Shortsea shipping on the agenda

Q Firstly, why has Antwerp agreed to hold the conference this year?

A As a port authority, it is our role to facilitate business, bring people together for networking and create opportunities where professionals get acquainted with the latest challenges and trends in the maritime sector. We easily came to an agreement with Mercator Media to host Coastlink because we share the same objectives of promoting the advantages of short sea shipping including supply chain managers with frequent, reliable, cost effective and sustainable transportation solutions.

Q With regards to short sea, how high up on the business priority is this for the port? Is it a growth segment for example? How has the area been performing for you?

A Connectivity is high on the agenda of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. As a port we are an important hub between foreland and hinterland. In order to guarantee fast and efficient transport, Port of Antwerp-Bruges is offering multimodal solutions such as rail, inland navigation, pipeline and feeder and shortsea services. With strong growth across many of our short sea platforms, including with the UK and Ireland after Brexit, we are convinced that shortsea offers advantages in the long run and can contribute to a modal shift towards more sustainable supply chain options.

Q What does Antwerp believe are the key areas that the short sea sector needs to focus on in order to overcome any challenges or obstacles in the market?

A Whilst shortsea offers great advantages in terms of providing reliable, cost effective and sustainable solutions, it also faces a number of challenges. Shortsea can be dependent on deepsea as far as scheduling and planning is concerned and therefore needs to be responsive to changes in the deepsea schedules. Frequent and predictable turnaround times are crucial in order to be able to offer efficient shortsea connections and the current pressure on the container market can cause real operational challenges.

Q What are the opportunities in the sector? For both Antwerp and for ports as a whole to tap into?

A Without doubt, shortsea offers port users and shippers many advantages, such as greater transport capacity compared to road haulage, reduced costs per unit load and increased supply chain sustainability for shippers. These advantages can be further enhanced by combining railway transport with shortsea in one logistics chain. Examples include destinations in Portugal and parts of Spain which now enjoy rapid connections with destinations in Central and Eastern Europe via these integrated rail and short sea solutions. Making use of these advantages is definitely part of the larger exercise to rethink the optimal supply chain. Intermodal transportation is often the answer to this.

Q How does shortsea fi t into your environmental objectives/targets there at the port?

A Port of Antwerp, along with its partners and authorities, is developing the transport infrastructure for the benefit of sustainable freight transport. With a policy of encouragement, we are convincing players in the supply chain of the advantages of alternative modes of transport. Shortsea is an environmentally-friendly alternative that aligns perfectly with the port’s sustainable development policy. Port of Antwerp-Bruges is investing in environmentallyfriendly solutions and also offers favourable port dues to vessels powered by LNG and vessels with a high Environmental Ship Index (ESI).

Q What are your future aims and projects surrounding shortsea?

A We are continuously working hard to extend our service offering by adding new shortsea destinations and by increasing the frequency of existing services. Thanks to the merger of Port of Antwerp and Port of Zeebrugge, our connectivity platform has dramatically increased, making the Port of Antwerp-Bruges the ideal location for short sea solutions, both for container and unaccompanied trailer transportation.