President, Jan-Jaap in der Maur, interviews Jacques Vandermeiren, Port of Antwerp CEO.
The decision on whether to expand the Port of Antwerp with the Seaftinghe dock must be made by the government next year. If they get the green light, construction will begin. During his introduction interview at the NT Port Event, Jacques mentioned a completion date of 2022 or 2023. "The harbour is interesting to its clients because of the balance between imports and exports", he said. A port can distinguish itself in this manner. Yet, large Chinese companies consider the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam to be one harbour area. Jacques knows some include Zeebrugge in Antwerp. On the other hand, the ports must key into more cooperation and must profit in the proximity of the other ports.
Jacques sees collaboration opportunities in the areas of energy transition and finding ways to reduce CO2 emissions. Or ICT cooperation in order to establish a single digital structure. He expects that the concept of "friendly competition" will not apply to all the sectors. "There will always be competition in some sectors, like containers. It keeps us on our toes."
Uncertainty
There is a possibility of substantial consolidation and and expansion in scale. "This is an advantage for big ports, but a disadvantage for smaller ports", Jacques explains. Ships like the Madrid Maersk, which can transport more than 20 000 TUE which docked at the Ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam recently illustrates the trend. These large ships justify having big ports.
Since the maritime sector is divided into three alliances, there is a lot at stake for ports too. A shift in alliances can have major consequences for the port companies. "Since becoming director of the port, I have learned that these alliances hate uncertainty", he says. This is an important factor in the way the alliances choose routes. The congestion at Antwerp can be seen as such an uncertainty.
In order to solve the problem, various steps are being taken. Terminals are going to be operational 24 hours a day. This will mean more freight traffic on the ring at nights. This should alleviate some of the pressure. Jacques also wants to see if the 1 000 km of rail in the port can be utilised more efficiently. At the moment, the track is being used for 6 to 7% of the transport. If it were up to Jacques, this would increase to 15%. He even wants 20% of goods to be transported on the track for the planned Saeftinge dock.