Short sea shipping wisdom

This year’s conference will tackle the importance of building connectivity for the future by linking short sea shipping to intermodal transport routes.

Lieve Duprez, chief officer shortsea at the Port of Zeebrugge, who will be talking on the issue at the conference, will outline how the main short sea terminals at the port are linked daily to the European hinterland with high frequency rail connections.

She will also talk about how the port overcame the challenges associated with Brexit, with the UK being the largest trading partner for the port.

”To be optimally prepared for the new way of doing business with the UK, Port of Zeebrugge invested in RX/SeaPort, a digital data platform,” she said.

“Existing connections to Ireland proved to be an absolute asset in the pre-and post-Brexit era. Shortsea operators helped to ensure that UK traffic via Ireland reached the United Kingdom.”

Growth area

Short sea is an important growth area for Zeebrugge, with other shortsea ro-ro destinations showing good growth, including Scandinavia +10.4% and Southern Europe +22.8%.

Join Ms Duprez, who will be sharing her wisdom at the conference, along with a packed programme of fellow speakers, on 11 and 12 May at the Port of Antwerp.

Also sharing their wisdom at the conference will be Nils Minor, general manager sales west and central Europe, Unifeeder A/S, who will talk about the sustainability factor in transport purchasing and how this is becoming more important for shippers. 

There will also be a look at the recent evolution of Peel Ports in the UK. Stephen Carr, commercial director, will talk about the Liverpool hub and how its role in a smarter, door-to-door supply chain has driven commercial and investment decisions.

Raoul Tan, director at Naviporta, Port of Rotterdam, will be sharing insight into how to propel seamless cross border trade between EU and UK, to enable shippers and logistics companies to further optimise their supply chains.

Visit the Coastlink website for the full programme of speakers.

Book now to secure one of the remaining delegate places at the conference. Bookings can be made online or if preferred, call Joanna Miller and the dedicated Coastlink team on +44 1329 825335 or email info@coastlink.co.uk