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Delta Terminal Ready to GrowFruitful LogisticsCMA CGM aims for Optimal Cargo Control

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10-11 Rotterdam is Europe’s foremost port for han-dling fruit and within the port, Seabrex is the major player. The company styles itself as a European distribution platform. Given the growing volume of fruit shipped in reefer con-tainers, the ECT Home Terminal is becoming ever more involved in this logistics chain.

Fruitful Logistics 20-21 At the end of 2002, shipping company Evergreen moved from the ECT Home Terminal to the ECT Delta Terminal. Not even a year later, the Home is already recovering nicely. “We are talking about facilities that can measure up to any European comparison.”

European Top Location

22 The private railway company of ShortLines recently celebrated its fifth birthday. Managing director Rob Spierings believes that freight transport by rail stands at the dawn of a renaissance. ShortLines’ future growth is to be found in offering integrat-ed tailor-made logistics solutions.

At the Dawn of a Renaissance

Those who follow the news coverage in papers and trade magazines know that the port of Rotterdam is looking for extra space. The Port Authority is active in exploring every opportunity to bring the necessity of Maasvlakte 2 under the attention of government. We agree that planning needs to start for this project. A decision now in favor of creating new land in the North Sea means that the first companies will only be able to commence operations there as early as 2012/2013. That’s simply the lead-time for such large projects. Vision precedes practice.

In the intervening period, the customers of ECT however need not worry about the availability of space and capacity at our terminals. Both the Home and the Delta have significant opportunities for further growth. Timely investments (also see pages 8 and 9 of this Fast Forward, ed.) mean we will continue to be able to fully meet market demand. Also, in a couple of years - expectations are at the end of 2007 - the EuroMax Terminal will come on stream. This joint venture of ECT and P&O Nedlloyd will in its first phase generate an additional capacity of 1.2 million TEU. A number of shipping companies will in due course switch to the EuroMax. This will also offer the Delta Terminal the breathing space it will then need to continue to optimally serve our customers.

What causes us some concern in relation to the current market developments are the vast investments we as stevedores need to make versus the mostly short com-mitments that shipping companies are willing to enter into. The handling of ships of 8,000 to 10,000 TEU (and where will it end?) is only possible with the right equipment. This must be beneficial to shipping com-panies. A close(r) long term relationship will without a doubt favorably influence our investment decisions.

ECT is positive about the future, taking account of the continuing growth of the market and the develop-ments within our own company. The market comes first. ECT has made a distinct mind switch. ‘Can Do!’, is our message to customers. This message applies to both the management and staff. There is an accept-ance of the need for more flexibility by our operational staff which allows us to better anticipate the wishes of the shipping companies. We are ready to optimally serve our customers around the clock. And that is also putting vision into practice.

Richard PearsonPresident of ECT

P.O. Box 73853000 HJ Rotterdam, the Netherlands T +31 (0) 181 278 278F +31 (0) 181 278 315E info@ect.nlW www.ect.nl

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Ready to GrowECT is investing in expanding capacity at the Delta Terminal. Between now and mid-2004 the company will develop an area of so far unused terminal terrain, introduce additional Automated Guided Vehicles and Automated Stacking Cranes and upgrade half a dozen existing quay cranes.

Colophon

Fast Forward, a business-to-business publication of ECT, appears three times a

year. Please contact our Communications Department with any questions or

suggestions you may have regarding the contents.

Copy: Dean Harte, Jana Sanchez, Rob Schoemaker, Rob Wilken (editor-in-chief)

Translation: Niall Martin, Dean Harte

Photography: Eric Bakker (unless stated otherwise)

Layout: Ontwerpwerk, The Hague

Printing: Drukkerij De Longte, Dordrecht

External coordination: RWP, Voorburg

Chief editor ECT: Rose Wiggers

Europe Container Terminals (ECT)

ECT is the largest and most advanced container terminal operator in Europe,

handling almost three-quarters of all containers in the port of Rotterdam.

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and 52 weeks a year, ECT oper-

ates several container handling facilities on the ECT Delta Terminal at the

Maasvlakte along the North Sea and the Home Terminal in the Eemhaven

area, near the city center. ECT has developed a network of inland terminals to

facilitate better intermodal transport - barge, rail - between Rotterdam and

the European hinterland. Currently, ECT operates terminals in Venlo (in the

southeast of the Netherlands), Willebroek (Belgium) and Duisburg (Germany).

All ECT’s terminals inside and outside Rotterdam are at the crossroads of visible

container flows and invisible information flows. ECT’s highly skilled staff is on

standby 24 hours a day for its customers.

ECT is a member of the Hutchison Port Holdings Group (HPH), the world’s lead-

ing port investor, developer and operator with interests in fifteen countries

throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Today, HPH operates a total

of 31 ports together with a number of transportation related service companies.

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At 13.12 captain Dimitrios Karapatakis welcomes pilot Erik Kwik onto the bridge of Hapag Lloyd’s Singapore Express. It’s the start of a typically efficient visit to the ECT Delta Dedicated East Terminal situated almost directly on the North Sea.

18-19 France’s CMA CGM ranks as the fifth largest container shipping company in the world. “From a typical port-to-port carrier we are increasingly evolving into a door-to-door services provider that wants to have maximum control of its transport.”

From Strength to Strength

When it comes to transporting contain-ers, intra-European shortsea is a whole different ballgame. A ballgame at which Rotterdam Short Sea Terminals excels. “Ninety per cent of all the shortsea compa-nies calling at Rotterdam make use of our facilities.”

12-13 Since 1985 there have been several initia-tives in Rotterdam to build a port commu-nity system, none of which has succeeded, until now. Port infolink is on the verge of debuting a port-wide system designed to improve efficiency and save time and money for customers of the port.

As Easy as That

Fast in, Fast Out

Shortsea’s Story of Success

fast forward WINTER 2003

The Netherlands is the largest exporter of bulbs in the world. Especially the USA and Japan are important customers. The bulb can therefore not be omitted in the series of covers focusing on the cargo inside of the container. Photographer Eric Bakker has opted for the hyacinth. And although we can hardly wait till the spring, when they will sprout the most beautiful flowers, these bulbs are already quite beautiful in their own right.

