Belgian Port News

In 2018, convicted cocaine trafficker Slobodan Kostovski fled a Brazilian prison and made his way back to Europe with a fake passport.The Serbian senior quickly fell into old habits, police allege. Last August, Kostovski was arrested in Belgrade, accused of shipping 2.7 metric tonnes of cocaine from Brazil aboard a 22-meter vessel apprehended near Spain’s Canary Islands.Nicknamed “the General” by his associates, he had been trafficking “large amounts” of powder to “Europe for a long period of time,” Serbian police wrote in a 2022 intelligence report obtained exclusively by Reuters.

Damen Shipyards has launched the second of its fully electric RSD-E Tugs 2513 at Damen Song Cam Shipyard.The tug is being built for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, together with five conventional RSD Tugs 2513.When delivered later this year, it will be the first fully electric tug to operate in European waters.The port was one of the first to operate a conventional RSD Tug 2513 following Damen’s release of the vessel onto the market in 2018.The Port of Antwerp-Bruges, one of the busiest in Europe…

Five Russia-bound containers from India's Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) have been stuck at the Belgian port of Antwerp for around a year, unable to enter the European Union, the company said on Friday."The containers are carrying around 100 metric tonnes of stainless steel," a company spokesperson said.The containers were sent in February 2022 for shipment via Antwerp, but were held up because of EU sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine the same month.JSL's spokesperson said the stainless steel was not among the goods on the EU's sanctions list, and should be cleared for onward tra

The first hydrogen-powered tug worldwide is equipped with SCHOTTEL propulsion systems. The vessel, which will be among the cleanest of the fleet of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, has recently been launched by the Spanish shipyard Astilleros Armon and will enter operations at the Belgian port in early 2023.Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO at Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said, “With the Hydrotug, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is making an important step in the transition to a sustainable, CO2-neutral port.

The U.S. is spanning a sea bridge over the Atlantic to support Ukraine with crucial equipment in its war against Russia, a senior official said on Friday, as a huge cargo ship at the Belgian port of Antwerp got ready to set sail for Germany.Carol Petsonk, the United States' Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, was shown around the loading dock of the vehicles carrier "Arc Integrity" where the military gear was tied with straps to the floor."What we see is the vessel's carrying two types of equipment: One is the personal vehicles, belongings of service members who are going to serve in U.S.

A huge Russian gas vessel, designed to safeguard supplies to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, has returned to the Baltic Sea region, tracking data showed on Wednesday, amid tensions over Ukraine and concerns about gas supplies to Europe.The Refinitiv Eikon data showed the Marshal Vasilevskiy - a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) which can also act as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel - visited the Belgian port Zeebrugge where it loaded 163,800 cubic metres of LNG on Jan. 20 and is now near Kaliningrad.The ship's main role is to supply LNG to Kaliningrad, which is separated from Russia's mainland and sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.

Customs authorities in Hamburg and Antwerp have seized a record haul of more than 23 tonnes of cocaine destined for the Netherlands in two raids this month, Dutch prosecutors said on Wednesday.The two shipments together represented a street value of roughly 600 million euros ($730 million), the prosecutors said, making it the biggest catch of cocaine headed for the Netherlands ever.Prosecutors said a 28-year old Dutchman had been arrested on Wednesday who was registered as the recipient of the containers in which the drugs were found.In Hamburg, Germany, 16.17 tonnes of cocaine were found in o

The Belgian port of Antwerp has quarantined a Maltese-flagged oil tanker until at least July 4 after more than half of its crew tested positive for COVID-19, the port authority said on Thursday.The Minerva Oceania was being held at the port's Leopold dock after 15 of its 26-person crew had returned positive tests, a port spokeswoman said in an emailed response.Two of the crew members who tested positive were in hospital but their condition was not serious, she said. The other crew were remaining on board and those with COVID-19 self-isolating in separate cabins.

