Amsterdam Seaports ENG edition 1

AMSTERDAMAMSTERdAM - BEVERWIJK - IJMUIdEN - ZAANSTAd

2009/nr1

SEAPORTS

Special edition on storage and distribution

Three new services to AmsterdamRecord results for Amsterdam Seaports Ceres Paragon welcomes new owners



www.amports.nl Amsterdam Seaports No. 1 2009

C O L O P H O N

Contents AmsterdAm seAPOrtsPublisher: Amsterdam Ports Association

Contributors: Bart Stam (chief editor), Mark van Baal, Jan van den Berg, Albert Boes, Joris Moes, Karel van der Weide

Photos: Amsterdam Ports Associations, Dick van den Berg, Martin Hendriksen, Ed Seeder, Mirjam Terpstra, Reinder Weidijk and others.

Translation: Writewell: Andrew Rogers, Akke Pinkster

Advertising:Joris van der Hoek,De Ruijterkade 7, 1013 AA AmsterdamTelephone + 31 20-6273706Mobile phone +31 6-41842210Fax: + 31-20-6264969E-mail: [email protected]: www.amports.nl

Important addresses:

Amsterdam Ports AssociationManaging director: Wim RuijghDe Ruijterkade 7, 1033 AA AmsterdamTelephone: +31 20-627 37 06Fax: 31+020-626 49 69E-mail: [email protected]: www.amports.nl

Port of AmsterdamP.O. Box 194061000 GK AmsterdamTelephone: (0)20-5234500Fax: +31 20-6209821Ships movements information:Telephone: +31 20-6221515E-mail: [email protected]: www.amsterdamports.nl

Port representatives abroad USA Jacob Willemsen (New York)+1 212 681 [email protected] Roy Wansik (Houston)+1 713 964 [email protected] Hans Lip (Neuss/Dsseldorf )+31 654 334 [email protected] Gert-Jan Nieuwenhuizen (Shanghai)+86-13916694437 and +31 06 5369 [email protected]

Beverwijk HarbourNoorderkade 1, 1948 NR BeverwijkTelephone: +31 251-224750Fax: +31 251-214050E-mail: [email protected] site: www.beverwijk.nl

Zeehaven IJmuiden NVHalkade 4, P.O. Box 5411970 AM IJmuidenTelephone: +31 255-547000Fax: +31 255-547060E-mail: [email protected] site: www.zeehaven.nl

Zaanstad HarbourWestkade 2, 1506 BA ZaandamTelephone: +31 75-6816888Fax: +31 75-6816799E-mail: [email protected] site: www.zaanstad.nl

Business Association ORAMDe Ruijterkade 71013 AA AmsterdamTelephone: +31 20-6222111Fax: +31 20-6203133E-mail: [email protected] site: www.oram.nl

Chamber of Commerce AmsterdamDe Ruijterkade 5, 1013 AA AmsterdamTelephone: +31 20-5314000Fax: +31 20-5314699E-mail: [email protected] site: www.amsterdam.kvk.nl

Layout: FIZZ reclame + communicatie, Meppel

Printed by:Giethoorn ten Brink, Meppel

05 Innovation to serve our clients

07 News in brief

News in brief

09 Record year for Amsterdam Seaports

10 New Amsterdam-Esbjerg service

11 Ceres becomes ACT

13 Shipping Line ZIM/Hapag-Lloyd calls at Port of Amsterdam

14 New car carrier in Amsterdam

15 Cirrus Energy chooses IJmuiden as base of operations

16 -17 Through a pilots eyes

18-19 Tugboat powered by hydrogen and fuel cells

21 Electricity from North Sea natural gas

22 Flowers by high speed trains

23 Westway Terminals doubles storage capacity

24 Giving a boost to shore power

25 Vapour return systems to combat odours and explosions

26-27 Safety and quality in alcohol storage

28-29 River cruise industry seeks new customer groups

31 Keeping cocoa under control with carbon dioxide

Cover photo: visitors boarding the MV San Francisco on the occassion of the

maiden call at Ter Haaks USA terminal. Photo: Reinder Weidijk

Amsterdam Seaports No. 1 2009 www.amports.nl

28

11

A M P O R T S


Innovation to serve our clientsAs a leading distribution country that is largely dependent on

a well-functioning logistics and transport sector, innovation is

of vital importance to the Netherlands. And Dutch seaports are

certainly no exception to this rule. A failure to be sufficiently in-

novative carries a very real risk that key shipping companies and

scheduled services will move elsewhere. This applies especially to

the Le Havre-Hamburg range, where competition is fierce and the

distances between ports short.

Fortunately, Amsterdam Seaports has an excellent service record

when it comes to innovation. Some fine examples from recent

years include the advanced container terminal of Ceres Paragon,

the covered Waterland Terminal, the new fire management system

at Sitos, high-quality vapour return lines at the oil terminals, the in-

land ship with individual crane (AMSbarge), the community system

Port NET, the processing of waste fats at Greenmills, a port tugboat

and a truck running on hydrogen, and much more besides

The four ports on the North Sea Canal (Amsterdam, Beverwijk,

IJmuiden and Zaanstad) and trade and industry have a policy to

actively promote innovation. During 2009, for instance, Amsterdam

and Zaanstad will make considerable investments in shore power

facilities for inland shipping and river cruisers. This will lead to a

sizeable reduction of both harmful emissions and noise pollution

as vessels turn off their diesel generators when moored at the quay.

We are also pleased that the Dutch government is paying increas-

ing attention to the importance of innovation in the maritime sec-

tor in general, and at seaports in particular. We already had the Mar-

itime Innovation Programme (MIP) and innovation programmes

for shipping, inland shipping and shipbuilding. These were recently

supplemented with a new subsidy regulation for seaports.

Over the next five years the Dutch government is providing five

million euros for innovative and sustainable projects in Dutch

seaports. Although this amount does not allow for innumerable

large-scale projects, it will encourage new initiatives to make Dutch

seaports more efficient, functional and cleaner. And we should

also mention the new Innovation Fund of the Amsterdam seaport.

Taken as a whole, it is clear that Amsterdam Seaports is taking the

lead in the field of innovation.

Michiel A. Wijsmuller,

Chairman AmPorts

AMSTERDAM SEAPORTS Official publication on behalf of the ports of Amsterdam, Beverwijk, Ymuiden and Zaanstad Published 4 times a year in English: by Amsterdam Ports Association ([email protected] www.amports.nl)

MORE ABOUT AMSTERdAM PORTS ASSOCIATION ANd ITS 300 MEMBERS: WWW.AMPORTS.NL

N E W S I N B R I E F



GRIMALdI INCReASeS fReqUeNCy

tO WeSt AfRICA

Shipping company Grimaldi Lines has increased the frequency of its

Central Express Service departing from the United Stevedores Am-

sterdam (USA) terminal. Instead of once a week, vessels now leave

to various destinations in West Africa once every six days. Equipped

to transport RoRo, containers, break bulk and project cargo, they sail

directly to the ports of Dakar (Senegal), Lom (Togo), Cotonou (Be-

nin), Tema and Takoradi (Ghana) and Lagos (Nigeria). The scheduled

service then moves on to Abidjan and San Pdro (Ivory Coast), two

ports that play a major role in the supply of cocoa to Amsterdam.