Dutch Bulbs

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Vision into Practice

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N E W S N E W S N E W S

New Look & FeelThe website of ECT will soon have a complete new look & feel to it. Especially the site’s navigation will be improved. This will make it much easier for visitors to find their way through the substantial supply of information and services on offer. As is currently already the case, the renewed www.ect.nl will consist of a public and a private section.

The public section will continue to offer information about ECT itself and about the port of Rotterdam. Compared to the current site, the Image Shop will how-ever be given a more prominent place on the homepage. Anyone will be able to download copyright-free pho-tographs of the container operations here. To a limited extent, the public section now also facilitates the use of electronic services for requesting the status of containers and ships, and this will not change.As before, more comprehensive and elaborate e-services are offered on the private section of the website. Access to this so-called extranet has been secured by means of a password. ECT’s customers - the shipping companies and shipbrokers - determine who is granted access. In the end, they are the owners of the information. The extranet amongst other things allows users to request comprehensive status information about ships and containers, issue release and acceptance orders, receive 24-hour reports, load discharge lists and terminal performance/departure reports and give transport orders. ECT spares no effort to optimally serve its customers, also on the web. And with more than 200,000 hits per month, extranet has more than proved its added value.

Finishing Touch

ECT has recently invested substantial sums in increasing safety and security at its terminals. The company is almost fully compliant with the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS-code) of IMO which is due to come into force worldwide on July 1 next year.

As a sort of finishing touch, the Delta Terminal is now also taking part in trials for detecting radioactivity ema-nating from containers. Initiated by the Dutch Customs authorities, the project uses four detection devices sup-plied by U.S. Customs. ECT’s director of Operations, Jan Gelderland, explains: “We will set up the detection devices so that all incoming and outgoing goods can be checked. Obviously we’ve ensured that the procedures don’t interfere with the logistics process. Operationally you won’t notice a thing.” The precise calibration of the detection equipment is an important factor in achiev-ing this. “What the project is aiming for is detecting abnormally high radiation levels,” says Gelderland. “Everyday goods such as porcelain, broccoli and paint pigments also emit a certain amount of radiation, but, naturally, we’re not looking for that sort of thing.” The test is scheduled to go live at end 2003. For Gelderland it goes without saying that ECT should take a leading role in this initiative. “Firstly, as a company we take our social responsibilities seriously. In addition it means that one is in a position to work alongside the authorities

and provide input at the planning stage. A key issue, for example, is what to do with a container of which the radioactivity levels are too high. We don’t want to end up with a situation where the stevedore pays for the costs of disposal. There are many such questions. Being actively involved means that one’s organization can react quickly to changes. It’s never a good idea to just wait and see.”

Feedering Up North

This autumn the Icelandic shipping line Samskip introduced a new feeder/shortsea service to Norway. Calling at the ECT Delta Terminal every Friday the vessel travels on to Oslo, arriving on Sunday, and reaches Larvik and Fredrikstad on Monday. Because of its limited itinerary the service can manage with one 400 TEU vessel. Samskip is also closely involved in a new weekly service launched earlier this year, sailing from the Delta to Helsinki in Finland and Tallinn in Estonia. Operator of this scheduled service using 260 TEU ships is T&E ESCO Container Lines, a joint venture between the Icelanders and ESCO, the Estonian Shipping Company.

At the Distripark Maasvlakte, directly oppo-site the ECT Delta Terminal, the Kloosterboer company has taken a highly automated cold store into use. With a capacity of 65,000 pallets, it is the largest of its kind in the Netherlands. The most important customer will be Farm Frites. This leading European manufacturer of potato products exports to 45 countries all over the world. Kloosterboer expects to be able to benefit from the proximity of the large container terminals, also when it comes to attracting other customers. Reefer containers coming in from or bound for overseas destinations can be moved very quickly and efficiently between the cold store and the terminal complex at the other side of the road.

Looking for Something Really Cool?

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N E W S N E W S

Important Guests

High time for ECT and the barge sector to once again become better acquainted. With this in mind, more than 140 barge operators from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany visited the Delta Terminal on Saturday the 25th of October. There, they could see with their own eyes what it

X-PressThe number of feeder services from the Delta Terminal continues to grow. Mid-October, X-Press Container Line started a new service that each week connects Rotterdam with Gothenburg, Hamburg, Bilbao and Le Havre. X-Press Container Line deploys two vessels of respectively 698 TEU and 656 TEU in this Bilbao Gothenburg X-Press (BGX). The ships are in Rotterdam every weekend. One then sails on to the north, the other to the south. In May of this year, X-Press Container Line already introduced the Northern Europe Iberia X-Press (NIX): a weekly service from Rotterdam to Spain and Portugal.

X-Press Container Line is a subsidiary of Sea Consortium from Singapore. In Asia, this company is a well-known player in the field of feeder transport for the large deepsea shipping companies. The company is also active in the Mediterranean. In total, Sea Consortium annually moves more than one million TEU. Fred Olsen is X-Press Container Line’s agent in the Netherlands. Managing director Judith Abrahamsz cannot reach any other conclusion than that the two ‘Rotterdam’ feeder services clearly meet a great demand. “From day one, the ships have been chock-a-block. The majority of the deepsea shipping companies put con-tainers on board of our vessels.”

High-end Logistics

The compressor and generator production headquarters of Swedish multinational Atlas Copco are located in Belgium. Recently the company has introduced a new factory-to-port logistics system for the worldwide export of its machines. TCT Belgium - ECT’s inland terminal - is an important link in that chain with all communication taking place through a sophisticated website.

In early 2002 it was obvious to Veron Degraeve, Atlas Copco’s Vice President Logistics Compressor Technique, that the logistics of outgoing containers had to be improved. Transport by truck from the head office in Wilrijk, near Antwerp, to the port was too inef-ficient. Especially given that empty containers had to be collected from one location while full containers were delivered at another. Degraeve: “In Belgium we’re producing for the whole world, so good distribution is vital.”

TCT BelgiumAs such the phone call from Martine Hiel, managing director of TCT Belgium, couldn’t have come at a better time. What followed was an intensive round of consultations and fine-tuning, which in June this year resulted in TCT Belgium being afforded a prominent role in Atlas Copco’s logistics chain. The princi-ple is simple: TCT Belgium - based in Willebroek just outside Antwerp and fifteen kilometers from Wilrijk - keeps an adequate stock of empty containers at its terminal. When called for these are taken by truck to Atlas Copco and the driver then

returns bringing a full container to TCT. The inland terminal trans-ports these boxes to the port by barge. On average Atlas Copco exports some fifteen containers per day. At TCT there are also facilities to fumigate these containers where necessary for export. Fumigation used to require Atlas Copco making a separate trip to a specialist com-pany. “All-in-all we’re saving some 150,000 road kilometers annually,” says Atlas Copco’s Shipping and Transport Manager, Eddy Rochtus.

