Rotterdam has always been a port city. Situated near deep
water, easily accessible from both the North Sea and from inland, it was in
a perfect position to become the largest port in the world. And that is what
happened.
Parkkade
When we talk about the "Port of Rotterdam" we don't mean a single
harbor. Instead, the term has come to encompass the whole range of harbor
complexes, from those in the city itself right up to the coast.
The harbors in the city (the largest of which are the Rijnhaven, Maashaven,
Waalhaven and Eemhaven, though there are many more) are the older ones, and
they service the smaller ships. Most of these ships transport goods further
into Europe across the rivers.
The growing demands of international transport led to larger ships, which in
turn required larger ports and deeper water. To increase its port capacity,
Rotterdam needed more deep water and a solid infrastructure to support
these new ports. Along the banks of the Maas, the Europoort ('Euro gate')
complex developed.
Port of Rotterdam: the Europoort
region
Maasvlakte. The largest, deepest ports are located
here.
The deepest ports are of course the ones closest to the shore. The largest
one is the 8ste Petroleumhaven (8th Petrol Harbor), which is in fact located
outside the Dutch coastline. This is where supertankers, mostly from the
Persian Gulf, are unloaded. Note the large circular tanks (with a total
storage capacity of millions and millions of gallons), part of the Maasvlakte
Oil Terminal (MOT) and various oil companies. These tanks are used for the
storage of crude oil.
The 'Berge Stahl' at the EECV terminal
A good second is the Missisippihaven, where a very large ore terminal is
located. At the EECV terminal in the Caland channel even the largest bulk
carriers can be serviced. Super-carriers like the Berge Stahl are dependent
upon this terminal, as it is the only one in Europe that can be accessed by
ships this large.
The bulk carrier Berge Adria (which was scheduled to
be de-commissioned in February 1998) is being unloaded at the Ertskade
Europoort
Of course ore isn't the only commodity that is transferred in bulk. Coal and
scrap metal are equally important, as are agricultural goods and other bulk dry
cargo. The Europoort region is the most important mass goods transfer location
in Europe.
The largest terminals here are primarily dedicated to the handling of ore and
coal. The coal terminal is not only used to forward coal inland, but also to
provide the Maasvlakte power station with fuel. An underground conveyor belt
transports coal straight from the bulk carriers into the bunkers of the power
plant. This station produces the electricity that powers the entire industrial
area, although it is of course locked into the national power grid, so that
excess power is fed into the grid or extra power is drawn from it, depending on
power production and consumption.
The bulk of the incoming ore and coal is transferred into smaller ships,
barges and trains, which take care of further transport into Europe. Much of the
ore goes to the Ruhr region in Germany to feed the smelters of the German steel
industry.
Loading and unloading of containers at ECT
Apart from fluid and dry bulk goods, general goods also are an important
part of the total amount of goods transferred in the port of Rotterdam. In
the general goods sector, containers have become more and more important,
since containers can be shipped much more efficiently than separate goods.
Containers come in two standard sizes, 20 and 40 ft., which makes it possible
for container ships to be be stowed without wasting any space at all.
Most of the containers are transferred at Europe Combined Terminals (ECT),
where automated cranes and computerized lorries handle containers with a
minimum of human intervention.
ECT plant
The large ECT Maasvlakte plant services the largest ships and forwards
a staggering amount of containers each year. Large parts of the plant have
been automated. Driverless lorries move containers around under the direction
of central computer systems. The logistics of such an operation are not
to be taken lightly.
ECT plant
The ports further inland are somewhat smaller. Most of the chemical industry
around Rotterdam is located in this area. The five large petrochemical
companies (Shell, BP, Esso, Kuwait Petroleum and Texaco, in no particular order)
have refineries here, and over 20 large chemical companies have their various
processing plants in all shapes and sizes. These companies are fully dependent
upon the port of Rotterdam to provide them with raw materials (mostly crude oil)
and upon the logistics of the entire sector to distribute semi-finished and end
products between plants and companies. Extensive piping systems transfer the
chemicals from plant to plant, so that one installation can take in crude oil
and produce derivatives, and then pipe those directly into the next plant where
they are processed further into end products.
Botlek: a mix of harbor and industry
All this shipping, transferring, storaging and forwarding create their own
logistic problems. Needless to say that both roads and railways in the area
must be expanded regularly to cope with the growing need for transportation.
Be it dry bulk or fluid, containers or cars, cocoa, coffee or tropical fruit,
the port of Rotterdam can handle it all. The enormous amount of goods that
passes through this port (some 300 million metric tons a year) truly make
the port of Rotterdam live up to its reputation: Gateway to Europe.
