Tag: Port of Rotterdam

After her christening, the ‘Frigg W’ the first in a series of four new multi-purpose vessels of Dutch breakbulk shipping line Cargow is now in operation between Rotterdam, Norway and Reydarfjördur, Iceland. Portvlogger Steven was allowed to travel with the maiden trip and spoke to the four owners.

Odfjell Terminals will extend its existing jetty to accommodate vessels of the LR2 size with a maximum of 160,000 dwt. The expansion is done in close cooperation with the Port of Rotterdam. Odfjell expects to use the renewed jetty in the last quarter of 2018.

Rotterdam’s cruise season is set to start on 15 March, when AIDAperla will arrive for the first time at the Cruiseport Holland Amerikakade. The vessel, which replaced the AIDAprima, has arrived in Rotterdam a total of 78 times between April 2016 and November 2017.

Currently the Port of Rotterdam serves as the gateway to Europe. A point from where incoming cargo is distributed across the European hinterland. However with the new ‘Silk Road Railway’, the port will change from a gateway to a final destination. China considers Rotterdam to be ‘the long way round’ and wants to find a shortcut.

The Port of Rotterdam is seeking to promote extraction of bleaching earth, which is likely the least known waste product in the Rotterdam port area. A multi-million Euro investment is expected to provide annual savings of a few million Euros yearly and the recovery of several tons of vegetable oil. This can be achieved through a new extraction installation. 

Europe Beyond Coal groups and other NGOs, including Greenpeace and German Watch, have called on the Mayor of Rotterdam, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb; the CEO of Rotterdam Port, Mr. Allard Castelein; and the Rotterdam City Council, to phase-out coal transshipments, to mark the end of coal use in Europe.

A consortium of companies comprising Air Liquide, AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, Enerkem and the Port of Rotterdam Authority signed a development agreement for the initial investments in a waste-to-chemistry plant in Rotterdam. This will be the first plant of this type in Europe to offer a sustainable alternative for waste incineration, by converting plastic and mixed waste into new raw materials for industry.

In 2017, the sale of bunker oil in the Rotterdam bunker port was reduced from 10.1 million m3 to 9.9 million m3. The throughput of bunkered LNG increased from less than 100 tonnes to 1500 tonnes. Most bunkers contain fuel oil, in 2017, 8.3 million m3.

2017 saw particularly strong growth in container throughput of 12.3% in tonnes in the port of Rotterdam. Total cargo throughput rose by 1.3%, with the port returning to the growth trend seen before 2016. Total tonnage increased from 461 million to 467 million. The increase in containers was offset by a fall in dry bulk of 2.6% and in wet bulk of 4.1%.

Dutch-based dredging company Van Oord has launched its first LNG-powered crane vessel, 'Werkendam', in the Waalhaven in Rotterdam, marking "the start of a new generation of dredging vessels", that will focus on energy efficiency as a priority in the company's sustainability agenda.