Main AdvantageThe main advantage of the new export chain, however, is the huge improvement in efficiency and reli-ability. And the benefits are set to increase even further when Antwerp begins a lengthy and radical renova-tion of the city circular in 2004. Degraeve: “When you restructure your logistics chain you have to be prepared to consider the whole picture. If you just look at each individual link, then an additional move (in this case from truck to barge) seems uneconomic - whereas the opposite is true.” Moreover, the decision to use barges is in full accordance with Atlas Copco’s policy of sustainability. “Even if the economic advantages had been minimal, we would still have made

this move,” says the vice-president Logistics.

Innovative ApproachWhat makes the redesign of the logistics chain even more remark-able is the company’s decision to manage the whole route from factory to port via an interactive website. This enables all the parties involved to monitor the transport chain on-line and, more impor-tantly, also to act on what they see. That’s true of the agent who books the space on the seagoing vessels, the road haulier, the company that fumigates the containers and TCT Belgium. Everybody has the same information at their disposal and sees automatically what and when something needs to be done. One action leads on to the next. Via the website TCT Belgium can see exactly when it needs to deliver the empty containers to Atlas Copco, which full containers must be collected, whether fumigation is required and when the containers should be in the port. Atlas Copco itself invested in the development of the website. It is indicative of the company’s long-term strategy. Degraeve: “For us outsourcing isn’t a way of passing on a problem to somebody else, but rather of build-ing something together.”

takes to handle their ships as efficiently as possible. At the same time, the meeting offered ECT the opportunity to atten-tively listen to the needs of the barge sector. In the end, both parties aim to realize the same goal: offering an optimum level of service to often the same cus-tomers.

Everybody already knows that the barge sector is an important hinterland modality for the transport of containers. At the Delta Terminal, almost forty per cent of all containers to and from the European market are moved by barge.

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The ECT Delta Terminal’s Rapid Expansion

Ready to Grow

Global container transport continues to grow and grow. Even in spite of the current

economic slowdown volumes are on the increase. Anticipating additional market

demand, ECT is investing in expanding capacity at the Delta Terminal. Between now

and mid-2004 the company will develop an area of so far unused terminal terrain,

introduce additional Automated Guided Vehicles and Automated Stacking Cranes

and upgrade half a dozen existing quay cranes.

For quite a long time they stood redundant on the last section of the former Delta Multi User Terminal on the Maasvlakte peninsula: six quay cranes that ECT regard-ed as surplus to requirements. For sale - at the right price and on the right conditions. However, the offer has since been withdrawn. With the continuing growth in volumes on the Delta Terminal the cranes have been given a new lease of life and are to be brought back into service at ECT.Director of Operations, Jan Gelderland: “We’re going to make the cranes taller and extend their reach so that that they are able to handle the very latest generation of container ships. Once they’ve been upgraded the cranes will be able to cover eighteen rows whereas the rows of containers on the most modern ships are ‘only’ seven-teen wide.” The first crane will be ready this year and will go straight to the Delta Dedicated North Terminal. The other five will be moved to the south side of the Delta complex in the first half of 2004.

Extra Stacking CapacityOn the south side, directly adjoining the Delta Dedicated West Terminal, ECT has had 800 meters of new quayside ready for some time now. Now the signal has been given to start develop a large part of the terrain lying behind it. That means investing in infrastructure - in surfacing the new terrain and laying crane tracks, for example - but especially in Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and Automated Stacking Cranes (ASCs). Gelderland: “We are bringing in eight-een new ASCs. That means eighteen new lanes with extra stacking capacity. In addition there will be 27 AGVs for transport between quay and stack.” The new equipment will be introduced starting the second quar-ter of 2004. “Obviously, having sufficient stack capacity is critically important for a terminal,” says the director of Operations. “The size of the stack determines your limits. On the seaside you always have some flexibility, but if you can’t place any more containers on your ter-rain then you’re stuck.” As mentioned, also five of the upgraded cranes will be making their way to the south side. Exactly how they will be shared out between the Delta Dedicated West and Delta Dedicated East is still being decided.

Continuing GrowthFor Gelderland the continuing growth in volumes of container traffic is no longer cause for amazement. “I’ve been in this business for 28 years, and year after year I’ve seen world wide transport increase by some eight per cent. We hardly produce anything at all any more in Western Europe. Everything we consume we import from overseas.” Nevertheless it was only last year that given the economic outlook the deepsea shipping lines were making very modest forecasts. Apparently things are different in practice. “We see the growth. Shipping lines are preparing themselves for the further expan-sion of strings. Ships are also getting bigger and bigger. That’s why we are taking action now. We don’t have any guarantees, but if you do nothing it’s absolutely certain that you will miss out on your share of the increased

volumes.” The investments also signal a turning-point for ECT. Gelderland: “In recent years, for the most part, we’ve been preoccupied with the downside of the market. Now, at ECT, things are slowly but surely head-ing in the right direction. The implementation of these investment plans is a positive sign. We can start looking to the future again.” Amongst other things this also means that after the introduction of the 27 new AGVs on the south side, ECT will begin to replace 27 of the first generation AGVs which are now being used on the Delta Dedicated North.

Breathing Room for Existing ClientsDelta Terminal customers will be wholly unaffected by the construction work on the south side. The expan-sion will take place on piece of land that is currently unused. In the interim, the section of the Delta Multi User Terminal still owned by ECT will serve as a back-up stack.“And even when this project is completed, the Delta will be nowhere near full, that’s for certain,” says Gelderland. “There’s more room. Moreover we will be moving increasingly to placing containers in stacks of four. Not every ASC can do that. But the distribution of them over the complex will be organized so that it allows us to make optimal use of the space at the Delta.”

In further increasing productivity at the terminal, the Total System Solution will also play a major role. The IT-project ensures that the terminal software will be completely renewed in 2005. “With this largest ever investment in IT within the HPH-Group, we will be able to improve performance, increase flexibility and lower costs.”

