Printer Friendly
Email a Friend
Maasvlakte 2 in figures
01 Jan 2007
Maasvlakte 2, Rotterdam’s new port and industrial zone, is to be built right on the North Sea.Development is expected to take place over the next 20 to 30 years. The development will add 20% to the present port and industrial area, measured in hectares, and treble the port’s container handling capacity.
The new port area will offer a depth of 20 metres, so that the largest containerships and chemical tankers will be able to access their berths 24 hours a day with no restrictions.
Rotterdam Port Authority says that the site will link up “seamlessly” with the business clusters in the existing port and industrial complex and with the many connections to the European hinterland – rail, inland shipping, feeder and shortsea, road and pipelines.
The Betuwe Line, the new dedicated freight railway connecting Rotterdam directly with Germany from this year, is a critical ingredient for the development.
Operation and management of the Betuwe Line will be in the hands of Searail, an independent organisation that brings together the railfreight expertise of the Rotterdam and Amsterdam port authorities, and rail operator Prorail.The two port authorities have 50% of the shares in Searail between them.
