The Netherlands and Belgium were lashed in recent weeks by Storms Ellen, Dennis, and Ciara. The Ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp did not go unscathed. The storms caused waiting times to increase considerably.
The Port of Rotterdam
On Sunday, 16 February, the wind was sometimes so strong that ships could not be offloaded. The helicopter pilot could also not send any pilots out of the port. This was due to bad visibility. "As a result, the number of waiting ships ran up to about 15," says a Port of Rotterdam spokesperson.
"That number was halved on Monday, 17 February, and continued to drop. By the end of Wednesday afternoon, the pilotage service was back to normal. No more ships were waiting. On Thursday, 20 February, the service was adjusted to help small ships."
"Two days later, it was scaled up to accommodate all ships. This change did, however, not lead to a substantial number of waiting ships. It was just a handful. By 25 February, all pilotage services were back to normal," continued the spokesperson.
During storms, the harbormaster and inspectors are extra-vigilant regarding mooring set-ups. That is to say, they ensure that ships use sufficient mooring lines and that these are well moored. The ships' mooring lines must be at a proper angle and not too tight or too slack. Some ships were moored to mooring buoys during a storm.
The Port of Rotterdam also stipulates tug boat assistance as a condition of mooring during a storm. "One ship was blown out of its buoy. There were no further major incidents or damage reported. As far as is known, there were no injuries," says the Port spokesperson.
The Port of Antwerp
The Port of Antwerp suffered far less from the storms. "Antwerp lies further inland. That makes it less susceptible to storms. We experienced minimal impact from these storms," says a spokesperson from the Port of Antwerp.
"We were, however, in a state of extreme readiness. The entire situation of recent weeks was very well monitored. The damage, however, remained limited. Something did blow over here and there, but the damage was negligible."
"We deployed additional tugboats during the storms. These were at the ready if a ship needed them. But, they were not used much at all. That means the ships were not delayed much. So, here at the Port of Antwerp, it is business as usual," concludes the Port spokesperson.