Euro Max at End 2007A further forthcoming development is the opening of the EuroMax Terminal on the north side of the Maasvlakte in 2007. This ECT and P&O Nedlloyd joint venture will mean that the shipping lines making up the Grand Alliance (P&O Nedlloyd, Hapag Lloyd, MISC, NYK, OOCL) will leave the Delta Terminal by then. Gelderland “That will give us the opportunity to offer our other, existing, clients the room they need to expand.”

Jan Gelderland: “Even when this project is completed, the

Delta will be nowhere near full. There’s more room.”

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The Fruitful Logistics of SeabrexRotterdam is Europe’s foremost port for handling fruit and within the port, Seabrex is

the major player. The company styles itself as a European distribution platform. “A truck

leaving here in the afternoon can be waiting at the customer’s door in Munich the fol-

lowing morning with a full range of fresh produce.” Given the growing volume of fruit

shipped from overseas in reefer containers, the ECT Home Terminal is becoming ever

more involved in this logistics chain.

“Today some fifteen per cent of all fruit shipped to Seabrex is in reefer containers. In the early Nineties, that share was virtually nil.” Seabrex managing director Herman de Knijf doesn’t believe however, that the traditional, pallet-loaded reefer ship will ever disappear completely from the scene. “Make no mistake, the reefer container has become an integral part of our business. Even so, reefer vessels have a number of advantages. For one thing, it sails from point-to-point, and that

means shorter transit times. With perishable goods such as fruit, that’s a significant factor. Moreover, not every country of origin has the facil-ities to handle containers.” In the larger producer countries containers are mainly used in the early and late season, when volumes are smaller. In addition the reefer container pro-vides an excellent transport solution for goods from smaller production regions. The reefer container is also ideal for shipping specialties such as mangos, avocados and lychees.

Seabrex - ECTSeabrex handles the reefer ships alongside its own 2300 meter quay. Some reefer containers arrive in Rotterdam on board such ves-sels while others come via the big container terminals. The situation of the ECT Home Terminal is par-ticularly attractive for Seabrex. In fact only the waters of the Nieuwe Maas separate the two businesses. Thanks to the excellent cross-river links, the reefer containers from the ECT Home Terminal can be marshalled outside the appropriate Seabrex cold stores within half an hour. It’s a time-critical operation that is completely controlled by the fruit distributor itself via a specially equipped container desk. General manager of logistics at Seabrex Jan Maarten van Noort: “Normally the transport companies we’ve hired are standing ready to bring the reefers directly to us even while the con-tainer ship is still being unloaded at ECT. Quite often a shipment that arrives at our cold stores in the morning will be sent on to our cus-tomers in the hinterland that same afternoon.”

Golden TriangleThis European distribution is cer-tainly no one-on-one operation. Rotterdam owes its pre-eminent position as a fruit port primarily to its ability to combine shipments, explains De Knijf. “At Seabrex we’re situated right at the center of a golden triangle. We’re surrounded by important market gardening regions, as well as a number of major auctions. We handle around a million pallets each year ourselves. In the whole triangle that total is

Thanks to the efficiency of global transport European consumers can squeeze fresh orange juice, eat fresh apples or enjoy an avocado all year round. As the growing sea-son nears its end in the northern hemisphere, a new cycle is beginning in the southern hemisphere. The shipments to Seabrex follow the seasons. Van Noort: “ From January to May we mainly receive grapes, apples, pears and so on from overseas. That’s followed by citrus fruit from May to October. Toward the end of the year we mainly handle tomatoes from The Canary Islands and fruits with stones (prunes, nectarines and such like).”

Home of the Reefer Container

Around a quarter of the total volume at the ECT Home Terminal comprises reefer containers. All the facilities for stacking these containers are in the terminal area. A special division, Home Reefer Care, offers the necessary services provision. The strong position held by the ECT Home in reefer traffic is closely linked to the composition of its client base, which mainly comprises shipping lines plying the north-south trade routes. It is precisely such regions - South Africa, South America and Australia/New Zealand - which provide the bulk of fresh produce.

about four to five million pallets. What happens is that a truck loads up with local Dutch produce at one of the auctions in the morning and then drives on to us to top up its load with pallets of imported fruit which have been shipped over-seas or brought over by road from Southern Europe. Then it goes on to the buyer in the hinterland as a single load. A truck leaving here at in the afternoon can be waiting at the customer’s door in Munich the following morning with a full range of fresh produce. No other port can offer that.”

Such achievements stem from high-ly sophisticated logistics at Seabrex. The company makes some 125,000 deliveries annually, varying between two pallets and a full truckload. Obviously optimal automation

is required. Van Noort: “We’re a fully-fledged distribution platform with hundreds of customers, rang-ing from multinationals to small traders.” Around eighty per cent of all loads is bound for destinations outside the Netherlands. Germany is important, but also supermarket chains in France, Belgium, UK, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland and Eastern Europe get their fresh produce from Rotterdam.

First Port of CallSeabrex and ECT gain from one another’s strengths. Because Rotterdam has become the European concentration point for fruit and at the same time offers good facilities for container han-dling, for example the SAECS ship-ping line decided around a year ago

to designate Rotterdam as first port of call for its weekly service from South Africa. Van Noort: “That used to be Zeebrugge, which resulted in a huge flow of containers having to be transported here by road.”

All Year Round

Herman de Knijf (l) and Jan Maarten van Noort.

Seabrex makes some 125,000 deliveries annually, varying between two pallets and a full truckload.

ECT is already on board with the port community system. “These products are very welcome. Most of the world’s greatest ports have a port communication system, but Rotterdam hasn’t had one until now,” says Tom Niels, manager of the applications servic-es department of ECT. “It’s a good initiative. We expect it will give us better information about inland shipments and better information will lead to an improved performance an to cost reductions,” he adds. “One of the benefits of Port infolink is also that the devel-opment of the port community system is paid for by the Port of Rotterdam. Therefore the investments required are not that high for the parties in the port,” says Niels.

Already on Board

Port infolink’s Bart Roozekrans: “We expect 100 per cent participation

as the advantages we supply are tremendous.”

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Port infolink debuts First Stage of Port Community System

As Easy as That

Since 1985 there have been several initiatives at the Port of Rotterdam to build a port

community system, none of which has succeeded, until now. Port infolink is on the

verge of debuting a port-wide system designed to improve efficiency and save time

and money for customers of the port.

