Nijmegen News

A group of partners in Europe aims to use battery containers on board barges to supply environmentally friendly fully-electric propulsion in lieu of diesel for inland waterway shipping.Supported by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the concept is being spearheaded by the Zero Emission Services B.V. (ZES), a consortium including technology group Wärtsilä, ING Bank, energy and technical service provider Engie and the Port of Rotterdam Authority. The project will launch first in the Netherlands, where inland navigation accounts for 5% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Anders Lindmark, formerly Head of Alfa Laval PureBallast, has transitioned from ballast water treatment into another compliance application. As Business Unit President, Gas Systems, he now oversees the Alfa Laval PureSOx offering in exhaust gas cleaning.On May 1, Anders Lindmark stepped into his new role as Business Unit President, Gas Systems. The move follows years of service in ballast water treatment, comprising a number of key milestones for Alfa Laval PureBallast 3. Besides cementing itself as the leading ballast water treatment solution, the system became a forerunner with U.S.

The global port operator DP World said that will invest in four more machines and completely replace its existing fleet with the most modern, fuel efficient and environmentally friendly machines on the market at its Southampton’s container terminal.Two new empty container handlers, delivered at the end of 2018, marked the start of a planned programme of investment and redevelopment at Southampton’s container terminal.The new Hyster machines, which can tandem lift two empty 40ft containers and stack higher than the terminal’s current machines, will enable DP World Southampton to create more capacity in the terminal’s empty park."The new investments will ensure DP World Southampton remains the most productive port in the UK and offer the unique qualities required to enable smarter trade…

Turi Fiorito has been appointed as new Director of the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP). He will take up his function on 20 August, 2018. Turi Fiorito comes with a solid background in EU policy making and transport, having worked as Transport Policy Advisor for a Dutch Member of the European Parliament, Wim van de Camp. In that capacity, Turi has been working on different port (Port Services Regulation), rail (4th railway package) and inland waterway issues for a number of years. Before joining the European Parliament, Turi worked as a European Affairs Assistant at the Dutch Airline company KLM and started his career as a Consultant for a global public affairs consultancy, based in Brussels.

Declaration of Nijmegen was signed by the inland shipping sector, along with Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Water Management) on Friday (April 13). This agreement reflects the commitment of the sector to expending its best efforts to expedite the greening process in the years ahead. The goal is to uphold its competitiveness vis-à-vis road and rail transport, and to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by 2030. ‘Inland shipping has a substantial lead if you compare its CO2 emissions to those of trucks and trains. In order to retain this lead, inland vessels need to convert to even cleaner engines and fuels,’ to quote Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen. ‘A vessel gives some forty years of service, whereas trucks are obsolete after no more than six or seven years.

Multimodal network operator Samskip and inland waterway transport provider Pro-Log are celebrating the 10th anniversary of barge operations connecting Rotterdam and Duisburg by adding a second vessel, increasing service frequency to six times weekly. May 1, 2016 completes the first decade in the cooperation between the two unitised transport specialists, one a pan-European operator of ships, trains, trucks and multimodal equipment, and the other a dedicated river barge operator. “Reliability is a cornerstone in the competitive case for multimodal transport, and nowhere is it more crucial than in the corridor between Rotterdam and Duisburg,” says Leo Osseweijer, Samskip General Manager Procurement & Equipment Control.

The Port of Rotterdam handled roughly the same volume of cargo in the first quarter of 2016 as in the same period last year, as an increase in the volume of, mainly, crude oil and oil products put through the port was offset by a more or less equivalent decrease in the volume of dry bulk and containers. The total volume of cargo handled in the port increased by 0.2 percent, to 116.9 million metric tons. “The port’s throughput grew by 4.9 percent in 2015. Our ambition is to match this high throughput volume in the present year,” said Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO, Allard Castelein.

From the 1st of January, 2016, Green Award certified inland barges receive a 15% discount on the harbor dues in Nijmegen. Ships holding a Green Award certificate are cleaner, produce less noise and have higher fuel efficiency. With this action the largest inland port of the Netherlands stimulates further development of sustainable shipping. The Port of Nijmegen is now a participant of the Green Award scheme – an international certification scheme that already unites 16 inland ports and 573 inland ships.

Koole Terminals has begun operations at the storage facility for petrol and diesel in Pernis that it recently acquired from BP. The companies have a long-standing relationship. The newly acquired terminal is adjacent to the existing Koole terminal. The acquired terminal has a capacity of 200,000 cubic metres. It has its own jetty for sea-going vessels and a loading station for tankers. The terminal is connected to the BP refinery in Europort by pipeline. BP is leasing back part of the storage facility it sold to Koole, as well as the truck loading station, on the basis of a long-term contract. Koole Terminals has terminals in Zaandam, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Nijmegen in the Netherlands, and in the United Kingdom and Poland, with a total capacity of two million cubic metres.

Horizon Lines, Inc. announced it has received a permit providing a conditional waiver from the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) fuel sulfur content requirements of MARPOL Annex VI regulation 14.4. The permit is in force while Horizon pursues installation of Exhaust Gas Cleaning System (EGCS) on each of its three (3) D7-class vessels which operate in the Alaska trade. The permit was issued by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and became effective in 2015.

Last year the Antwerp Port Authority carried out a strategic hinterland analysis with a view to improving the port’s intermodal presence, which is currently sub-optimum. A call for project proposals was issued to the extended port community, with external parties being able to propose new or improved rail and/or barge connections for better access to the network of inland terminals in South-East Netherlands. In this way the Port Authority seeks to further improve the port’s access to its core hinterland. From the proposals submitted, two projects were selected: Danser Group in collaboration with BCTN, and Oosterhout Container Terminal in collaboration with its partners Brabant Intermodal, Markiezaat Container Terminal and Pro-log. Both projects started mid May 2014.

A significant milestone was passed recently when Alewijnse Marine Systems recorded the 1000th installation of an AIS (automatic identification system) transponder on board an inland vessel based in the Netherlands. A new regulation has recently been introduced that requires inland commercial vessels to have AIS installed before 2013, but Alewijnse is working with operators in the sector to ensure that they are fully compliant well ahead of the deadline. Thanks to the introduction of its Explorer AIS system at the start of 2011…

Alewijnse Marine Systems, the leading systems integrator based in Nijmegen in the Netherlands, has signed an agreement with top Dutch superyacht builder AMELS, to undertake the complete electrical outfitting on six new superyachts at AMELS’ yard in Vlissingen. Of the six yachts, one will be the first of the innovative new LIMITED EDITIONS 199 series designed by Tim Heywood with a distinctive scimitar bow, and the remaining five will be the latest in the phenomenally successful LIMITED EDITIONS 177 series.

Vessels built in two or more companies are becoming routine especially in Europe. Typically the hull is built in a lower cost area such as Poland or China and then completed in the Netherlands where costs are higher. Recently a shipyard in Turkey completed a 135 by 11.45-meter hull with a 4.25-meter molded depth for finishing in the Netherlands. The Karadeniz Shipyard is located in Ünye/Ordu, Turkey. In addition to building hulls the yard builds complete vessels of many types. Once in the Netherlands the hull was taken to the Scheepswerf Gelria in Nijmegen.