International event for project cargo professionals

RotterdamNetherlands

Tradition and nostalgia

Until shortly after the war, the Netherlands had a large number of authors who would romanticise life in the ports and at sea. They told their exiting tales about dredgers in Sliedrecht, tugboat captains or tough sailors in a way that made many a reader overflow with patriotic pride.

If we roughly define breakbulk as cargo which is not liquid, not a bulk product and not able to fit into a container, then we might just still catch a glimpse of those burly port workers of yesteryear as they descend into the hold carrying cargo on their shoulders. Those days may now be over, but breakbulk still generates a relatively high degree of employment per cargo item. After all, the loading and unloading of cars, sailing ships, silos or special cargo for the offshore sector is more difficult to automate or mechanise than the handling of containers, grain or oil.

For this reason, the port of Amsterdam is giving breakbulk the red carpet treatment, backed by the fact that it already has 750 years of experience in this sector. In short, a living nautical tradition. The capital’s port authority states that breakbulk activities generate ‘a lot of added value for the region’ because the products in question ‘pass through many different hands’ during handling.

It is therefore not surprising that the various North Sea ports see breakbulk as an interesting growth market and are announcing new activities in this segment. The Zeeland ports have for example already held a strong position in offshore for many years, but now IJmuiden, Amsterdam and Rotterdam are also trying to further expand their activities in this field. And various ports are already active in car transport. However, all these Dutch successes cannot diminish the fact that Antwerp holds a particularly strong position in breakbulk.

More news

Fuel prices take a massive nosedive

Fuel prices have taken a massive nosedive since the beginning of the year with low sulphur fuel prices in Singapore dropping from USD 734 per tonne on January 1st to USD 415 per tonne today. The price drop comes at a good time as the transport and logistics industry is struggling with low demand as… Read more ›

Zeamarine closes offices in Denmark

Zeamarine is closing its operations in Denmark. The Danish subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy resulting in the closure of two offices and 23 employees being sent home, confirms local liquidator Hafnia Law. The German breakbulk carrier has two offices in Denmark, one in Naevsted and one in Aarhus, but both offices have now been closed… Read more ›

Manager loses contact with general cargo vessel after pirate attack

Chinese vessel manager Tianjin Xinhai International Ship Management has lost contact with its general cargo vessel Huanghai Glory after the vessel sent a piracy alert using its Ship Security Alert System (SSAS).  An unknown number of pirates are believed to have boarded the vessel, which is currently drifting off the coast of Nigeria. The vessel’s… Read more ›