Felixstowe and Hamburg. While many companies have EDI links with their partners, the port com-munity system could replace all of those. “Companies sometimes have twelve to fourteen EDI links. These are very expensive to build and maintain. Also, with the port community system, you send one message, instead of fourteen differ-ent ones, and the appropriate infor-mation goes to the right parties,” says Port infolink managing direc-

tor Bart Roozekrans. Roozekrans, who was previously director of a shipping agency, began drafting the business plan for the port com-munity system in the middle of 2002. “The hardest part was not the technology side, but was getting the support of everyone in the port industry.”

Necessary CoalitionsRoozekrans built the necessary coalitions from within the larger port community through numerous meetings with and presentations to customers of the port of Rotterdam and raised the money to launch Port infolink from the port manage-ment. The company is controlled by a board of seven non-executive directors, four of whom are from the industry at large. “For us, this is the assurance of neutrality,” says Roozekrans. Also the involvement of the port industry assures Port infolink it is on the right track with products it develops. Participants only indirectly contribute to Port infolink via port duties, although companies with in-house EDI systems will need to invest in the connection of these systems to the platform developed by Port info-link. Still another possibility is to communicate with Port infolink through the internet.

Two-way StreetRoozekrans says the Electronic manifest will reduce waiting time, eliminate the double work of notifying different government agencies of the same informa-tion and result in a higher level of compliance - thus saving shipping companies and agents money. “If you report once to us, we will make sure that Customs, port author-ity and other relevant agencies all know what they need to know,” says Roozekrans. The Electronic manifest is not a one-way street

From early 2004 the pilot starts in which container vessels enter-ing the port will be able to use an Electronic manifest to notify the appropriate government agencies with one electronic message of all the legally mandatory informa-tion regarding ship and cargo. This Electronic manifest is just one of the initiatives of Port infolink, which is building Rotterdam’s first port community system such as are already in existence in Singapore,

either. Through Port infolink the government agencies will send back prompt electronic confirmations that the information is in order. “You can have much better control over what you are doing and it will result in much less risk for ship-ping lines.” Important is also that as of January 1, 2004, Customs will introduce a new electronic system for the brief declaration, ‘Sagitta Binnenbrengen’. The Electronic manifest facilitates this new decla-ration process.

Only the BeginningRoozekrans stresses that the Electronic manifest is only the beginning. The solutions Port info-link is working on for example also include services for the pre-notifica-tion of containers at the terminals. These messaging services for truck, rail and barge operators, container terminals and empty depots will save time and money for all par-ties involved. “Now truck, rail and barge operators get a physical piece of paper and information about the shipment is retyped. This is far from efficient, but we are giving them the tools to make it easy,” Roozekrans says. Other services for the container business are ‘Customs scan process’ and ‘Veterinary inspec-tion process’. Both are meant to smooth logistics around inspections taking place in the port.Roozekrans and his team of about twenty workers have been busy making sure the services they will offer are the services the community wants. Still, the investment required could lead some port customers to wonder if they should take the leap of faith required. “We can tell them some immediate benefits, but to understand the enormous long-term profits, a certain amount of vision is required…. still, we expect 100 per cent participation as the advantages we supply are tremendous.” Ill

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The Singapore Express does the Delta

Fast in, Fast OutIt’s 13.12 as captain Dimitrios Karapatakis welcomes pilot Erik Kwik onto the bridge

of the Singapore Express, a 4890 TEU container ship belonging to Hapag Lloyd. It’s

the start of a typically efficient visit to the ECT Delta Dedicated East Terminal situ-

ated almost directly on the North Sea.

There’s little wind to disturb the calm of this pleasant autumn day. A launch has brought pilot Erik Kwik on board as the Singapore Express nears the Maas Center - the shipping junction six nau-tical miles outside the port of Rotterdam. Kwik enquires about the power of the bow propeller, and the captain and he quickly agree that one tug will be enough for the job.

Once every three months the Singapore Express calls at Rotterdam on a voyage that takes it around North-West Europe, to the American east coast, through the Panama canal (at 294 by 32 meters, the Singapore Express slips through the canal with just centimeters to spare - a real Panamax ship) up the west coast of America and on to Japan, Hong Kong and China before turn-ing back again. It’s a route which demands a tight schedule. Captain Dimitrios Karapatakis looks for-ward to Rotterdam. “It’s an easy port, the easiest in North West Europe. Nautically speaking it’s a real safe-haven. The port authori-ties monitor the traffic situation closely - and that’s just as it should be, considering the heavy volumes. It’s an easy approach, too. Here we don’t have to worry about a long twisty river approach, bridges or locks and we have virtually no

trouble from leisure craft. From the North Sea it takes no time at all to get to the Delta.”

At 13.25 the Singapore Express sails through the pier heads and the tugboat Fairplay VII ties up to her stern. “Of course there’s always the currents and the wind to take into account, and lots of shipping,” says pilot Kwik. “Some vessels sail considerably slower than others. There’s plenty to think about. It’s also very important that as you’re nearing your destination the berth is actually free. That means you have to stay in good communication with the terminal. Now that we’re inside the harbor our first job is to slow the ship down. For the Singapore Express, dead slow means six knots per hour, but it only makes sense to start using a tug and bow propeller when the speed has dropped below four knots an hour.”

Once in the harbor the Singapore Express almost immediately turns to starboard. Its destination, the Delta Dedicated East Terminal, then comes into view already. At 14.05 the ship smoothly steers into the Amazonehaven (Amazon basin) level with her berth. Next the bow propeller and the Fairplay VII slowly but surely push the Singapore Express towards the quay. The wind also lends a hand.

Singapore Express

Built in 2000 in Korea, the Singapore Express is a Greek ship chartered by Hapag Lloyd. Its crew of 23 includes 13 Greeks. This time the ves-sel unloaded 355 containers and loaded 745 containers in Rotterdam.

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43

5

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98

By 14.50 the Singapore Express has been secured.

Three huge quay cranes are divided over the length of the ship. ECT workers unlock the containers to be unloaded. In the meantime the first unmanned Automated Guided Vehicles drive silently onto the quay, arriving under the crane. The unloading begins. On the other side of the ship Karapatakis points out the bunker vessels start-ing to pump 4000 tons of fuel oil into the Singapore Express. “Rotterdam is the cheapest bunker port in the world. And what’s also important is that if you order and pay for 4000 tons, that’s what you get. In some other bunker ports there’s always an error margin of at least five per cent - to your disad-vantage.”

