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Rotterdam Port News

24 Dec 2025

North Sea Boulevard Reopens After TenneT Offshore Wind Cable Installation

© TenneT

The North Sea Boulevard and Maasvlakte Boulevard are reopened to traffic as TenneT's cables for connecting two offshore wind farms are now buried in the seabed along the road. The high-voltage cables for the future IJmuiden Ver Beta and IJmuiden Ver Gamma offshore wind farms have been installed by contractor NRG.In a few years, the green energy from the offshore wind farms will arrive onshore via cables buried in the seabed near Maasvlakte and will then be distributed to industry…

12 Feb 2025

Marine Fuel Sales Soar After Red Sea Diversions

Copyright Kalyakan/AdobeStock

Global marine fuel sales jumped in 2024 after attacks by Yemen's Houthis starting in late 2023 prompted most shipping companies to divert vessels around southern Africa rather than through the Red Sea, according to data and analysts.Singapore bunker volumes logged fresh highs of 54.92 million metric tons in 2024, or about 955,000 barrels per day (bpd), while sales at United Arab Emirates' Fujairah posted the first annual uptick after a downtrend for several years.Rotterdam marine fuel sales rose 12% in the first quarter of 2024 to 2.16 million tons, or about 38,000 bpd from the previous three

25 Nov 2024

Singapore, Rotterdam: No Reports (yet) of Cashew Nutshell Fuel Issues

Copyright I am from Mykolayiv/AdobeStock

Port authorities in Singapore and Rotterdam said they have not received reports of vessels experiencing problems related to the use of cashew nutshell liquid biofuel - an issue highlighted by fuel testing agency CTI-Maritec last week.Several ships using the two ports reported operational problems in recent months after using marine fuel blended with cashew nutshell liquid, the Singapore-based agency said on Thursday, adding that the cashew nutshell liquid had come from undeclared source materials or production processes.The operational problems included fuel sludging…

12 Nov 2024

CareGO Gets Electrification Job for Rotterdam Container Terminal Expansion

(Credit: CareGO)

APM Terminals has awarded civil works and electrification contract for Maasvlakte II container terminal expansion in Rotterdam to CareGo, a consortium of ABB, Dura Vermeer and GMB.The expansion will cover a 51-hectare container yard, which will double the capacity of the terminal, making it one of the most advanced fully automated terminals in the world.The 51 hectares will consist of 31 additional yard blocks, quay area, truck and rail areas, and associated infrastructure.The Rotterdam Port Authority has already constructed 1,000 meters of new deep-sea quay for the expansion of the facility.

03 Sep 2024

Power Outage Hits Port of Rotterdam; Issue Resolved

A power outage in the Rotterdam port area in the Netherlands briefly interrupted operations at one of Europe's biggest oil refineries on Tuesday, the plant's operator BP said.Electricity grid operator TenneT said the problem was solved shortly after 1000 GMT.

21 Feb 2024

EST-Floattech Receives €4 Million Investment

Source: EST-Floattech

Developer of maritime battery systems EST-Floattech has received an investment of 4 million euros from Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam and existing shareholders Rotterdam Port Fund, PDENH, Ponooc, and Yard Energy.Energy Transition Fund Rotterdam is investing 3 million euros, the fund's first investment in maritime battery systems. The existing shareholders are jointly investing 1 million euros.The announcement was made by Chantal Zeegers, the Alderman for Climate, Building, and Housing in Rotterdam.

28 Mar 2023

Maersk's APM Terminals to Double Capacity in Rotterdam Port

©VanderWolf Images/AdobeStock

APM Terminals, a subsidiary of Danish shipping company Maersk, plans to double its capacity at Rotterdam Port, a spokesperson for the company said on Tuesday. APM, one of the largest operators at the port, currently operates a one-kilometer-long quay in Rotterdam capable of loading and discharging the largest class of deep-sea container ships. The spokesperson said they could not provide financial details ahead of a formal announcement planned for Friday. (Reuters - Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Jason Neely)

28 Nov 2022

Rotterdam Port to House Battolyser Plant for Green Hydrogen Production

Concept Design Battolyser Systems Factory 1 (Image: Kraaijvanger Architects)

The Port of Rotterdam on Monday said it will help develop a 14,000 square metre factory for Battolyser Systems, a company that designs combined battery and green hydrogen production machines.Financial terms were not disclosed.The port, which has announced a series of hydrogen-related deals this year, said it views the company, a spin-off from the Delft University of Technology, as an anchor for a part of the port that will be devoted to companies helping to get carbon out of supply chains."Companies in the port are already actively working on projects regarding production…

