The port of Antwerp is set to invest 1.4 million euros over the next three years in seven projects aimed at making the port of Antwerp’s freight traffic smoother and more efficient and the port more sustainable in general.
The seven projects will be financially supported, in order to reduce the number of truck trips by up to 250,000 annually.
The seven projects that will be funded, have been selected on the basis of a Call for Proposals (CfP) that the Port Authority issued at the start of this year.
With the CfP the Port Authority aims to stimulate the market “to come up with new, more sustainable mobility solutions, or improvements to existing mobility solutions for handling the flow of maritime trade,” port of Antwerp said.
In the context of the Call for Proposals, the port will support the construction of five hybrid barges.
Namely, The Dutch company Port-Liner specialises in building “zero emission” barges. The company submitted a project, which will build five hybrid barges that will ply between De Kempen intermodal terminal in South Netherland and Antwerp. These hybrid barges will result in 23,000 fewer trucks on the roads annually.
Other than the above mentioned project, the other six include the following:
- The terminal operator DP World aims to make improvements to existing rail products and to attract new rail services,
- The multimodal logistics service provider Delcatrans is developing a reefer platform for barge transport at its River Terminal in Wielsbeke,
- Hakka NV submitted a proposal that uses a digital platform for an application that finds return loads for trucks, thus making truck transport more efficient,
- Danser aim to set up a hub-and-spoke concept along the Brussels-Scheldt canal, and introduce a corridor system between northern France and Antwerp,
- Euroports Inland Terminals is to introduce a new rail connection between Liège (Ile Mosin) and the port of Antwerp,
- Slovak Shipping and Ports will start operating combined trains with a mixture of intermodal and conventional wagons that will travel two times per week between the terminal in Bratislava and the port of Antwerp.
Port alderman Marc Van Peel stated: “A modal shift towards more sustainable methods of transport that place less burden on our roads or even avoid them altogether is crucial for more efficient mobility, not only at present but also in the future. That’s why the Port Authority will be supporting private-sector projects over the next few years that contribute to more efficient truck and other transport in and around the port.”