16 17>> >>

Shortsea’s Story of SuccessWhen it comes to transporting containers, intra-European shortsea is a whole dif-

ferent ballgame. A ballgame at which Rotterdam Short Sea Terminals (RST) excels.

The neighbor of the ECT Home Terminal isn’t in the limelight that often, but that

doesn’t mean it isn’t distinctively putting itself on the map. “Ninety per cent of all

the shortsea companies calling at Rotterdam make use of our facilities.”

“Among shortsea shipping companies, there is a clear trend towards increased cooperation. By putting con-tainers on board of each other’s vessels, shipping com-panies can significantly reduce the number of ports that they themselves call at. At the same time, they are able to offer their customers higher frequencies and an improved level of service.” In the eyes of the managing director of Rotterdam Short Sea Terminals (RTS), Bas Verhoef, this development is one of the most impor-tant reasons for the success of his terminal. “Ninety per cent of all the shortsea shipping companies calling at Rotterdam make use of our facilities. Consequently, the exchange of containers is very easy. Concentration is what makes the formula strong.” But Verhoef knows that shipping companies have more reasons for opting for RST’s shortsea cluster. “We are situated near the city - and with that near the hinterland market - and this is also crucial. No shortsea shipping company would want to be located forty kilometers from here, at the Maasvlakte. Just the additional transport costs alone would constitute a huge problem in this branch.”

Looking for SpaceBeing the neighbor of the ECT Home Terminal, RST annually handles well in advance of 600,000 contain-ers a year in the Eemhaven. It does this at two quays which are directly opposite each other. “At the moment, we have really reached our maximum capacity,” says Verhoef. Room for expansion is therefore more than welcome. This is not possible at the quay on the north-ern side. “Containers are already being stacked three high there. This means a lot of ‘digging around’ and therefore additional costs.” On the southern side, it will

however be possible to handle an additional 60,000 containers a year through expanding the stack and adjusting the terminal system. This space will be avail-able from November 2004. The necessary investments among other things entail two gantry cranes for the back-up operation in the stack.

What makes the issue of space even more complicated is the fact that RST almost exclusively handles 40-foot-containers. This means 600,000 containers equals 1.2 million TEU. Verhoef: “Shortsea needs to compete with the 13.62-meter-long trailers carried by ro-ro ships. This is only possible by means of 40-footers (12.06 meters) or even better 45-footers (13.56 meters). You will hardly see any 20-footers at our terminal.”

Operational 24/7RST is operational 24 hours a day and seven days a week. And it could hardly be any different when con-sidering the figures Verhoef dishes out. Each year, some 3750 shortsea vessels call at the terminal. Approximately seventy per cent of the cargo they are carrying comes from or is bound for the UK and Ireland. Other sailing destinations include the Mediterranean Sea, Scandinavia, Iceland, the Baltic and North and West Africa.

There is a clear trend towards ships becoming increas-ingly bigger. “In 1997, the average shortsea vessel had a capacity of 350 TEU,” according to Verhoef. “Next year, shipping company Geest will take a new genera-tion into use with a capacity of 850 TEU. And it is expected that in 2010, the average shortsea ship will be able to carry well in advance of 1000 TEU.”

Truck remains IndispensableFor the hinterland transport across the European con-tinent, RST each day receives about fifteen barges. Customers can in addition make use of the train. The terminal has its own rail facilities, from which a daily shuttle train to Italy for example departs. Moreover, RST is situated directly next to the large Rail Service Center of the Waal-/Eemhaven, where much more shuttles start and finish. The most important means of

Result of a Merger

RST is the result of a merger between shortsea stevedores Deka and Bell Lines in the second half of the nineties. RST is currently owned by ECT and Steinweg Handelsveem. Converted into fulltime posi-tions, RST has 270 employees. Managing director Bas Verhoef and director of Operations Bram Boer are responsible for running the company.

transport for the time-sensitive shortsea cargo however remains the truck. Each day, some 1000 trucks pass through the gates of RST. None have given advance notice of their arrival. Due to the often short distances the trucks cover, this is virtually impossible. The quay cranes used for discharging and loading the ships also put the containers on and off the trucks. On the south-ern side, the new gantry cranes will partially take over this task at the end of next year. This especially applies to the loading, which will then happen at the back of the stack. Trucks will however continue to drive under-

neath the quay cranes in order to discharge their containers.

RST and the ECT Home Terminal are good neighbors. Both companies share the same gate. With the current pressure on capacity, it is only logical that RST occasional-ly looks at ECT with envy. “But otherwise, we serve com-pletely different markets,” explains Verhoef. “ECT solely focuses on deepsea, RST on shortsea. If there is any over-lap, then it’s the shortsea operators who fill up their ships at ECT with feeder containers from the deepsea vessel.”

Bas Verhoef: “Concentration is

what makes the formula strong.”

>>18 19>>

CMA CGM aims for Optimal Cargo Control

From Strength to Strength

Over a quarter of a century ago the French Lebanese businessman Jacques R. Saade set up CMA in Marseilles. Through its subsequent merger with former state-owned French shipping line CGM, organic growth and a string of acquisitions, CMA CGM has since grown into the fifth largest container carrier in the world. Its status as an independ-ent, family-owned company has dis-tinct advantages, according to Dolf van Rijswijk, director of the com-pany’s 120-strong Rotterdam office. “We’re in a position to make deci-sions fast, without having to consult with alliance partners. As a result we can respond rapidly to the market, by deploying extra capacity.”

There’s no arguing with that. CMA CGM serves the Far East with its FAL and NCX services from the Delta Terminal. Within a short time the Sunda Express service to Jakarta was added. Van Rijswijk: “We’ve traditionally had a lot of cargo from (rattan) and to (commodities such as waste paper) Indonesia. Our NCX service to northern China was often so full, however, that the Indonesian cargoes looked set to go by the board. That’s why we intro-duced the Sunda Express.”The Delta Terminal is also servic-ing the French Baltic Express, perhaps best described as a large-scale feeder service that takes on commercial cargoes for Russia and the surrounding region as well. Recently the company introduced the Butterfly service for transship-ment and commercial cargoes to Portugal, sailing from the Delta and Home terminals. “The volumes of cargo to Portugal have become so great that we no longer need to use

third parties but can set up our own service,” explains Van Rijswijk. “We run this Butterfly service through the Scottish shortsea shipping line MacAndrews, a company that CMA CGM recently took over. Our goal has always been to gain maximum control over the cargo.” In addi-tion a UK Express service to the northern English ports sails from the Delta Terminal. This service was set up to circumvent the conges-tion in southern England. It makes Rotterdam an ideal transshipment port for northern England.