The second service to West Africa by Grimaldi Lines is the Southern

Express Service. This sails straight from United Stevedores Am-

sterdam to Luanda (Angola), Pointe Noire (Congo Brazzaville) and

Douala (Cameroon). Grimaldi recently expanded the service with

two new builds: The Grande Angola and Grande Ghana.

Broekman Motorships, part of the Broekman Group, is the exclusive

Dutch agent for Grimaldi. This shipping division represents around

40 shipping companies.

One of the vessels used for Grimaldis Central Express Service

IJMUIdeN tO KOLdING SeRVICe

A new scheduled service will be operating between Kolding Havn

in Denmark and IJmuiden, part of Amsterdam Seaports. The initiator

is local Danish company H. Daugaard, which plans to import large

quantities of tinplate for the production of tins for the food industry,

among other things. The companys main office is situated in Kold-

ing Port and has 220 employees.

AeO CeRtIfICAtION

Amsterdam Container Terminals (formerly

known as Ceres Paragon, see page 11), became

the first Dutch deep sea container terminal

to receive AEO certification from the Dutch

Customs in January 2009. This will increase the

speed and efficiency with which containers are

handled at the terminal.

Amsterdam Container Terminals

Container terminals with this type of certificate

receive less physical inspections and document

checks. AEO-certified companies can also re-

quest checks at specific locations and are given

priority in compulsory checks. The European

Union has been offering companies the oppor-

tunity to request AEO status since September

2007 so as to ensure fewer logistic delays and

lower administrative costs. The certificate is

valid in all EU member states.

N E W S I N B R I E F

WINteR CRUISeS

Amsterdam Seaports rounded off the 2008

cruise season at Christmas onboard two ships

from Norwegian company Fred. Olsen Cruises.

The vessels moored together at the Passen-

gers Terminal Amsterdam (PTA). In 2008,

Amsterdam Seaports welcomed a record

number of 130 ships at its Felison coastal

terminal and the PTA.

teR HAAK LOGIStICS OPeNS

dIStRIBUtION CeNtRe

Ter Haak Logistics (THL) has been using its

new 12,000 m2 distribution centre near Am-

sterdam since the start of 2009. The company

can directly supply the nearby factory of Mit-

subishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe (MCFE) from

the warehouse. Ter Haak has been managing

MCFEs supplies since 2002 and has an option

on an adjacent vacant lot of 5,000 m2.

ReefeR LINe SeRVICe IJMUIdeN-ALASKA

Dutch company Kloosterboer IJmuiden is constructing a new complex of

cold stores in Dutch Harbour (Alaska) in cooperation with the local port

service Dutch Harbour Ports LLC. Dutch Harbour is home to leading fish-

ing companies such as the Glacier Fish Company and American Seafoods,

who will store their goods in the new cold stores. The first phase will have

a capacity of 120,000 m3 for fish including Alaskan pollock, cod, kings crab

and salmon.

Kloosterboer will manage the services of the Alaska cold store from a new

office in Seattle. This office will also support the new scheduled service

between Dutch Harbour and IJmuiden that will start once the cold store

is ready in mid 2009. The cold store will be built out of prefab parts from

Poland, including panels, floors and roof insulation. These materials were

shipped from the Netherlands to Alaska in January. The steel construction

has been imported from South Korea, with the concrete and machinery

coming from within the US.

A Kloosterboer reefer

fISHING PORtS fOR GHANA

Early December 2008 saw the Ghanaian President give the green light for

three of the 14 fishing ports that will be developed in Ghana by Dutch

consultancy and engineering company DHV. The overall development of

all the ports will run until 2014 and involve an investment of around 150

million dollars.

Ghana has been struggling with the issue of how to build fishing ports

along its inhospitable, irregular coastline for over a century. The Ghanaian

Ministry of Fishery commissioned DHV to take on this challenge nearly

two years ago. The 14 new fishing ports are intended to ensure major fish

export and thus enhance the quality of life of the Ghanaian population.

DHVs role in the project will primarily revolve around land reclamation

and the design of breakwaters and embankments. The engineering com-

pany is also designing the accompanying infrastructure such as buildings

and a pipeline network. Twelve of the fishing ports are to be situated

along the coast and two at the inland Volta reservoir.

Amsterdam Seaports No. 1 2009 www.amports.nl



A N N U A L F I G U R E S 2 0 0 8

Record year for Amsterdam Seaports

The modernized NuStar terminal is a fine example of increased transhipment capacity of oil products in

Amsterdam

Whats in store for 2009? Who knows

said General Director Peter van de Meer-

akker of IJmuiden Seaport NV during a joint

New Years reception in Amsterdam. Hans

Gerson, General Director of Amsterdam

Seaports and Jasper Heusdens (Chairman

of the association of port employers, ORAM)

were also reluctant to hazard a guess. But

all three speakers agreed that Amsterdam

Seaports has plenty of resilience. Gerson: It

looks like Amsterdam Seaports will do rela-

tively well thanks to the recent investments

in energy terminals and the wide range of

facilities on offer.

BetteR tHAN tHe ReSt

In 2008 the transfer of goods at Amsterdam

Seaports increased by over eight percent

from 87.8 million to 94.8 million tons. Am-

sterdam recorded a jump of 11.6 percent

to 75.8 million tons. The transhipment of

oil products, for instance, increased by no

less than 22.6 percent to 30.5 million tons.

Major reasons included increased exports

to the USA and the expansions at Oiltank-

ing and NuStar.

Ceres Paragon handled around 435,000

containers last year, a growth of 12.8

percent compared to 2007 (385,600 TEU).

Agribulk (+5 percent), artificial fertiliser

(+2.3 percent) and the sand, gravel and

minerals sector (+15.6 percent) were

also on the increase. Coal transfer lagged

behind with a negligible growth of 0.1

percent to 17.3 million tons. Amsterdam

Seaports attributes this to the extended

PAST RESULTS ARE NO GUARANTEE FOR FUTURE PERFORMANCE

Amsterdam Seaports enjoyed a record year in 2008 with an impressive overall turnover of 94.8 mil-lion tons. This represents a rise of 8.2 percent compared to 2007. Although the prospects for 2009 are unclear, Amsterdam Seaports, the ORAM association of employers and IJmuiden Seaport see plenty of opportunities.

facilities at the OBA and Rietlanden termi-

nals. Sea cruises also did well with 226,000

passengers 147,000 in 2007. The number

of cruise ships rose by 50 percent from 78

to 117, whereas the number of river cruises

dropped slightly from 1019 to 998 - despite

a constant passenger number of around

170,000. In total over 6000 seagoing vessels

visited the Amsterdam Seaports in 2008, a

rise of 13.3 percent.

IJMUIdeN SeAPORt

Over the course of the past three years,

Amsterdam Seaports has grown by around

32 percent; 13.4 percent in 2006, 6 percent

in 2007 and 11.6 percent last year.

IJmuiden Seaport has had an extraordinar-

ily successful year, says Director Peter van

de Meerakker, mentioning the rise in fish

turnover to over 41 million euros as an ex-

ample. This has strengthened our position

as second fish market in the Netherlands.

Van de Meerakker believes that the new

Internet Security System is starting to bear

fruit. The number of ship movements also

increased considerably, partly due to the

maintenance of two offshore wind turbine

farms in the North Sea.

