All stakeholders involved in the port of Antwerp signed a roadmap of measures to improve the container barge transport. With this agreement the parties worked out feasible solutions to permit sustainable growth of container barge transport in the port of Antwerp.
In 2017 the freight volumes and the larger ships calling at the port led to peak load on the terminals, with longer waiting times for container barges as a result.
For this reason, the barge operators, shipping companies, shippers, forwarders, NxtPort, CEPA, the Flemish Government, Flemish Waterways, Alfaport-Voka (Chamber of Commerce) and Antwerp Port Authority, signed a declaration of intent on 6 July 2017, to promote container barge transport in the port.
The agreements focus on three main areas:
- Planning & collaboration;
- Consolidation;
- Digitisation.
Planning & collaboration
- Minimum handling capacity for container barges, with stricter planning agreements, supported by BTS (Barge Traffic System).
- Centralised barge scheduling. The three large terminals (PSA, MPET and DP World) are conducting a large-scale trial to deal with barge scheduling on a port-wide basis, which will make the entire scheduling process easier for all parties.
- Collaboration between the barge operators to streamline their scheduling, from June 2018.
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Consolidation of freight volumes
Consolidation of freight volumes will enable larger call sizes for the barges being handled on the shipping terminals.Here there will be a trial period as of October 2018. During this trial the minimum call size has been set at 30 containers per call. To help the barge industry make the transition to larger calls, the Flemish government and Antwerp Port Authority have introduced a temporary package of operational and financial subsidies which will gradually be reduced.
Digitisation
Digitisation and centralisation of data will facilitate more proactive planning and follow-up. NxtPort will create new digital applications, focusing on sharing information sooner so that all parties can benefit from efficiency.
In addition to the above measures, other factors will play their role to improve operation. One example are the measures to deal with dock labour shortages. CEPA will try to reduce training times for dock workers. Another example is a dedicated barge capacity on the shipping terminals. Antwerp Gateway will start a new construction project in the summer of 2018.