New Culture of ConsultationFrance is of course an extremely important market for CMA CGM and many of their services use Le Havre as first port of call. Nevertheless, the Butterfly service starts from Rotterdam. This is preferable in terms of customs for-malities for Portuguese container shipments. “Rotterdam has always been a major port for CMA CGM, with easily 3000 moves per week. Over the last years the ECT service has improved markedly,” says Van Rijswijk. “It’s beyond compare with how it used to be. Productivity is at a much higher level. Both ECT and the Rotterdam Port Authority have become much more commercial. You can see that, for example, in the fact that ECT initiates far more consultations. ECT representatives travel regularly to our head office in Marseilles to talk about how things can be further optimized. Our operational division there is after all primarily concerned with how long a ship needs to spend in port, or rather how quickly it can leave. The culture of consultation now exists and that is very positive. For exam-ple, if one of our ships is delayed, ECT will sometimes suggest that it first calls at another port so that it will still get optimal service when it subsequently arrives in Rotterdam. The fact that ECT’s landside deliv-

CMA CGM to the Delta and the Home

To the Delta: FAL (Far East), NCX (North-China), Sunda Express, French Baltic Service, Butterfly Service, UK Service.To the Home: Tour du Monde, NCS (Caribbean), ESA (East South-America), WSA (West South America), Guyana Service (Brazil), Butterfly Service, UK Service.

France’s global carrier CMA CGM ranks as the fifth largest container shipping com-

pany in the world. “From a typical port-to-port carrier we are increasingly evolv-

ing into a door-to-door service provider that wants to have maximum control of its

transport,” explains Dolf van Rijswijk, director of CMA CGM’s Rotterdam shipping

office. In keeping with this ambition, CMA CGM earlier this year launched combined

feeder/shortsea services for transshipment and commercial cargoes from Rotterdam

to Portugal and to the United Kingdom.

ery is fast and efficient is something of which our commercial staff have long been aware.”

Commercial interests are going from strength to strength. It’s for that reason that CMA CGM has evolved over the past five years from a typical port-to-port carrier into a door-to-door service provider, explains Van Rijswijk. “It is impera-tive that a shipping line has got a grip on its cargo: receivers want their containers faster and just in time. The shipping line has to work within the logistics process of the customer.”

Changed CharacterThe changed character of the ship-ping line has resulted in consider-ably more work for the Rotterdam shipping office. “We’ve not only taken on more personnel, but thanks to advanced computer systems we can also handle more shipments with fewer staff while offering increased service. With the LARA software system (which has an interface on the ECT system) customers can make use of tracking & tracing. But apart from that, the people from Logistics Link, a full subsidiary of CMA CGM, are also in the building. Logistics Link can provide whatever supplementary services the client requires, from groupage to labeling and so on.”

Front PageStay alert is Van Rijswijk’s tip. If Rotterdam stays on the ball it has a natural advantage, thanks to its perfect location and superior hin-terland connections. “But what strikes me,” says Van Rijswijk, “is that if something goes wrong in Rotterdam it’s immediately front page news. Other ports are better at keeping that sort of thing quiet. The congestion in Antwerp at the moment, for example, you never read anything about that ...”

Dolf van Rijswijk: “Over the last years

the ECT service has improved markedly.”

21>>20 >>

The Strength of the ECT Home Terminal

At the end of last year, shipping company

Evergreen moved from the ECT Home Terminal

to the ECT Delta Terminal. The loss of this larg-

est customer meant a substantial reduction of

volume for the Home. But not even a year later,

the terminal is already recovering nicely. ECT’s

director of Operations Jan Gelderland is pleas-

antly surprised. Not at the actual recovery itself,

but at the speed at which this is happening.

“Then again, we are talking about facilities that

can measure up to any European comparison.”

European Top Location

Good Solid System

The highly striking green of the Evergreen contain-ers and vessels is no longer the dominant color at the Home Terminal. With the departure of the Taiwanese shipping company to the Delta at the end of 2002, the boxes at the more inland-based sea terminal now display a much different array of colors. This mix is synonymous with the large diversity of customers calling at the Home. “In addition to the autonomous growth among existing customers, quite some new services have been added in the past year,” says ECT’s director of Operations Jan Gelderland. The line-up is substantial: the Euro-Galex service of Norasia and MOL, Italia Lines’ Med-Pac service, a two-weekly container service of Renaissance Container Line to the Russian port of Vyborg, CMA CGM’s new feeder services to Portugal and the UK, the double call of the ANZ Alliance etc, etc. And Gelderland has more to be positive about. “Naturally, our cranes were able to realize a good production on the large Evergreen ships. The ships now mooring alongside the quay are often a bit smaller. However, we still manage a crane

productivity of more than 26 containers an hour. At the same time, we are able to control the costs. This is essential considering the continuous pressure on tariffs. All in all, the Home is also a healthy company without Evergreen. We had expected this, but the developments are going much faster than we had anticipated. We are a year ahead of schedule.”

Two LegsECT therefore has no reason whatsoever to abandon the ‘two legs strategy’. In this strategy, the Delta Terminal focuses on the handling of the larger ves-sels of the alliances that sail to the Far East and the North Atlantic. The Home on the other hand is more geared to the north-south trade, in which slightly more moderate ships are used. The terminal’s inland situation also makes it an ideal location for discharg-ing and loading containers for the regional market.