The year 2008 also saw growth at the port

of Beverwijk: From 541,000 to 576,000

tons, an increase of 6.44 percent. With

an export figure of 75,000 tons, Bever-

wijk was again the largest potato port in

Europe. Goods transfer in Velsen/IJmuiden

on the other hand decreased from 19

million to 18.3 million tons, a fall of 3.9

percent. The reason for this is obvious: The

considerable decrease in demand for steel

products from Corus. Zaanstad also took

a step back, dropping by 2.9 percent from

165,000 to 160,000 tons. This is mainly due

to a reduced grain transfer.

www.portofamsterdam.nl

10 Amsterdam Seaports No. 1 2009 www.amports.nl

The Sea-Cargo Ro/Ro service leaves from the

Scandia Terminal of VCK Logistics in the Suez

Harbour to the seaport in Western Jutland

twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. In

addition to Tor Minerva, the Norwegian ship-

ping company will also deploy Trans Carrier.

Tor Minerva has a length of 177 metres

and carries 134 trailers. Sea-Cargo recently

extended the length of Trans Carrier from

125 to 144 metres, as a result of which she

can now carry 94 trailers. Both vessels also

transport containers, pallets, heavy cargo

and project cargo as well as Ro/Ro.

Sea-Cargo, which is also represented in

Amsterdam, will start using two new multi-

purpose vessels in late 2010 or early 2011

that are currently being built in a yard in

India. A special feature of these ships is

that they are powered by liquid natural

gas (LNG). Their exceptional Rolls Royce

engines use liquid natural gas (at -163 Cel-

sius) for propulsion. This offers a reduction

in carbon dioxide emissions of 20 percent

compared to diesel engines and a stagger-

ing drop of 90 percent in NOx emissions.

These LNG engines also produce negligi-

ble amounts of particles and sulphur.

The new vessels will have a length of 333

metres, a load capacity of 5,600 tdwt (1150

load metres), space for 94 containers and be

fitted with their own 50-ton container crane.

www.sea-cargo.no

C O R P O R A T E N E W S

New Amsterdam-Esbjerg serviceSEA-CARGO TO USE LNG-POWEREd VESSELS IN 2011

Norwegian shipping company Sea-Cargo A/S started a new Ro/Ro line service from Amsterdam to Esb-jerg (denmark) on January 30.The Polish captain of the ms Tor Minerva was presented with the traditio-nal port shield for the maiden call by dorothy Winters, Commercial Manager of the Port of Amsterdam.

Tor Minerva moored at VCK Logistics Scandia Terminal

Dorothy Winters (Port of Amsterdam) presents the special shield to the captain of Tor Minerva

www.amports.nl Amsterdam Seaports No. 1 2009 11

Terminals (ECT) of which Hutchison Port

Holdings is the mother company. In its

turn, HPH is part of Hutchison Whampoa

Limited (HWL) that has interests in 50 ports

in 26 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North

and South America, and Australia. In 2007

the HPH Group was responsible for the

storage and transport of 66.3 million TEU in

containers. NYK had a turnover of 26 billion

dollars in 2007 and employs around 55,000

people worldwide.

Hutchison had been interested in Ceres

Paragon for some time. The Hong Kong

company made its first bid in 2004, but

founding company Kritikos opposed

the takeover. The terminal has been fully

owned for the past two years by NYK,

which is currently operating three sched-

uled services from Asia for Grand Alliance.

According to Freek Ossel, Port Alderman of

Amsterdam, Hutchinsons majority share is

an interesting development for the Am-

sterdam port and one that we believe will

create many opportunities. Osser believes

that the takeover allows Amsterdam Con-

tainer Terminals to further set itself apart

as an independent container terminal that

offers many benefits for large shipping

companies.

ANNUAL fIGUReS 2008

Early January Ceres announced its transfer

figures for 2008, which amounted to over

425,000 TEU, or 250,000 moves. Over

310,000 cars were loaded and unloaded at

CAMT last year.

www.ceresglobal.nl

Until December, Japanese company NYK

(Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha) held full

ownership. In the Netherlands CTE consists

of the Ceres Paragon Terminal in the Ameri-

ka Harbour and the ro/ro terminal Ceres

Amsterdam Marine Terminals (CAMT) in

the West Harbour. The new name of CAMT

is Amsterdam Marine Terminals. It is said

that negotiations between Hutchison and

NYK took some six months before agree-

ment was reached on the ultra-modern

terminal where cranes on both sides of the

dock load and unload container ships at

record speed. As far as is known, the HPH

takeover will have no consequences for

employment.

NON-dISCLOSURe

Hutchison and NYK refuse to name the

figure involved in the transaction. Both

parties have stated that NYK will retain

a minority share in Europe Container

B U S I N E S S N E W S

MAJOR CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP

Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd. (HPH) in Hong Kong acquired a majority share in Ceres Container Terminals Europe (CTE) in mid december 2008. The HPH website states that the company will continue under its new name Amsterdam Container Terminals (ACT).

Ceres becomes ACT

The modern container terminal of Ceres Paragon, now called Amsterdam Container Terminals (ACT).


The new services first container vessel,

the MV San Francisco (capacity 1,600

TEU), arrived at the USA terminal on

February 17. To mark the occasion Dertje

Meijer, commercial manager of the Port

of Amsterdam, presented Captain Ghler

of the MV San Francisco with a symbolic

shield of the Port of Amsterdam.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services is

a large Israeli shipping company that

mainly operates with container ships. It

currently manages around 60 scheduled

services in Europe, the US, Canada, Latin

America, Africa and Asia. For the time

being ZIM will start with three container

vessels of 1,500 and 2,000 TEU for the

bi-weekly service between West Africa

and Amsterdam. One of the three vessels

is owned by Hapag-Lloyd, which offers 80

scheduled services world wide and a to-

tal fleet capacity of around 500.000 TEU.

With 25 hectares of terrain, three termi-

nals, a total quay length of nearly 2,000

metres and some 75,000 m2 of ware-

house space, USA is one of the largest

stevedores in the Port of Amsterdam. The

company is specialised in the handling

and storage of containers, timber, RoRo

break bulk, cargo bulk and project cargo.

USA is part of the Ter Haak Group.

According to United Stevedores Amster-

dam, the arrival of the new ZIM/Hapag-

Lloyd service can be partly attributed to

the operational and logistical services of-

fered by the Ter Haak Group. The mother

USA has extensive knowledge of and

experience with the trade route to and

from West Africa.

company manages additional activities

such as storage, cleaning, repairs and the

repositioning of containers. In addition,

Arrival of ZIMs MV San Francisco in Amsterdam


Israeli shipping company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, which mainly transports containers, and Hapag-Lloyd extended their North Europe Africa Service (NAF) to Amsterdam in mid February. The companies will initially call once every 11 days at the United Stevedores Amsterdam (USA) terminal, a part of the Ter Haak Group. This brings the number of deepsea services operating via USA to four.

Shipping line ZIM/Hapag-Lloyd calls at Port of Amsterdam

Dertje Meijer (Port of Amsterdam) presents the shield to

Captain Ghler of the MV San Francisco.

CONTAINER SHIPS TO UNITEd STEVEdORES AMSTERdAM


The Pleiades Spirit carried a cargo of Nis-

sans and Subarus, mainly four-wheel drives

such as the Patrol and X-trail. It sailed

from Japan via the Strait of Malakka and

Suez Canal to the Mediterranean. Here the

carrier visited ports such as Tartus (Syria),

Larnaka (Cyprus) and Piraeus (Greece).

