"We see it in the increase of the volumes that's being handled, we saw 9.3% growth in teu in the first half of this year," Port of Rotterdam senior business manager Anita Van Der Laan told Seatrade Maritime News.
"The prominent position in all the schedules of the alliances, the increase in first and last ports of call, and also the fact that Rotterdam is well-positioned directly at the North Sea without draft restrictions", were all factors in its success, she added.
"Increase in shortsea volumes which are coming back to Rotterdam and the productivity of the new terminals at Maasvlakte is increasing so by this we also gain volumes," Van Der Laan noted.
She pointed out that Rotterdam is doing much better than the surrounding ports and suggested that it has to do with the new schedules as well as productivity at the port.
"Due to the limitations of a river-port Antwerp and Hamburg have problems taking in the megavessels fully loaded, that's a big advantage for Rotterdam," Van Der Laan suggested.
However, the port is not resting on its laurels and is still looking ahead to improve efficiency of movements between terminals as volume expands.
"With five terminals it's important that containers are being bundled and moved efficiently between them. As such Port of Rotterdam is investing in the container exchange route, which is connecting the terminals, depots and ditri-centres via an internal road " said Van Der Laan. This project is expected to be operational by early 2020.
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