Europe's largest multimodal transport group by freight volume Samskip said it is fully prepared for a North Sea container traffic surge, as attitudes harden in the run up to October's revised Brexit deadline.The global logistics company offering transport and related services by land, sea, rail and air said in a release that UK exporters and importers to start switching away from trailers and towards containerisation very soon, repeating a trend established in the run-up to the original deadline for Brexit.“We saw a significant push in container volumes up to March 2019, especially into Hull, as decision-makers facing uncertainity opted for the reliability and proven procedures of container shipping,” says David Besseling, Samskip UK Trade Manager.

Luxembourg-based dredging and offshore contractor Jan De Nul Group named its newest offshore installation vessel Taillevent in the Belgian port of Ostend.Miss Pauline Stassijns, granddaughter of Director Dirk De Nul, baptised the vessel and wished her success and a safe journey. The De Nul family, employees and their guests attended the christening.Jan De Nul Group acquired this offshore installation vessel, at that time MPI Discovery, from the Dutch company Vroon Group on 18 July 2018.The 2011 built Taillevent is designed specifically for the transport and installation of offshore wind turbines and their foundations. It is also perfectly suited to other offshore sectors, such as the oil and gas industry.

Belgian port Antwerp said that throughput continues to register growth in the port. After record semi-annual figures, the total throughput after nine months stands at 177,026,550 tonnes – a sharp 6% increase compared with the same period last year.With these results, the port seems to be on track for the sixth record year in a row. The recent wave of investments moreover confirms the port’s appeal and reaffirms its role as a world player.Maritime throughput continues to grow. Container traffic registered robust growth yet again, up by 7.1%  (98,436,773 tonnes) compared with the first nine months of 2017. In terms of Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs)…

Traffic flows between the Belgian port of Antwerp and the hinterland market in Hungary and Austria are increasing continuously. In order to meet the growing demand, the Antwerp Port Authority is promoting the expansion of hinterland connections, especially by rail.Two regular rail connections to Hungary have been established since 2015 and rail services to Austria have been expanded from one to currently three.At a port event held near Vienna on 27 September, leading representatives of the Antwerp port industry provided information on the further development of these transports with Austria and Hungary. 200 guests from both countries followed the invitation of the Antwerp Port Authority.Hungary and Austria are an attractive but highly competitive market for the northern…

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will hold the naming ceremony for its second expedition ship, the HANSEATIC inspiration on October 13, 2019 against the backdrop of the Belgian port city of Antwerp. It will be the first time in the city’s history that an ocean-going cruise ship has been christened in Antwerp. The announcement was made at lunchtime today by the CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Karl J. Pojer, who spoke to invited representatives of the press and the Deputy Mayor of Antwerp, Koen Kennis. Once she has been christened, the HANSEATIC inspiration will set sail from Antwerp the following day for her 15-day maiden voyage to Tenerife. Karl J. Pojer…

Belgium is Sweden’s eighth largest export market. The Swedish shipping company SOL is about to expand its departure frequency between the Port of Gothenburg and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The change will offer greater scope for Swedish import and export companies to ship freight to and from Belgium. Gothenburg-based shipping company Swedish Orient Line, SOL, is about to expand its departure frequency between Gothenburg and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. The company’s vessels will now depart from Gothenburg seven times a week. “We’ve seen an amazing increase in volumes during the past year and we’ve hit the ceiling in terms of capacity.

ENGIE, Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK Line have launched Gas4Sea, a new brand for their joint marketing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel around the world. Gas4Sea aims to lead innovation through the ship-to-ship supply of LNG for the maritime sector. In 2014, ENGIE, Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK concluded a framework agreement for a partnership to develop LNG bunkering services. By combining NYK’s shipping expertise with ENGIE and Mitsubishi Corporation’s LNG supply portfolio and terminal access under the brand Gas4Sea, the partners will offer a cleaner, reliable, safe and cost-effective service to shipping customers worldwide. Through their experience in their respective businesses, they will be able to tailor their LNG supply chains to the customers’ needs.

