The Belgian port of Antwerp has passed the mark of more than 200 million tonnes of freight and over 9 million TEU handled in one year for the first time ever.
In October, the port said it handled 156,515,552 tonnes of freight in the first nine months of 2015, up 5.5% on the same period last year.
The container volume rose during the first nine months by 8%, reaching 7,265,577 TEUs, when compared to the same period last year.
According to current forecasts, Antwerp will need new container handling capacity by 2020-2021.
And with the MSC shipping moving its activities to the new Deurganck dock on the left bank, the Delwaide dock on the right bank is being freed up for other port-related activities.
Antwerp port expects its left bank to become the main focus of container handling.
World Maritime News Staff