27 Oct 2022

Rotterdam Port to Make New Metering System Compulsory for Ship Refueling

©Nataraj/AdobeStock

Rotterdam, Europe's biggest port, plans to make mass flow meters, which can measure fuel supplies more accurately, compulsory for ship refueling, a spokesperson for the port told Reuters on Thursday. The move aims to boost transparency and efficiency to avoid disputes over fuel volumes that sometimes occur during refueling, a process known as bunkering. Singapore, the world's largest bunkering hub, made mass flow meters compulsory for ship refueling in 2017 and is the only port to have done so until now.

11 Oct 2022

Cepsa Pens Green Hydrogen Shipping Deal with Rotterdam Port

©Cepsa

Spain's Cepsa has signed a deal with the Dutch port of Rotterdam to ship green hydrogen it plans to produce in Andalusia to northern Europe, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday citing the oil and gas group's chief executive.Countries and companies have seized on green hydrogen- a fuel obtained by passing renewably-produced electricity through water to split the element from oxygen - as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions, especially from heavy industry.Cepsa, which is diversifying into green energy…

02 Aug 2022

Singapore and Rotterdam Port Authorities to Establish Green and Digital Corridor

Allard Castelein (CEO Port of Rotterdam Authority), Ahmed Aboutaleb (Mayor of Rotterdam), S. Iswaran (Minister of Transport and Trade Relations Singapore) and Quah Ley Hoon (CEO Maritime and Port Authority Singapore).

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Port of Rotterdam Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish the world’s longest Green and Digital Corridor to enable low and zero carbon shipping.Signed by Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of MPA, and Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on the sidelines of the biennial World Cities Summit, the MoU will bring together stakeholders across the supply chain to realize the first sustainable vessels sailing on the route by 2027.

17 Mar 2022

Barring Russian Ships from Rotterdam Port 'Not on Table' for now, Dutch PM Says

Illustration: A Russian ship in the Port of Rotterdam ©Gudellaphoto/AdobeStock

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that barring Russian ships from the port of Rotterdam was "not on the table" for now, since any such move would have to be decided at a European level.Rutte made the comments to reporters, while on a visit to Paris, where he will meet French President Emmanuel Macron.Oil prices rose towards $130 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by concern of a potential supply shock as the United States banned Russian oil imports and amid signs that some buyers are already steering clear.On Tuesday, U.S.

04 Oct 2021

Activists Blockade Shell Refinery in Port of Rotterdam

© Marten van Dijl / Greenpeace

Dozens of Greenpeace activists in Rotterdam port used a ship, buoys and a small flotilla of kayaks on Monday to block traffic around Shell’s Pernis refinery, Europe’s largest, as part of a campaign seeking a ban on fossil fuel advertising.Police ended the blockade after several hours and the port’s authority said economic disruption to the wider harbor was minimal.The action comes as Greenpeace and more than 20 other environmental groups began seeking a million signatures for a European Union-wide ban on adverts and sponsorships by oil and gas companies…

08 Jun 2021

Dutch Gov't Awards $2.56B for Rotterdam Carbon Capture Project

Port of Rotterdam- Credit: creativenature.nl/AdobeStock

The Dutch government on Tuesday confirmed that it has awarded 2.1 billion euros ($2.56 billion), nearly half of its 2021 annual budget for sustainable projects, to a project aimed at capturing and storing carbon emissions from Rotterdam Port, Europe's largest.The "Porthos" project, being developed by an industrial consortium that includes Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Air Liquide and Air Products, , aims to collect emissions from factories and refineries and store them in empty…

13 May 2021

World's First Barge-to-Ship Methanol Bunkering Carried out in Rotterdam

Image courtesy NYK Line

On May 10, 2021, the methanol-dual fueled chemical tanker Takaroa Sun, owned by NYK Bulkship (Asia) Pte. Ltd. participated in what is touted as the world’s first barge-to-ship bunkering of methanol fuel. The bunkering of methanol fuel was conducted in Rotterdam port under the leadership of the charterer Waterfront Shipping Company Limited, together with the cooperation of the Port of Rotterdam, Royal Vopak N.V., and TankMatch B.V.Methanol fuel produces up to 15% less carbon emissions during combustion than conventional fuel oil and reduces sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions by approximately 99%.

