Flanders today
SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 Erkenningsnummer P708816
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STUDENT GUIDE INSIDE!
© Dominique Hellinckz
#149
The second of our four-part special: Leuven University
EXTREME MEASURES Agreement reached on controversial plan for Antwerp’s ring road
More and more ultra-large cargo ships are entering the Port of Antwerp
• Tunnel to link ring road
• Skyscraper-sized ships docking at port
• €353 million extra needed
• 14,000 containers per ship
• "Taxpayer won't pay bill" says Kris Peeters
• Dredging of Scheldt River still on hold
Alan Hope
T
he Flemish government has reached a long-awaited agreement on the plan to complete the ring road around Antwerp to solve the growing problem of congestion on the roads around the port city, which risks becoming even greater with the arrival of giant container ships (see story, opposite). At present, the ring is incomplete on the western side of Antwerp, forcing truck traffic to and from the port to travel to the south of the city before joining up with the motorways that lead to the Netherlands, Liège and Germany. The government announced last week that a tunnel – and not the viaduct that has caused so much controversy – would be implemented. The original plan for the Oosterweel connection, as the last portion of the ring is known, included a viaduct leading over part of the city, which led to protests against the environmental hazard of fine particulates emitted by diesel engines, a major cause of air pollution. The viaduct became known as the
Marc Maes
“Lange Wapper”, named after a giant from Antwerp folklore who was said to haunt the streets. Objections to the viaduct, initially based on cost and efficiency concerns, received a boost when the interest group Ademloos (Breathless) revealed that the viaduct would pass over a school for handicapped children, many of whom have respiratory problems. The Lange Wapper, though it would have been a spectacular landmark, was effectively buried by a city referendum. The loss of the viaduct is a victory for Antwerp mayor Patrick Janssens, whose socialist party had given its backing to the tunnel option in 2008 and organised the referendum that dealt the death-blow to the Lange Wapper. But city and port will now have to find €352.7 million to pay the extra costs of the new plan.
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I
f you thought squeezing your car into the garage was difficult, try manoeuvring a boat the size of a skyscraper into a lock at the Port of Antwerp. In April of 2009, the first ultra-large container ship (ULCS) called at the Port of Antwerp: a massive crowd came to the Scheldt River to witness the lock entrance manoeuvres of the MSC Beatrice, the second largest container ship in the world at 51 metres wide and 366 metres long – nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall. Since then, these 14,000-container capacity ships have been passing through the world’s biggest lock on a weekly basis, adding up to about 80 ships so far. Since August, arrivals have doubled, serving both the Lion (Far East) and Silk (Middle- and Far East) branches of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). MSC has decided to concentrate its operations at Antwerp’s Delwaide dock, offering a total quay length of 2.9 kilometres – the biggest terminal in the Port of Antwerp and employer
of some 800 dockworkers. To facilitate the berthing of the ULCS ships, the south side quay was equipped with special heavy-duty fenders. The first seven arrivals of ULCS ships in 2009 were trials to monitor the docking process. “Attracting these ships was crucial for us, and the Antwerp branch has made huge efforts here,” says Glenn Godecharle, chief water clerk with MSC Belgium. “In times of crisis with freight rates dropping, we managed to persuade the Geneva headquarters of the necessity of this traffic, which is a good thing for the Antwerp port.” Constantly aware of the nearby competition of other major seaports – especially Rotterdam – Godecharle applauds the cooperation and support of both the commercial and operational services of the Antwerp Port Authority, the permanent commission of joint nautical authorities and the pilot services and tugboat companies, both on the Scheldt and in the docks. “Within the restrictions of nautical regulations, we enjoy the best possible collaboration,” he says.
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