The RoRo vessel then travelled via Tripoli

(Libya), Livorno (Italy), Barcelona, Rotter-

dam and Newcastle to Amsterdam.

The tensest moment was passing through

the Gulf of Aden, says Philippine captain

Willy Doruelo. We saw two speedboats

each carrying nine pirates come within

several hundred metres. I changed course

to starboard and sealed the ship. The

captain considered calling in help from in-

ternational navy vessels, but in the end the

pirates abandoned the idea of climbing

a 40-metre high ship sailing at 20 knots.

I feel very secure onboard this vessel,

Doruelo adds.

Koopman Car Terminal in the West Port in

Amsterdam makes for an impressive sight

as thousands of Patrols and X-Trails are

driven onto the quay, starboard of Pleiades

Spirits giant bridge. Nissan is distributing

these vehicles from Amsterdam to vari-

ous destinations in Western and Eastern

Europe, including Russia.

In normal circumstances, car carriers return

to Asia full of European cars. When the

Pleiades Spirit leaves Amsterdam, however,

she will cross the Atlantic to load American

cars in four US ports. The vessel will return

to Japan in three or four months time.

Where the next journey will takes her is

still unknown, says Japanese manager Yuji

Takayama, who has been working for Nis-

san Europe in the Netherlands for several

years. Nissan decided to build this vessel

three years ago when car sales were on the

rise. No-one anticipated then the current

economic situation or the dramatic fall in

car sales. But owning a quality ship like

Pleiades Spirit means we will be ready for

the upturn when it comes.

SPeCIfICAtIONS

Name: Pleiades Spirit

Type: Car Carrier

Built: 25 June 13 October 2008

Length: 199.99 m

Beam: 32.26 m

Draft: 9.73 m (max)

Cargo: 17,424 ton

Tonnage: 60,330 ton

Capacity: 6,400 cars

Propulsion: 7-cylinder super long stroke

15 megawatt diesel


New car carrier in Amsterdam On 11 February the RoRo vessel Pleiades Spirit docked in Amsterdam harbour. This brand-new car carrier from Nissan has room for some 6400 vehicles. An impression of the maiden voyage.

MAIdEN VOyAGE OF NISSANS PLEIAdES SPIRIT

The Pleiades Spirit heading towards Amsterdam.


Cirrus Energy chooses IJmuiden as base of operations

Cirrus Energy has chosen IJmuiden as its operational base for North Sea offshore activities. The companys offices will be located at the Maritime Service Centre IJmond (MSCIJ).

I N N O V A T I O N

Natural Gas Company (NAM), which will

process the natural gas. Cirrus will start pro-

ducing natural gas at this location during

the course of 2009.

At the second location near Ameland, grid

M1-A, Cirrus Energy is placing the required

infrastructure of valves and connections

on the seabed. The installation is due to

be finished in the second quarter of 2009.

Cirrus will transport natural gas from this

platform via an existing pipeline to produc-

tion platform G17-A for processing.

Cirrus is also exploring a gas field off the

coast of the province of South Holland. Here

the Noble Lynda Bossler platform has drilled

up to a depth of 2,750 metres below the

seabed. Cirrus estimates that the location

holds five billion cubic metres of natural gas.

UNMANNed PLAtfORM

Cirrus Energy mainly has interests in smaller

oil and gas fields in various parts of the

North Sea. The company has already been

granted permission to extract natural gas

from two fields: M7-A and M1-A at 25 and

50 kilometres north of the Dutch Wadden

Island of Ameland respectively. An un-

manned M7-A platform built by Fabricom

Oil & Gas in IJmuiden will be placed on the

first location. The M7-A location already

has an old drilling well but this no longer

meets the current requirements for safety

and continuity, which is why oil company

Wintershall will drill a new well that can be

connected to the new production platform.

A 13-kilometre pipeline was placed from

grid M7-A to platform L-9 FF of the Dutch

Oil and natural gas below the bot-

tom of the North Sea are still attract-

ing new companies as smaller firms

take over fields previously exploited

by large players such as Shell. One

such newcomer is Cirrus Energy from

Canada, established in 2002 and busy

with extracting oil in Trinidad and

Tobago off the Venezuelan coast since

2004. At the start of 2008 the Canadian

company also opened offices in Zoeter-

meer, while its work on the Dutch part

of the North Sea is based at MSCIJ in

IJmuiden. Cirrus Energy uses the Ocean

Scotsman supply boat to transport

goods for offshore activities to and

from the IJmond port. Cirrus Energy is

the first offshore client at MSCIJ.

Fabricom Oil & Gas is currently constructing the unmanned production platform M7-A in IJmuiden

NATURAL GAS PROdUCTION TO START IN 2009


A M S T E R d A M S E A P O R T S


Registered pilot Klaas Wester is fully focused as he helps the

bulk carrier Coal Age to moor at the quay of IGMA, a major

freight handling company in the port of Amsterdam. This is

one of 120 prints in the book Through the eyes of a Pilot, which

was published independently by Amsterdam photographer

Mirjam Terpstra in late 2008. She has taken many striking

images of the work of eight marine pilots in the Amsterdam-

IJmond region while accompanying them on dozens of trips.

The text in the book is in English and Dutch.

Klaas Wester (1951) became acquainted with the shipping

industry early in his life, sailing as a child with his barge skip-

per father. Later he studied at the Nautical Training Academy

in Amsterdam before joining the KNSM as second helmsman.

From 1983 until 2006 Klaas was a registered pilot in the Am-

sterdam-IJmond region. He also worked as a teacher and in-

structor at various regional and national training programmes

for registered pilots.

www.mirjam-terpstra.nl

Through a pilots eyes

The idea for a harbour tugboat fuelled

by hydrogen and fuel cells came to me at

a New Years reception last year where I

saw a model of the HyTruck, says Michiel

A. Wijsmuller, Director and partner of

Offshore Ship Designers (OSD) in IJmuiden,

previously WorldWise Marine Engineer-

ing (sidebar). Designed by Dutch trans-

port company Boudesteijn, this truck is

powered by hydrogen and I asked myself

whether such a solution would be suitable

for harbour tugboats. They work at full ca-

pacity when towing or pushing, which is no

more than 15 percent of the time. Around

70 percent is spent on stand-by and the

remaining time (de)mobilising: Sailing to

or from the objects that require assistance.

The Green Tug is powered by a combina-

tion of hydrogen, fuel cells and clean diesel

generators rather than diesel engines. An

added benefit is that we can temporar-

ily store the surplus electrical capacity in

batteries.

Provisional calculations show that, com-

pared with a conventional tugboat, the

Green Tug emits up to 90 percent less sul-

phur oxide, nitrogen oxide and soot, and 30

to 50 percent less CO2. This translates into a

considerable improvement in air quality.


fUeL CeLLS WItH POLyMeRS

Our starting point is a 30-metre tugboat

with a towing capacity of 65 tons and 200

kilowatts in fuel cells, explains Project

Manager Marc van der Zwaluw. The fuel

cells operate via an electrochemical proc-

ess and the design team believes that PEM

(Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cells

will be most suitable. The Proton Exchange

Membrane creates a reaction between

hydrogen and oxygen whereby energy is

released as electricity and the only waste

product is water. NedStack Fuel Cell

Technology in Arnhem is the supplier for

the PEM.

