes of seaborne cargo transhipment in the first half of 2020, commenting that the pandemic was visible in the second quarter.
Accordingly, the port notes that 36.6 million tonnes were transhipped to and from seagoing vessels in the first six months of last year, the figure was 4.2 million tonnes down for the same period this year.
A decline was seen in all sectors, except the container sector. Liquid bulk fell by 17.3% (1.8 million tonnes), dry bulk by 7.2% (1.3 million tonnes), ro/ro experienced a decline of 29% (0.5 million tonnes) and breakbulk decreased by 13% (0.7 million tonnes).
On the other hand, container transhipment rose by 5.4% and its growth continues. This reflects the fact that a number of companies in North Sea Port have been able to attract new services over the past three years, in some cases scheduled services, giving the port a sustained boost.
Concerning the second quarter, the port stats that the pandemic was particularly felt, with quarterly figures of 15.6 million tonnes compared to 18.7 million tonnes in 2019. This represents a drop of 3.1 million tonnes or 16.4%. The first quarter of this year saw a fall of 6.6%.
Concluding, for inland navigation, North Sea Port recorded a total of 28 million tonnes of cargo transhipment in the first six months of this year, compared to 29.5 million tonnes in 2019. This represents a fall of 5% (1.5 million tonnes).
