In the anniversary edition of our magazine ’10 years of Flows’, we gave companies in the maritime and logistics sector a chance to put themselves in the spotlight. In this contribution, Martin Verbrugge and Mikhael Paulus explain Verbrugge International’s approach.
With trimodal terminals in Vlissingen and Terneuzen and two hundred trucks, Verbrugge International is one of the main logistics service providers in North Sea Port. “We are permanently committed to sustainable, safe and digital services with multi-million investments,” say directors Martin Verbrugge and Mikhael Paulus.
From the Zeeland Terminal and the Scaldia Terminal at Vlissingen and the Terneuzen Terminal, Verbrugge is a versatile pivot point in North Sea Port logistics. The cross-border port area is European number one for storage and distribution of cellulose, a raw material for the production of paper and cardboard, and the Verbrugge terminal in Vlissingen-Oost is the distribution point. “While there is shrinkage in printing paper, the markets for packaging and hygiene products like tissues are growing,” Mikhael says. “We are also focusing on sustainable growth markets at this time, with customers producing low-carbon cellulose in South America.”
Martin: “At the Terneuzen Terminal, the storage and distribution of soda, a key raw material for lithium batteries and glass, is very important to us – alongside fertilisers and minerals. In November, we signed another contract with Ciner Group, a major producer of natural soda in Turkey. We are investing heavily, totalling some 60 million euros over the next few years, in improving our terminals, and further spending some 15 million euros annually on maintenance.”
Sustainable industry
The sustainable industry is another growth market. In Vlissingen, the offshore industry is developing rapidly, from components for offshore wind farms to installation, maintenance and recycling, including in cooperation with consortium TM EDISON, developer of the future Belgian energy island in the North Sea near Zeebrugge. Among other things, TM Edison is building large concrete caissons for the island in Vlissingen-Oost. To this end, the consortium together with Verbrugge is renting a 120,000 m2 site from developer DHG. Earlier this year, DHG already concluded an agreement with Verbrugge for the lease of 100,000 sqm of land for the storage and transhipment of break bulk.
In terms of sustainability in its own chain, Verbrugge has 24 mW of solar panel capacity on its warehouse roofs at its disposal. Of this, the company still uses only 1 to 1.5 mW. In the context of electrification, Verbrugge can go a long way with this in the future. Multimodality has always been the basis; Verbrugge maintains its fleet of two hundred trucks and makes its equipment more sustainable. “Among other things, we are experimenting with HV100 diesel and our forklift trucks in Terneuzen are already partly electric,” Mikhael says. “We are also collaborating on environmental improvements around the Terneuzen Terminal.”
Safety
Another spearhead is safety, says Martin. “Last September, we organised the first Verbrugge Safety Day with all our employees. This included Customs and safe working specialists. Raising awareness among our employees is a priority and the Safety Day certainly delivered that. What has already come out of it is a training programme for foremen.” Mikhael: “Furthermore, we are going to further digitise the services we provide to our customers, think especially about waybills.”
Verbrugge assumes that there will be no growth in overall cargo throughput in the coming years, optimism is paramount. “Recessions are of all times, of course.” Growth is eventually expected again in the container segment, due to the shift to container transport, for which Verbrugge also operates a barge shuttle service with Rotterdam and Antwerp. “We remain maximally committed to sustainable modalities, with trimodal terminals: suitable for road, rail and water transport. And within North Sea Port, we will continue to fight hard for a level playing field with the other top ports in the region.”