Project manager Marc van der Zwaluw of Offshore Ship Designers (OSD)

I N N O V A T I O N

Tugboat powered by hydrogen and fuel cells

Offshore Ship designers (OSd), Iskes Towage and Salvage, Smit and a number of other dutch partners are developing an environmentally-friendly harbour tugboat. dubbed the Green Tug, the vessel is largely powered by fuel cells and batteries. OSd director Michiel Wijsmuller expects the prototype to be ready in 2011.

OFFSHORE SHIP dESIGNERS (OSd), ISKES ANd SMIT dESIGN GREEN TUG


The approximately 50 m3 of hydrogen is

stored in synthetic cylinders of 350 bar. Al-

though we would like to have even more

pressure in order to increase the storage

capacity, Dutch government inspectors

(IVW) have yet to approve this, Wijsmuller

continues. The battery type has yet to be

fixed: The most likely candidates are lead-

acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries.

Wijsmuller does not anticipate any major

problems with filling the hydrogen tanks

onboard when the boat is finished in two

years. Hydrogen is an important by-

product of the petrochemical industry.

And there is already a filling station for

local buses in Amsterdam.

NedStack, MARIN (Maritime Research

Institute Netherlands) and electrical

engineering company Bakker Sliedrecht.

MARIN will be optimising a 2.5-metre

scale model in one of its hull testing tanks

and Bakker Sliedrecht is responsible for

the power management system. The

SMI subsidy of 450,000 euros provides a

welcome financial boost, says Wijsmuller.

The feasibility study will be completed

in mid-2009 after which we will continue

with the plan study, the detailed design

and the construction of the first model.

Depending on how much space is avail-

able in the shipyards, a prototype can be

finished in 2011.

OtHeR INNOVAtIONS

In addition to the Green Tug, OSD cur-

rently has two other innovative ships on

order. The first is a 48-metre tugboat with

a limited draught (max. 2.5 metres) for

a Russian client, which will be used for

activities in the Caspian Sea and on rivers,

while also serving as an icebreaker.

The second project is the S-bow, devel-

oped in cooperation with daughter com-

pany OSD-IMT in the UK. The S-shaped

bow and favourable waterline of this new

tug should ensure that the ship remains

operational much longer in bad weather

and high waves, Wijsmuller clarifies. We

delivered the first model to North Star

and so far have received only positive

feedback from crew members.

MARIN tUG tANKS

Wijsmullers hydrogen hybrid harbour

tug (Green Tug) was well received at two

international conferences in Singapore

and New York during 2008. Offshore Ship

Designers also found partners within the

Netherlands, including Iskes Towing and

Salvage and Smit. I have also heard that

there is a great deal of interest from the

port authorities of both Rotterdam and

Amsterdam.

The project already received a grant from

the Dutch governments new Maritime

Innovation Subsidies Regulation. In

addition to OSD, Iskes and Smit, three

other major subcontractors are involved:

OffSHORe SHIP deSIGNeRS

Offshore Ship Designers (OSD) currently

has 45 employees, consisting mainly of

naval architects and mechanical engi-

neers. In addition to the head office in

IJmuiden, the company has four offices in

England and Scotland and one in China.

Its two core activities are the offshore in-

dustry (80 percent of all orders) and tugs

(20 percent). Major clients include Multra

Ship, Vroon Offshore, Swire Pacific, North

Star and Mkster.

Offshore Ship Designers is the new name

of WorldWise Marine Engineering, which

was established in 2002 after a merger

between Wijsmuller Engineering and

Marman Brokerage. To increase its market

share in the offshore and tug sectors,

WorldWise Marine took over British

company IMT Marine Consultants in 2006,

together with Dutch engineering firm

Sea of Solutions. IMT is specialised in the

design of medium to large offshore ves-

sels. In 2008 WorldWise Marine became a

majority shareholder in IMT. In the same

year OSD opened an office in Shanghai

that currently has 12 employees, primarily

naval architects and mechanical engi-

neers.

To underline that all design activities cur-

rently take place within one company, the

name WorldWise Marine Engineering was

changed to Offshore Ship Designers. Due

to its high brand recognition, the name

IMT will be incorporated in the new name

for the UK: OSD-IMT Ltd. IMT is an estab-

lished name that we want to maintain,

Michiel Wijsmuller concludes.

OFFSHORE SHIP dESIGNERS (OSd), ISKES ANd SMIT dESIGN GREEN TUG


While there are numerous small natural

gas fields in the North Sea, investments to

exploit them have often proved unprofit-

able. Now the Amsterdam company Smart

Energy Solutions has found a new way to

utilise this natural gas.

COMBUStION eNGINeS

The gas will come from a reservoir below

the new offshore wind farm Princess

Amalia, which is named after the eldest

daughter of Dutch Crown Prince Willem

Alexander and Princess Maxima. Located

off the coast of the seaport IJmuiden, the

gas will be transported to combustion

engines on a platform that Smart Energy

Solutions intends to construct near the

wind farm (see illustration). These engines

enable generators to produce electricity

and a cable connecting the wind farm

with the shore is used to transport the

electricity to the mainland in a process

known as gas-to-wire technology.

This is a useful technology as it allows

us to exploit the available natural gas at

low costs, says Anne Visser, Director of

Smart Energy Solutions. This is partly due

to the fact that wind turbines are rarely

operating to their maximum capacity. As

a result, 60 percent of the connected cable

remains unused and space is available as

long as wind turbines do not produce at

full capacity. Gas engines can simply be

turned off whenever the cable is entirely

needed for the wind turbines.

OtHeR GASfIeLdS

The installation Smart Energy Solutions

will use has an electrical capacity of 8.8

MW comparable to two or three large

wind turbines at sea. By the time the gas

in the reservoir runs out as insufficient

gas flows from the source due to a pres-

sure drop in the reservoir the installa-

tion is unlikely to be outdated and can be

moved to another gas field.

Two key factors make the Smart Energy So-

lutions approach profitable: The high out-

put of the gas engines and the minimum

infrastructure required (there is no need

for a new gas pipeline as the natural gas is

burned above the source). The costs for the

electricity cable from the engines/genera-

tors platform to the wind farm inverter

platform are also reasonably low as it only

involves a length of a few kilometres.

Smart Energy Solutions has its eye on sev-

eral other small gas fields. I am not going

to say which ones, Visser concludes. But

we are convinced of the possibilities. Gas

and electricity production at the Princess

Amalia wind farm is due to start in 2012.

www.smartenergy-solutions.com

Artists impression of the future installation on the North Sea, due to go online in 2012

Electricity from North Sea natural gas Smart Energy Solutions in Amsterdam is going to generate electricity from small natural gas fields in the North Sea, transported to a new offshore wind farm via an electricity cable.

O F F S H O R E

SMART ENERGy SOLUTIONS TO START IN 2012


Zou je hier een betere foto van kunnen aanleveren,moet het dit specifieke type zijn? anders kan ik wellicht ook nog wat vinden via internet

Over the coming decade a European

network will be set up for the transporta-

tion of goods by high speed train (TGV).

