We will open the Container Trends event on 17 October with a keynote by Stefan Verberckmoes (Alphaliner) on general trends in the container business. Then we also dive into some local themes: the importance of inland terminals, the role of the forwarder and the shortage of capacity in the port of Antwerp … and we look at whether Katoen Natie’s plan can remedy this.
The port of Antwerp is facing a capacity problem for container storage and transshipment. To expand capacity, the ECA(Extra Container Capacity Antwerp) project was launched. This project, in which an extra tidal dock will connect to the current Deurganck dock, has been so delayed that a commissioning of the dock in 2030 is highly uncertain.
In the absence of additional space, therefore, terminals today have to be creative if they want to increase their capacity. No one better placed to share his views on this than Johan Van Daele, CEO of MSC PSA European Terminal (MPET), Europe’s largest container terminal. We also look at sustainability and personnel initiatives to secure the terminal’s leading role in Europe.
Katoen Natie, in turn, has come up with an alternative to a container terminal at Bevrijdingsdok. The former MSC Home Terminal (Kaai 730) at the then Delwaide dock was once the ‘hotspot’ of Antwerp container traffic. Ships up to 16,650 teu were transshipped via the Berendrecht lock to unload and load large volumes in the current Bevrijdingsdok. Vincent Vandecauter, port operations manager at Katoen Natie, explains the plans, after which we discuss their feasibility.
Inland terminals
The importance of inland terminals is also discussed. Shipping companies are increasingly taking stakes in such inland terminals. Via Medlog, for instance, MSC recently announced a participation in Port of Limburg, the new logistics hub on the former Ford Genk site.
What impact will this shift have on the logistics chain? We talk to Ellen Meuwissen (MSC), Dirk Vanhoutteghem (Gosselin Group) and Benjamin Hermans (Port of Limburg).
Forwarders
We also delve into the role of the freight forwarder. The Port of Antwerp is known for its large number of forwarders; but what is their role today and how will it evolve? We discuss this with Wim Gijbels (H.Essers), chairman of FORWARD Belgium.
The Flow event ‘Container Trends’ will take place on Thursday 17 October 2024 at Hof ter Delft in Antwerp. You can find more info here and register via this link. A nice discount applies for Flow subscribers.
