The cities of Antwerp and Bruges in Belgium completed the
merger of their port companies to form what they are calling Europe’s largest
export port. The newly created Port of Antwerp-Bruges looks to leverage the
neighboring ports’ strengths in ro-ro, chemical, and container traffic as it
works to also prepare for future changes in the shipping industry and address
short-term challenges created by the EU sanctions on Russia and the continuing
effect from the pandemic.
Calling the two ports' operations “largely complementary,”
the new port company cites Antwerp’s strengths in the handling and storage of containers,
breakbulk, and chemical products. Bruges' modern port, Zeebrugge, is a major
port for ro-ro traffic, container handling, and transshipment of liquid natural
gas. Combined the two port locations handle 289 million tons of marine freight
traffic annually with the largest share in containers followed by liquid bulk.
In 2021, the ports handled 14.2 million TEU, which places it a close second to
Rotterdam, Europe’s largest container port, which handled 15.3 million TEU last
year.
"The unified port is not only the economic engine of
Flanders, but together, the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge will also form the
largest export port, largest throughput port for vehicles, and the leading
chemical hub in Europe,” said Annick De Ridder, Vice-Mayor of the City of
Antwerp and President of the board of directors of Port of Antwerp-Bruges. “At
the same time, Port of Antwerp-Bruges has major ambitions to become the energy
gateway to Europe as a 'green port'.”
Last year was a challenging one for the ports, with officials
recently saying that the EU sanctions on Russia would also impact operations.
While Antwerp recorded a small gain in tonnage in 2021 it was largely even with
2019 levels and reported a slight decline in container volumes for the year.
Russia was the fifth most important trading partner for Antwerp in 2021 with a
throughput of 11.6 million tons. While Russian flagged ships represented less
than one percent of the calls in 2021, port officials projected that the
sanctions would reduce volumes by four to five percent.
After years of discussion, in February 2021, the City of
Antwerp and the City of Bruges announced the official launch of the merger
process for their ports. The city leaders completed the agreement on April 22
saying that the Port of Antwerp-Bruges has the ambition of becoming the first
global port to reconcile economy, people, and climate. The unified port plans
to further strengthen its position in the international logistics chain, and
take a leading role in the energy and digital transition.
By focusing on bolstering interconnectivity between the
Antwerp and Bruges sites, the ports look to achieve economies of scale that
will help in emerging areas such as digitalization and building the
infrastructure to support the transition to green operations including what
they are calling a pioneering role in hydrogen and CO2 reuse. Near-term they
have initiatives underway including an extra container capacity project in
Antwerp as well as developing a container plan to carry the ports to 2030. Elsewhere,
the Port of Antwerp-Bruges continues to invest in strategic infrastructure
including the Europa Terminal in Antwerp, as well as a new lock and the
Maritime Logistics Zone in Zeebrugge.
They also look to leverage the ports’ position as the
second-largest petrochemical cluster in the world to become a green energy hub
and help shape the energy transition towards a sustainable future. The unified
port will continue and extend its project for the capture, storage, and reuse
of CO2 saying that the first 2.5 million tons of CO2 will be captured from
industry at the port by 2025. This CO2 will be stored and eventually reused as
a raw material for a wide range of applications.
By 2028, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges plans to have the
capacity to receive the first green hydrogen molecules on its platform. To meet
this goal, it is working to expand terminal capacity for existing and new
hydrogen carriers at both port sites. They are also planning a hydrogen
pipeline between the two sites that will be used to supply energy to Europe.