WienCont, the trimodal container terminal in Vienna, is the first Austrian terminal in the InlandLinks network.
This has been announced by Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, at the yearly Shipping Lunch of the Rotterdam port community for their customers based in Hamburg. The InlandLinks network now comprises almost seventy terminals in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Italy, Austria and Hungary.
WienCont
WienCont handles at its seven-track rail terminal some 200,000 rail cars per year to and from German cities, Rotterdam and Central-Europe. Via Rhine-Main-Danube Canal there are inland shipping connections with the ARA ports and the Black Sea ports. The terminal loads and unloads approximately 200.000 trucks per year.
Hinterland Marketing
In his Hamburg speech Castelein a/o noted that the shipping lines, as well as the big three Rotterdam container terminals, ECT, RWG and APMT, are clearly intensifying their marketing operations in the hinterland. In some cases, this resulted already in a rise of the carrier haulage share from 25 to 40 %. Efficient and keen management of empty containers plays a vital role in this development.
The empty container tool of InlandLinks is a valuable instrument to support the hinterland marketing of the shipping lines. Most of the top twenty lines are using the system now. Especially in regions with a high demand for "empties", such as Austria and Southern Germany, the tool is expected to prove its usefulness.