10 May 2021

Dutch Gov't Grants $2.4B for Exxon, Shell North Sea CCS Project

Illustration by Dmitry Kovalchuk/AdobeStock

The Dutch government has granted a consortium that includes oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil around 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in subsidies for what is set to become one of the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the world, the Port of Rotterdam said on Sunday.Shell and Exxon requested the subsidies in January together with industrial gas suppliers Air Liquide and Air Products for a project which aims to capture CO2 emitted by factories and refineries…

25 Mar 2021

Ship Blocking Suez Canal Could Be Stuck for Weeks

(Photo: Suez Canal Authority)

A containership blocking the Suez Canal like a "beached whale" may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday in a new setback for global trade.The 400-meter Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world's busiest shipping channels for oil and grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said eight tugs were working to move the vessel…

04 Jun 2020

World's Largest Containership Makes Its First Call in Europe

HMM Algeciras made its first European stop in the Port of Rotterdam this week. (Photo: Port of Rotterdam)

The world's largest containership HMM Algeciras made its first European port call this week, entering Rotterdam’s Amaliahaven Wednesday on its maiden voyage to transfer containers at the Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) terminal.The most recent vessel to hold the world’s largest containership crown, HMM Algeciras at maximum capacity carries slightly more 20-foot containers than its predecessor MSC Gülsün: 23,964 TEU versus 23,756 TEU. During its maiden voyage, HMM Algeciras is carrying a total of 19…

26 May 2020

VIDEO: First Drone Delivery for World's Biggest Offshore Vessel

Drone delivering a package to the Pioneering Spirit vessel - Credit: Port of Rotterdam,

Allseas' giant Pioneering Spirit offshore construction and decommissioning vessel last week provided a stage for what is believed to be the Netherlands’ first drone to vessel delivery.Mobilizing in Rotterdam’s Alexiahaven for upcoming platform removal projects, the 382 meters long, 124 meters wide vessel last week received a special aerial package containing spare parts.The drone delivery was a test, set up by Dutch Drone Delta (a consortium promoting the use of drones), the Port of Rotterdam Authority and Allseas.

20 Apr 2020

Hydrex Ready to Mobilize at Port of Rotterdam

Photo: Hydrex

To enable a fast mobilization throughout the entire Rotterdam port without delaying a ship’s commercials operations, Hydrex dive support vessels are stationed in Rotterdam. These workboats are fully equipped with hydraulic cranes, winches, a dive spread and control room.This allows Hydrex to offer simple maintenance operations as well as repairs on all parts of the underwater ship propulsion system and the hull. Hydrex operations are class approved and carried out alongside or at anchorage while commercial activities continue without disruption.

19 Mar 2020

World's Largest Semi-Sub Crane Vessel to Arrive in Port of Rotterdam

Sleipnir - Image Credit: Heerema

Port of Rotterdam is set to welcome Heerema's Sleipnir, the world's largest semi-submersible crane vessel, which is set to arrive at the port on Saturday, March 21, where it will be made ready for a North Sea decommissioning project.Named after the Norse God Odin's eight-legged stallion, the vessel stands at 220 meters long, 102 meters wide, can accommodate 400 employees, and weighs 119,000 tons and is the first such unit powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The semi-submersible vessel has two cranes onboard, each capable of lifting 10,000 metric tons.

17 Feb 2020

Partnership to Make Waterways Climate-Neutral

German energy company E.ON, Rotterdam Port Authority and DeltaPort Niederrheinhäfen are partnering up to create conditions conducive to switching inland shipping in Germany and Europe from diesel to battery and/or hydrogen drives.The companies agreed in Essen to develop an infrastructure so that freight and passenger ships with climate-neutral propulsion can exchange battery containers or refuel hydrogen in the ports.The partners' goals include climate protection, improved air quality and the long-term optimization of logistics costs.The pilot concept will initially focus on the German inland DeltaPort location in Voerde and Wesel, which will be developed into a sustainable port network as part of the EcoPort813 project.

20 Jan 2020

Rotterdam Port Explores Option of Geothermal

Research into the geothermal port of Rotterdam is entering the next phase, according to the Port of Rotterdam Authority.Shell Geothermal BV and the Port of Rotterdam Authority are jointly investigating the options for geothermal energy in the western part of the port of Rotterdam. The two companies have received an exploration permit from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.The subsurface has been mapped out thoroughly in recent years as part of the Ultra-Deep Geothermal Energy (UDG) green deal. Obtaining the exploration permit means that Shell and the Port Authority will have time in the coming years to further detail their plans, with…