Substantial ReconstructionAt the Home Terminal, a substantial reconstruction has been underway for some years now. The filling in of a harbor basin (the Margriethaven) will espe-cially offer ECT’s neighbors - Rotterdam Short Sea Terminals (RST) and the Rail Service Center (RSC) - more space. The RST has reached the limits of its growth capacity and the RSC needs additional rail tracks. Compared to the current situation, ECT itself

will at the southern side of the terminal gain 300 additional meters of quay. Investments in new quay cranes will not be necessary for this. The present ten cranes will suffice. They have been partially adapted so that they can take the bend that is neces-sary to reach the new berth. Gelderland: “The sand in the landfill in the Margriethaven has completely set. Now, the excess sand is being removed again. The next step is the paving of the site. In the mid-dle of next year, we will have the new berth at our disposal. Just in time to keep up with the growth.” Gelderland in this respect points out that in the future, ownership of part of the northern side of the Home Terminal will be transferred to the company Interforest.

Bear any ComparisonThe director of Operations is annoyed by people who from the sideline label the ECT Home Terminal a lesser facility. According to him, this is totally unjust. “We are talking about a terminal with a capacity of 1.3 million TEU, suitable for accommodating post-panamax vessels, with a highly motivated workforce, directly situated next to a large-scale rail terminal and near the A15 motorway into Europe. Give me one location in Antwerp that can top this. Strange how some people have a false image of the Home. It can bear comparison with any terminal in Europe.”

The ECT Home Terminal has its own auto-mation system. “It’s a good and solid system,” says Jan Gelderland. “In certain respects, it’s even ahead of the Delta Terminal.” The director of Operations is specifically referring to the Visual Gate System, more commonly known as the Autogate. All containers entering or leav-ing the terminal by truck pass through this automatic inspection gate. To ascertain any damage, digital cameras take pictures of the exterior of a container. At the same time, a computer reads the container number and the truck’s license plate. And all this without any human involvement. Gelderland: “In 98 per cent of all cases, the Autogate works perfectly.” The information gathered in the inspection gate is automatically linked to the driver’s own Cargo Card. This personal smart card constitutes a unique means of identification for entering and leaving the terminal. As soon as the driver reports at the window, the Home in addition puts the necessary information on the Cargo Card for pick-ing up and/or delivering a container at the landside interchange points. A separate terminal pass is no longer necessary for this.

Item

ECT’s European Connections

Inland ShippingAn extra modality to the European hinterland:

• fast• frequent• low-cost• reliable

Already 40 per cent of Rotterdam’s landside transport is carried out by inland shipping.

RailHigh capacity rail facilities and high frequency connections:

• environmentally sound• especially for transport over longer

distances

Daily shuttle trains depart to various destinations throughout Europe.

FeederA ‘far out’ feeder network:

• highest number of scheduled connections to more than 110 European ports

• highest number of departure/arrival frequencies

• feeder connections tuned to intercontinental shipping schedules

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ShortLines:

Rail Freight at the Dawn of a RenaissanceShortLines, one of the first private railway companies in Europe, recently celebrated its fifth birthday. Managing director Rob Spierings believes that freight transport by rail stands at the dawn of a renaissance. ShortLines’ future growth is to be found in offering integrated tailor-made logistics solutions in which the emphasis lies on rail, he believes. From this point of view Philips, ECT and a number of deepsea- and shortsea-operators are important customers.

Increased efficiency and greater reliability were the European Union’s twin objectives in liberal-izing European freight transport. But those objectives can only be achieved with a string of players on the market. ShortLines took the plunge five years ago and today, having developed a strong organiza-tional base with a staff of 40 to 50, the company is ready for further growth. For ShortLines this will involve more than simply provid-ing traction to amongst others Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Vlissingen, Duisburg and Venlo. As a logistics service provider the company is also involved in the integration of rail transport in the logistics process of large shippers such as Eindhoven-based electronics giant Philips. Spierings: “That’s obviously a very interesting proposition. Over a relatively short distance (ECT Delta Terminal-Eindhoven is 160 kilometers) we have succeeded in transferring a large volume from road to rail. But that’s not all we do for Philips. Working closely with Van Rooijen Logistics we deliver containers to their European dis-tribution center in Eindhoven, for example. We also act as the liaison with the shipping lines and where necessary we organize trucking. We show that, for a good rail product, organization and volume are more important than distance.”

Spierings is optimistic about the future of goods transport by rail. “Taking all the factors into consid-

eration - road congestion, environ-mental benefits, the German road tax, the interest shown by large shippers, the Betuwe freight-only rail link which will add extra capac-ity from 2007 - I anticipate that ShortLines could grow thirty to fifty per cent annually over the next five to ten years.”However, Spierings knows that much depends on what happens at the European level. “If liberalization of goods transport is to amount to anything, then there have to be enforceable regulations and active supervision to make competition possible. Fortunately the politi-cal will exists at the European and national levels. Consequently we should see lots of new alliances being created in Europe between the old national rail companies and newcomers like ourselves. It should also mean a faster resolution of old bottlenecks. For example, we have now opened a shuttle for shortsea containers to Italy in collaboration with the Swiss railways and oth-ers. Independent operators have meanwhile set up the European Rail Freight Association (ERFA), of which I am currently president. The organization acts as a counterpart for governments and the European Commission. For independent operators it’s important to be part of a network and to show one’s ini-tiative within alliances.”

Thrice Daily Shuttle ServiceThe relationship between ShortLines and ECT is close - if

only because of the thrice-daily shuttle service ShortLines runs between the ECT terminals in Rotterdam and the ECT inland ter-minal at Venlo in the southeast of the Netherlands. The annual capac-ity of this service totals 110,000 TEU. Spierings: “Effectively, Venlo has become an extension of the Rotterdam quay. In optimizing its own processes, as ECT has been doing in recent years, the company has been paying more attention to the hinterland to connect cargo flows to Rotterdam. That’s where ShortLine’s acquisition activities play an important role. There remains plenty to play for - in Nordrhein Westphalia, for exam-ple where there’s still too much trucking to the seaports. We’re also seeing that the character of Venlo is changing. Having started out as more of an extension of the ship-ping lines, we’re now seeing a sig-nificant amount of shuttle capacity that’s being booked by forwarders and shippers. Rail also offers an alternative to road on this route for the pre- and post-transport of shortsea cargo, particularly in light of the continuing move from the trailer towards the container.”

“We show that, for a good rail product, organization and

volume are more important than distance.”

When photographer Jan Nass looks at the exterior of a container, he sees an inexhaustible source of inspiration. With his close-ups, he time and again manages to create different (port) landscapes. What to think of this predominantly red photograph. Is it a sunset at the beach? Or…? Just let your imagination decide.

Port Landscape III