NEWS
Improved Cooperation, Less Red Tape Since 1 January 2010 all government bodies involved in the inspection of sea-going vessels have brought their operations better into line with one another. This smarter working in a coordinated way results in fewer hindrances for ships calling at the port. The workload for crews will be reduced and the operating costs for the shipping lines will drop.
Six Quay Cranes on a Single Ship
Betuweroute even More Attractive
The dedicated freight-only Betuweroute railway line between Rotterdam and Germany is becoming more and more attractive. Since late 2009 trains departing from the ECT terminals on Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte can travel non-stop to the German border and vice versa. As part of the Betuweroute, the Port Railway Line has now been electrified at 25 kV and equipped with the ERTMS safety system for this, as was already the case on the rest of the line (the A15 section of the Betuweroute). In the old situation prior to full electrification container trains were therefore required to switch locomotives at the beginning of the port. Now this is no longer necessary. To further boost use of the Betuweroute, rail infrastructure operator Keyrail will offer rail hauliers a discount on extra trains deployed on the 160 km state-of-the-art railway line in 2010 and 2011. Such discounts can run to as much as 40 percent. The number of trains using the Betuweroute is expected to rise to some 350 a week in 2010, up from around 200 trains a week in 2009.
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Since the beginning of this year, the Delta Dedicated East Terminal (DDE) and Delta Dedicated West Terminal (DDW) can deploy six quay cranes simultaneously for handling deep-sea vessels. The quay at both terminals has been equipped with a sixth lane for Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) for this. This means that six AGVs can run alongside one another and reach all the cranes without hindrance to one another. With this expansion ECT is responding to the increasing economies of scale in the container shipping sector. Bigger vessels with larger call sizes are visiting at Rotterdam port. Using six cranes simultaneously the DDE and DDW are able to discharge and load these vessels in the most efficient way possible - provided of course that the containers are positioned evenly across the entire ship.
Tour de France takes off from Rotterdam This year Rotterdam will host the Grand Depart of the Tour de France. As such one of the world’s greatest sporting events will start in the city that boasts one of the world’s largest ports. “Between the Rhine and the Meuse, the Tour will depart with its feet in the water,” says Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France. Close on 200 riders will compete in a nine kilometre prologue in Rotterdam on Saturday July 3 before leaving the port city the next day on the first stage to Brussels in Belgium.
Rotterdam has linked the theme ‘New Energy’ to the Grand Depart. Both the city and the port itself are working hard to boost sustainability in the region, and cycling provides the perfect metaphor. Cycling is good for the environment and good for health and as such it’s an example of sustainability in practice.
For more information: www.tourdefrancerotterdam.nl