The major benefit of these TGVs is that

they can reach speeds of 300 km an hour

and provide a serious environmentally

friendly alternative to aircraft and lorries.

Their added value is especially high for

freight transport distances between 500

and 1500 km.

eUROPeAN NetWORK

New rail terminals are essential to ensure

that the European high speed network

is a success, allowing transport and tran-

shipment companies to rapidly transfer

goods from trucks or planes onto fast

freight trains.

HSt CARGO

The main items involved will be express

goods, flowers and fresh products. The

cities participating in the first project

phase are Paris, Lyon, London, Liege

and Amsterdam, with Frankfurt, Milan,

Barcelona and Madrid set to join later. A

modern rail terminal called HST Cargo

will be built near Schiphol Airport.

Among the Dutch initiators are parties

such as Amsterdam Airport and KLM

Cargo. They signed a partnership agree-

ment in mid 2008 with Euro CAREX, a

semi-government organisation in France

that has already started pilot projects

transporting goods by high speed trains

in its homeland (TGV Cargo). As a follow-

ing step, Euro CAREX is looking to expand

freight transport by TGV to the rest of

Europe.

S T O R A G E & d I S T R I B U T I O N

Flowers by high speed trainsEUROPEAN NETWORK BLOSSOMS


Most laymen usually associate tank termi-

nals with liquid fuels contained in large,

white storage tanks, and sometimes maybe

with other liquid products. On a smaller

scale, however, liquid raw materials for the

food industry also form an important sector

at Amsterdam Seaports.

Although Westway Terminals was originally

specialised in storing molasses, the compa-

ny is now also able to store vegetable oils,

fats and other products for the animal and

food industries. This focus on food products

requires the highest hygiene, safety and

environmental standards. Products are

usually delivered by sea and distributed by

road and inland waterways. Buyers in the

food, drink and tobacco industry are mainly

situated in the Netherlands and the west of

Germany.

GLOBAL NetWORK

The Amsterdam terminal is part of an

international network of tank storage

companies called Westway Terminals. In

addition to Amsterdam, the company has

28 other terminals worldwide: Seventeen in

the USA, five in the UK, two in Denmark and

one each in Ireland, Italy, Poland and South

Korea. Amsterdam is the largest terminal in

Europe. Commercial management is organ-

ised in London and in the hands of mother

company ED & F Man.

Westway is visibly expanding. The British

mother company is aiming to increase its

market share and broaden its storage op-

tions so as to accommodate a larger array

of liquid products. In Amsterdam this has

resulted in a storage capacity of 123,000

m3, a doubling since 2006 via an expansion

of 14 tanks, varying in size from 1,300 m3 to

9,000 m3.

Clients rent tanks with separate pipe lines

for the medium or long term, ensuring that

different products cannot come into con-

tact with each other. The pipe system and

pumps can be used flexibly, disconnected

and reconnected at will. Westway plays a

crucial role in the supply of raw materials

as part of their clients supply chain, and

someone is available at the company round

the clock to provide support.

NeARLy dOUBLed

Between 2005 and 2008, Westway Terminals

realised an impressive increase of 93 per-

cent in the amount of transferred tonnage.

In 2008, some 1.4 million tons was trans-

ported by sea and the number of ships also

increased by 86 percent between 2005 and

2008. Last year some 716 ships moored at

the terminal, including 57 seagoing vessels.

In addition to doubling its tank capacity,

Westway Terminals is building four new

tanks and a new control room. Having

already further improved the method of

unloading tankers, storage and distribution,

the company is also now looking into new

types of goods and potential clients in vari-

ous countries.


Westway Terminals doubles storage capacity

Aerial view of Westway Terminals

Westway Terminals in Amsterdam has long served as a storage facility for vegetable, animal and other harmless products. Over the past three years the company has doubled its storage and quay capacity.


During the course of 2009, Amsterdam

and Zaanstad will be connecting inland

vessels and river cruisers to an improved

network of shore power, a clean and

silent alternative for diesel generators.

Shore power is an excellent alternative,

say Amsterdam Seaports Wim Vlemmix,

Assistant Director and Head of Infrastruc-

ture and Environment, and Andr Buijs,

project leader. Initially we are focussing

on inland ships and river cruisers as these

vessels can be quite easily connected to

the onshore grid by means of an electric-

ity cable. The benefit is that captains and

skippers can turn off their diesel genera-

tors when moored.

extRA CAPACIty

Shore power is not a new phenomenon

in Amsterdam and Zaanstad. Amsterdam

Seaport currently has four circuit boxes,

each with four connections. Unfortu-

nately these are in a bad condition, supply

insufficient power and have an outdated

payment system, Andr Buijs explains.

In the first phase, to be concluded before

the end of 2009, we will create 129 moor-

ing spaces with shore power for inland

vessels and 24 for river cruisers.

The power capacity will also be consider-

ably increased: From 16 amperes and 220

Volts to 63 amperes and 400 Volts. The

river cruisers will have circuit boxes of 125

to 400 amperes and 400 Volts.

Within the parameters of the shore power

project Amsterdam is cooperating closely

with Zaanstad, which currently has six

circuit boxes with 21 connections. Our

goal is to increase to eight boxes and 25

connections, says Janine Elsinga-Trumpie,

of the Environmental Policy Department

of the Zaanstad municipality. The current

capacity is too small for approximately

half the ships, which is why we are going

to adapt the connections for inland ship-

ping to 63 amperes. After this change,

river cruisers will be able to use two new

boxes of 400 amperes.

All inland vessels and river cruisers that

moor in the Amsterdam Seaports should

be using shore power by 2011.

USeR-fRIeNdLy SySteM

In the near future, captains will be able

to easily connect their vessels to shore

power. After securing their berth, they can

report in via a GSM network and quote

their vessels unique code. The power sup-

ply starts as soon as the captain connects

the electricity cable to the onshore circuit

and only stops when the vessel is signed

out via mobile phone or the connection

with the shore power box is interrupted.

Skippers receive an invoice for the con-

sumed Kilowatt hours at a later date.

The Amsterdam and Zaandam ports are

closely monitoring a major five-year pilot

project in Rotterdam. A national ap-

proach is very important, Wim Vlemmix

emphasises. We have to prevent captains

being faced with different electrical

capacities and sockets at every port. This

is why Amsterdam Seaports will be ap-

plying the same capacity and payment

system as is used in Rotterdam.

Inland vessels will not require any

substantial onshore changes. Buijs and

Vlemmix: No adaptations are needed for

the current electricity network as inland

vessels only need power for their own use,

such as lighting, cooking and heating. This

is different for river cruisers, which are like

floating hotels with hundreds of guests.

Four new substations will be built to serve

this sector.

In the coming months Amsterdam

Seaports will also be further developing

the payment system. We will select a

commercial party via a tender procedure,

Vlemmix concludes. Our starting point is

to limit the increase in electricity rates for

our clients.

I N N O V A T I O N

AMSTERdAM SEAPORTS TAKE THE LEAd

Inland vessels and river cruisers still have significant energy requirements when moored in a harbour. To make the use of noisy and eco-unfriendly diesel generators unnecessary, Amsterdam and Zaanstad are joining forces to supply shore power.

Giving a boost to shore power

New shore power units in the centre of Amsterdam.