Hydrex offers turnkey underwater repair solutions to shipowners wherever and whenever they are needed. Hydrex’s multidisciplinary team will help you find the best solution for any problem encountered with your ship below the water line. Hydrex provides a complete range of high quality underwater repair and maintenance services. These are performed on-site to avoid costly unscheduled off-hire time or a drydock visit. The firm immediately mobilizes its diver/technicians to any location around the globe to carry out necessary repair work without the need to drydock.

After two consecutive years of negative volume growth, Europe’s busiest box port Rotterdam was back on the growth trail in 2014, as container throughput grew 5.8% to 12.3m teu. The different market sectors performed quite dissimilar. The break-bulk, with 12.1% growth, did exceptionally well. Oil products fell the most, by 8.1%. An extra 4.8% of crude oil passed through the port. Dry bulk fell by 0.7%. In Toto, in 2014, the throughput in the port of Rotterdam went up 1% to 445 million tonnes compared to the previous year. "In 2015 we expect the same growth in throughput as last year at 1 percent," Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said in a press release.

Traffic for large ships heading towards the Belgian port of Antwerp was temporarily blocked on Friday after a giant container ship ran aground outside the Dutch port of Terneuzen downstream from the Belgian harbour, emergency services said. Emergeny services for the Dutch province Zeeland said on their website the MSC Rachelle had run on to a sandbank on its way to Antwerp, though they later said it had been refloated. High tide was due at 1700 GMT and six tugs had been involved in the effort to refloat the vessel…

A new office in Antwerp, Belgium, is the latest addition to global shipping, logistics and marine services provider GAC Group's global network of more than 300 offices. Antwerp is the second largest port in Europe in terms of cargo throughput, particularly for liquid bulk, the volumes of which grew by more than 30% last year. Significant volumes of dry bulk and project cargoes also pass through the port and it houses the biggest concentration of petrochemical industries outside of Houston, Texas. "Given the significance of the Belgian port for regional and local trade, opening a GAC office there is a natural, strategic progression,” says Ivo Verheyen, Group Vice President, Europe.

Once, the stars were all that mariners needed to navigate the seas. Today, maritime companies rely on hi-tech systems to operate and navigate equally hi-tech vessels. All of that comes with new and significant risks. On one side, automation has its benefits, especially as crews grew smaller and ships got bigger. On the flip side, however, marine technology, like most other technology, comes with its own risks. Today’s technologies often require Internet connectivity to function properly. A recent study by Boston-based security company Rapid7 found more than 100,000 devices – from traffic signal equipment to oil and gas monitors – were connected to the Internet using serial ports with inadequate security leaving them vulnerable to breaches or hacking.

Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd., India’s largest private port developer and part of the Adani Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Belgian Port of Zeebrugge to act as a strategic entry port for the lucrative European market. It will now collaborate with the Belgian port to explore joint business opportunities between the two ports along with other forms of trade, shipping, railway infrastructure across India and Europe. The MoU over a period of time will help in an enhanced movement of traffic to and from APSEZ into Europe and beyond.

Port workers in Belgium began a 24-hour strike today, November 24, which will end at midnight, Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) reported. It is anticipated that the 24-hour strike will be followed by a national general strike on December 15, 2014. The present strike by port laborers has been called by three national unions in protest over the erosion of index-linked pay rises and tax increases. The strike is having a major effect on shipping operations in the area, with the ports of Zeebrugge, Ghent and Antwerp particularly affected.

The next hacker playground: the open seas - and the oil tankers and container vessels that ship 90 percent of the goods moved around the planet. In this internet age, as more devices are hooked up online, so they become more vulnerable to attack. As industries like maritime and energy connect ships, containers and rigs to computer networks, they expose weaknesses that hackers can exploit. Hackers recently shut down a floating oil rig by tilting it, while another rig was so riddled with computer malware that it took 19 days to make it seaworthy again…