The Port of Antwerp is working on measures to increase the efficiency of container barge transport to and from the hinterland. One of these is establishing a minimum call size. After a trial period with a minimum call size of thirty, the port now changes that number to twenty.
The initiatives are part of the Container Barge Action Plan. The pilot project for consolidation of small volumes to a mimimum call size of thirty has reduced the number of calls at the maritime terminals by around forty per cent. At the same time, the average call size has increased by about 25 per cent. The project will continue in the same way but has now set the minimum call size at twenty due to persistent low water levels in the rivers.
Dedicated Berths
In addition to a minimum call size, the port has also created dedicated berths for container barges. One such quay was opened in June 2019 at DP World. Another one will be realized at the PSA terminal 869 by the end of Q3 2019.
Scheduling Project to Be Expanded
Another project was focused on central barge scheduling and monitoring, with a single office handling the schedules for the PSA, MPET and DPW terminals. So far, this has been a success and will be structurally expanded. The system will be extended to additional terminals towards 24/7 scheduling and monitoring.
During the past few months, time frames have also been introduced for large, regular movements, for which reliability and proactive communication are key. The time frames are defined in bilateral agreements between barge operators and terminals (DP World, MPET and PSA). Other efforts concentrate on making greater use of weekend capacity.