Giving a boost to shore power

In the past, large quantities of vapour-air

mixtures entered the atmosphere during

the loading of tankers. This sometimes

made for some very unpleasant smells,

while also creating a risk of explosion

when transferring petrol or other petro-

leum products with a low flash point.

Small wonder that the Dutch government

tightened the regulations in the last dec-

ade to ensure that the release of vapour-

air mixtures during the transfer of liquid

petroleum products is strictly limited.

NuStar Terminal started using a new type

of vapour return system in the autumn of

2008. This connects the tanks of inland

and seagoing vessels that moor here for

loading to the vapour compartment of the

land-based tanks, explains Jan Oerlemans,

General Manager at NuStar. When we are

filling the tanks, the nitrogen is trans-

ported to the ship tanks via the vapour

return pipeline. New nitrogen covers the

products in the land tanks like a blan-

ket. This minimises the chance of static

electricity and, therefore, the associated

explosion risks.

CLOSed SySteM

Together with the control equipment for

cooling the nitrogen, which is part of the

system, this provides for a closed system.

As a result no more vapour-air mixtures

are released into the atmosphere during

tanker loading. This may seem simple but

the actual implementation is quite com-

plex, Oerlemans continues. One issue, for

instance, is the multitude of different con-

nections of the vapour return equipment

return systems at these terminals, which

cause a separation between the air and

the gases that escape from the ship tanks

while loading. One of the results is that the

vapour-air mixtures cool down, causing

the vapour to liquefy. The liquid gas can

then be pumped back into the storage

tanks. Another system is to absorb the

vapours with so-called activated carbon

and periodically clean the filters, which

also allows the separated vapours to be

pumped out as liquid.

All in all, the Amsterdam terminals trans-

ferring liquid loads with low flash points

and specific environmental conditions

have in recent years found various techni-

cal solutions for responsibly dealing with

these issues.

on the tankers: Sometimes the diameter or

the number of bolts may vary, for example.

Inland tankers have a limited number of

connections for which we have fitting

flanges. We have, however, encountered

problems in seagoing tankers regarding

the connections between our vapour

return pipeline and their manifolds.

Manifolds are the connecting parts used to

transport gases or fluids between various

pipeline or canal systems.

OtHeR SySteMS

A wide range of options are available

when it comes to vapour return systems.

Oiltanking, BP Amsterdam Terminal and

EuroTank have systems based on vapour

recovery and vapour condensation. Gas

processing units are part of the vapour

A vapour return pipeline at NuStar


Oil storage companies NuStar, Oiltanking, BP Amsterdam and EuroTank are investing significant sums of money in new vapour return systems. In addition to reducing odour pollution, the systems minimise the risk of explosions.

Vapour return systems to combat odours and explosions

OIL COMPANIES TAKE THE LEAd


Laumans in July 2008. We have been

working with the same group of produc-

ers, traders and buyers for decades. And

with no incidents over the past 45 years,

NWB has an excellent service record in

the safety field.

Because alcohol is flammable, NWB fol-

lows stringent safety regulations and,

Instead of a fancy office building with

designer furniture, NWB, specialist in the

storage of consumption alcohol ethanol

(80 percent) and rum alcohol (20 percent)

in the port of Amsterdam, is satisfied

with a simple office for its ten permanent

employees. And we dont need expen-

sive marketing campaigns, says Frederik

Laumans who succeeded his father Fred

together with various engineers and

consultancy companies, constantly moni-

tors storage tanks, the pipeline system

and the quay. We have given Safety,

Health, Environment, Quality (SHEQ) a

priority since our establishment in 1964,

Laumans adds.

AIR ANd WAteR qUALIty

Fred Laumans became Commercial Direc-

tor at the former Pakhoed terminal for

the storage and transfer of consumption

alcohol, the predecessor of NWB. Back in

1964 this location had a much better air

and water quality than the port of Rotter-

dam, Fred continues. This is important

for smelling and tasting alcohol.

Frederik Laumans joined the company af-

ter a wide-ranging career: After studying

business management in Groningen, and

consecutively a management trainee-

ship at ABN-AMRO, I deliberately chose

to head abroad. I worked at Ceteco for 3

years in Miami and Guatemala and then 8

years at chemicals distribution company

HCI/Brenntag, including the last four

years as Regional Director in Brazil. All the

experiences gained have already proven

very useful here at NWB.

In its early years NWB was mainly in-

volved with the storage of consumption

ethanol, brandy(wine), sherry and whisky.

Today, the grounds contain 112 storage

tanks with a total capacity of 57,000 m3

(57 million litres). Most of the ethanol and

rum is imported from Brazil, Guatemala,

Bolivia, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and

South Africa. Ethanol production from

sugar cane in Brazil is in the hands of


NWB: 45 yEARS OF ExCELLENT SERVICE

Although NWB (Noord-Europees Wijnopslagbedrijf) may not be a household name among the ge-neral public, producers, traders and buyers from around the world have been coming to this storage facility for consumption alcohol and rum in the port of Amsterdam since 1964.

Safety and Quality in alcohol storage

Current Director Frederik Laumans (l) with his father Fred Laumans


large corporations such as Copersucar,

with traders transporting the alcohol to

Amsterdam by sea ship.

To guarantee the best possible qual-

ity, we make sure that the pipelines and

tanks on the quays are spotless, Lau-

mans explains. To prevent any possible

contamination, we never store products

other than ethanol or rum alcohol. Stain-

less steel flanges in between the storage

tanks and pipelines ensure that two

different loads cannot come into contact

with each other, the whole process under

further supervision of independent sur-

vey authorities.

Each month, three to four sea ships moor

at the NWB quay, which has a depth of

around ten metres. Via NWBs pipeline,

vessels pump the ethanol or rum from

their onboard tanks to one of the stor-

age tanks. Through years of experience

our outdoor employees have become

veritable smell and taste specialists, says

Laumans proudly. They check the quality

of alcohol as an additional service to our

customers. NWB stores the alcohol until

the buyers pick up their product, which

is done by container or tanker truck in 85

percent of cases and goods train for the

remainder. One of the major clients for

storing rum at NWB is trading company

E&A Scheer in Amsterdam, which was

established in 1712.

CUStOMS

Another party with which NWB has a

great deal of contact is Dutch customs.

As consumption alcohol is imported

from abroad it is liable for excise duties,

Laumans explains. NWB arranges clearing

and check loading papers and waybills,

import duties and all other documents.

We used to have two permanent customs

employees in our offices, but nowadays

random checks are the order of the day.

This is due to a change in the way the

customs teams work and, of course, the

way our business is run.

Even though NWB is the only storage

company for consumption alcohol in

the port of Amsterdam, Frederik Lau-

mans intends to increase cooperation

with other companies: A good exam-

ple is storage and transfer companies

for oil products, with whom we share

more or less the same activities and

risks. I believe it would be very useful to

exchange knowledge and experience

in the areas of safety, environment and

health.

exPANSION PLANS

When I succeeded my father last year

my goals were to consolidate the com-

pany and research new activities, says

Laumans. There are many opportunities

for expansion, particularly in the field of

industrial applications for ethanol. The

problem is that we can only expand so far

on our 2.2 hectare premises. There is only

another 3,000 m2 available.

www.newob.eu

Safety and Quality in alcohol storage

A sea ship moors at the NWB quay

The Noord-Europees Wijnopslagbedrijf is connected to the freight railway


While the latest figures show that the

number of river cruisers docking in Am-

sterdam had dropped from 1019 to 998

in 2008, they do not reflect the enormous

growth in traffic over the past ten years.

