Main events
In 2012, the scope expansion of container shipping worldwide caused several deep draft records to be set –and broken- in our port. China Shipping Container Lines’ Venus loaded so heavy in May that the ship left the port with a draft of 15,3 meters. Since then, already three vessels have surpassed this depth. Current record holder is CMA CGM Columba, that reached a depth of 15,6 meters when she left Zeebrugge on the night of November 28.
The water depth of our port was highlighted on 17 December when the largest container vessel in the world, CMA CGM Marco Polo, arrived in Zeebrugge. This giant’s visit brought the CMA CGM Group executives to Zeebrugge for the official European welcoming and christening of their newest vessel.
The past year, Port of Zeebrugge was put in the spotlight as a Food Port on several occasions.
The renewal of the contract between Zespri and Sea-Invest in Auckland, New Zeeland, was a significant moment for our port. Under the agreement, SEA-invest puts its infrastructure at the disposal of Zespri for the storage, quality control and packaging of kiwifruit that arrives from New Zealand in Europe via the port of Zeebrugge.From Zeebrugge, it is then distributed to 25 markets across Europe. For the port of Zeebrugge, a logistical crossroads for the European distribution of food products from New Zealand, the renewal of this contract is of great value. It also means job certainty for the 250 people who work at the Belgian New Fruit Wharf.
Earlier in the year, the efficient bundling of deep freeze cargo flows to Italy and the Halal certificate also created important opportunities for the import and export of food products.
Just before the Christmas period, two ships with in total 14.000 tonnes of lychees arrived in our port from Madagascar. These fruits are also handled and further distributed to all corners of the European continent.
The strongest results of 2012 are set in the break bulk sector. Especially the loads of paper pulp and paper and cardboard have risen significantly. The import of paper pulp from Brazil to Scandinavia through Zeebrugge and the export of paper to the US show very large increases. The sector closes the year with a rise of 17 percent.
Each year, the port authority works towards the future by making adjustments to the existing infrastructure and by setting up new projects. The lengthened Bastenaken quay and the Albert II quay were dredged. The most extensive works took place on the APMT and PSA terminal, these works enclose the lengthening of the quay wall of the APM Terminal and the deepening of the eastern quay wall of Container Handling Zeebrugge.
The construction of the second LNG jetty in the outer port of Zeebrugge has shown real progress this year. At the end of June, the installment of the last tube represented the finishing of the foundation structure. Last month, Fluxys opened up the possibility to book capacity for the new jetty in 2015. The number of bookings already made, now about 200, shows the shipping industry’s interest in this second jetty.
For a number of years, Zeebrugge has been an attractive cruise destination. In order to answer to this booming sector, the port authority ran an architectural competition to design a new cruise terminal in the outer port. The winner of this competition was announced in the fall. Salens Architects from Bruges will be delivering the final design. The cruise terminal is foreseen to be operational by 2015.
As part of our hinterland strategy to ‘follow the cargo’, the port successfully arranged two train shuttles in 2012. In January an agreement resulted in the start of a container shuttle between Zeebrugge and Dourges, three times a week. The shuttle is now reaching its maximum capacity and will possibly be expanded soon. The already existing train shuttle to Duisburg was pushed up from 5 to 7 times a week in both directions.
Adjustments to the railway infrastructure in our port were the Bocht Ter Doest, a connection between the outer and the inner port and the connection of the railway bundles known as “Pelikaan” and “Ramskapelle”, who connect one side of the inner port with the other. These adjustment to the railway infrastructure are more efficient, will save more time and add to our competitiveness.
Facts and Figures
The prognoses for the results of the year 2012 show that the volume on the European continent remained stable. The decrease in volume to and from the UK and the rise of trade with Russia are the main shifts in the European results.
The American continent showed an increase of 26,5 percent. The best result are set by Brazil and the US. Brazil takes the lead with high figures in LNG export and in the import of paper pulp. The trade with the US grew 17 percent in total. The main influencers are paper and cardboard from Zeebrugge, as well as the roro volume.
The Asian results have gone down 21 percent, with China and Qatar in particular. The decrease in volume in container traffic to and from the Far East had a strong influence on China’s results. Qatar is the most important import country for LNG in Zeebrugge.
The roll-on/roll-off volume drops to 12,6 million tonnes, which is a fall of 3,9 percent. Especially the roro volumes to the UK have decreased. Deepsea roro traffic shows better results.
The automobile sector is facing a decrease in sales worldwide. In handling new vehicles, the port of Zeebrugge reached a statut quo with 2011 (1,7 million units), thus proving its status as an automotive hub in difficult economic times.
In 2012, 1,96 million TEU or 20,34 million tonnes containers were handled in Zeebrugge. This is 10,6 percent less than the previous year. Deepsea services were hit harder than shortsea container services. The ongoing decrease in volume on the Asia-Europe trade resulted in a smaller number of containers to arrive in our port from the mid and Far East. The ever growing dimensions of container vessels created an overcapacity. Our port, with a distinct focus on container traffic with the mid and far east, is particularly sensitive to changes in Asian economies.
The break bulk sector closes the year with a strong rise. Throughout the year, paper pulp and paper and cardboard volumes grew continuously, resulting in a plus 17 percent. The total volume in this sector is 1,3 million tonnes.
2012 was a challenging year for the LNG import to Europe. Japan’s growing demand influenced the asking price. At the same time, Europe’s demand lowered, due to a fall in demand from the industrial sector and a growing interest in sustainable energy. The import and export of LNG in our port dropped 16 percent. The volume of exported LNG was tipped the scales. The liquid bulk ends the year with a fall of 7 percent.
Each year, Zeebrugge receives more cruiseships. 2012 has been a record year, with 91 cruiseships instead of 75 last year, and a total of 333.400 cruisepassengers in Zeebrugge. These results are a rise of 21 percent in cruises and 37 percent in cruisepassengers.
The total volume of the port of Zeebrugge in 2012 is 43,6 millon tonnes. Compared to 46,9 million tonnes last year, this is a drop of 7 percent.
ESTIMATION |
Year 2012
|
Year 2011
|
%
|
(Million tonnes)
|
(Million tonnes)
| ||
| Roro |
12,6
|
13,13
|
-3,90%
|
| Containers |
20,35
|
22,74
|
-10,60%
|
| Break bulk |
1,34
|
1,15
|
17%
|
| Liquid bulk |
7,68
|
8,28
|
-7%
|
| Solid bulk |
1,62
|
1,65
|
-2%
|
| New Vehicles |
1,73 mio
|
1,73 mio
|
0%
|
| Cruises |
91
|
75
|
21%
|
| TOTAL |
43,6
|
46,96
|
-7%
|
No comments:
Post a Comment