The sea and river cruise sectors play an

important role in Amsterdam, while IJmui-

den serves a daily DFDS ferry service to

Newcastle plus various sea cruises.

The most recent season saw some 130

sea cruise vessels dock at Amsterdam or

IJmuiden, carrying no less than 240,000

passengers and representing a significant

increase compared to 2007. The 998 river

cruisers had around 230,000 passengers

between them announced Peter Swel-

heim, chairman of Amsterdam Cruise Port

(ACP), during the closure of the season

onboard the river cruiser Serenade I from

Dutch operator Euro Shipping Voyages.

Cruise ships are a welcome source of

income for Amsterdam, with guests

accounting for a joint average spend of

225,000 euros per vessel docked. This

figure rises to 500,000 euro if the capital

city is the start or end-point of the cruise,

which was the case for 56 of the 130 cruise

ships during the 2008 season. With river

cruise passengers spending an average of

40,000 euro, Amsterdam earns some 80

million euro per year from cruises.

BeRtHS

During the closing ceremony on Serenade

I, Aart Hiemstra, Dept. Harbourmaster of

the Amsterdam Port Authority, spoke of

the need at the very least to ensure that

River cruise industry seeks new customer groupsLike the sea cruise sector, river cruises in the region of Amsterdam have grown exponentially over the last decade. At the same time river cruise operators are targeting new groups of customers.

R I V E R C R U I S E S

RISING dEMANd FOR BERTHS IN AMSTERdAM

The river cruiser Serenade I, moored at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA)


the number of available berths in the

capital city remained stable. Anything

less would mark the end of the growth

potential, especially as the length of ves-

sels for mooring in the centre is limited

to 135 metres.The sharp increase in river

cruisers also puts pressure on berth space

elsewhere. We regularly have to book

berths at popular destinations a year in

advance, admitted Jan Willem de Jong,

Hotel Operations Manager of EuroShip-

ping Voyages and host onboard Serenade

I. And many tour operators have yet to

even plan their travel itinerary so far in

advance.

Another threat according to De Jong

is climate change. Issues such as heavy

rainfall or prolonged drought will mean

river cruisers being faced with high-water

and low-water restrictions all over Europe.

As a result tour operators have to change

their travel schedules at the last minute.

This is often the case when the permitted

depth is less than 1.50 metres or the verti-

cal clearance is less than seven metres,

for instance. The fact that the number

of skilled nautical and civilian personnel

onboard is lagging behind the growing

number of river cruisers is also affecting

the industry. Meanwhile, the latest genera-

tion of ships often have the same level of

luxury and comfort as three or four star

hotels. A side-effect is that the cruiser

sailing season is increasing from 210 to

240 days a year as these luxury ships are

increasingly deployed as extra hotel space

during exhibitions and other large events

in the winter.

NeW CUStOMeR GROUPS

The economic climate is another obvious

threat to the river cruise sector, although

De Jong remains optimistic. Doing

business with tour operators on various

continents means that the risks are spread.

There is a good chance, for example, that

a growing number of Chinese, Japanese,

Australians and South Americans will be

looking to enjoy a river cruise. My ship-

ping company EuroShipping Voyages still

has faith in the growth potential of river

cruising, which is why we recently pur-

chased two ships from other companies,

Serenity and My Story.

De Jong, who was closely involved with

Amsterdam Cruise Port until 2006, also

sees the major benefits of the internation-

al river cruise sector. Interest is increasing,

which is not surprising considering the

3500-kilometre sailing area between Am-

sterdam and the Black Sea via the Rhine,

Main and Danube rivers.

But interest in river cruising in Holland is

only showing very modest growth, adds

De Jong. We are still wrestling with the

rollator image of river cruise passengers

and need to tackle this issue head on.

Internationally there is a large group of

wealthy and highly active senior citizens

who seem less affected by the current

economic malaise. It also seems that fans

of sea cruises are going on more river

cruises, which has caused a growth in

combined sea and river cruising trips.

De Jong also says that non-Dutch pas-

sengers in particular are becoming

increasingly fussy when it comes to

booking river cruises. People are very

careful when it comes to choosing both

their accommodation and the travel pro-

grammes offered by tour operators. This

means that companies and ports offering

premium quality will benefit most from a

growing market.

www.amsterdamcruise.nl

RISING dEMANd FOR BERTHS IN AMSTERdAM

River cruisers waiting to depart from near Amsterdams Central Station


method that is already commonly used in

shipping and the IT industry. Amsterdam

Seaports and the local environmental and

building works authorities gave us the

green light. We will soon perform tests to

see if the system is also effective for the

bulk storage of cocoa.

Sitos Commodities developed the new

solution in cooperation with supplier

Ansul from the USA and it was recently

certified by the Amsterdam Fire Depart-

ment. According to the parties involved,

the solution is also suitable for other ports

on the North Sea Canal.

www.sitosgroup.com

Cocoa products can be a fire hazard. A

blaze at ADM Cocoa in Wormer, north

of Amsterdam, completely burnt down

a storage facility for cocoa powder in

December 2003. Cocoa fires are extremely

difficult to extinguish with water and it is

basically a case of waiting for the fire to

put itself out.

Sitos Commodities and Logistics BV built

two new storage sheds of 40,000 m3 each

for cocoa products in Amsterdams West-

ern port area in 2007. To minimise the risk

of a cocoa fire, the company installed what

the Dutch call a 3B safety system (the

three Bs standing for company premises,

fire management and construction sys-

tem). Thankfully we have not yet had to

use the new system, says Martin Versteeg,

Director of Sitos Commodities & Logistics.

NO dAMAGe

The fire management system consists of a

combined approach. A double detection

system detects the slightest smoke pro-

duction in the storage sheds that are both

air-tight and pressure resistant. An alarm

goes off and the personnel leave the stor-

age facility. Two minutes later a sprinkler

system fills the area with 50,000 kilos of

CO2 with a pressure of 24 bar. At the same

time the system creates a vacuum in the

facility, causing the fire to go out due to a

lack of oxygen.

The main benefit of carbon dioxide is that

it does not cause damage to the storage

space and stored products that occurs

when water is used. The carbon dioxide

is only released in case of fire, and in

addition to preventing heat and smoke

production the system stops a blaze that

would release far more CO2 into the at-

mosphere. The cold CO2 gas also cools the

supplies at risk from fire.

SHIPPING teCHNOLOGy

Initially the local authorities rejected our

new plans for cocoa storage, says Dick

de Bruin, Director of Sitos Commodities,

about the development of the new sys-

tem. After deliberating with the architects

and builders, we came up with a CO2


Keeping cocoa under control with carbon dioxideAmsterdam Seaports transfers large amounts of cocoa, including for Sitos Commodities & Logistics. Cocoa is highly flammable and very hard to extinguish, however. To minimise the risk to employees and the local surroundings, Sitos has fitted two storage sheds in the Amsterdam Western port area with an innovative extinguishing system that uses CO2. This smart system also has major potential for other port activities.

INVENTIVE FIRE PREVENTION AT SITOS

The Sitos premises in Amsterdams Western port area.

Documents

Amsterdam Seaports ENG edition 1