HCT Sets Sights on Offshore Wind

Holland Cargo Terminal (HCT) located at the Port of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is poised to attract more project cargo to the port and, in particular, the cargo intended for construction of offshore wind farms in the North Sea.

“There are a lot of big plans for development of offshore wind farms in the North Sea as around 800 wind mills are being planned to be built in the near future. What we can offer in that respect is available space to handle project cargo of this type,” Michael van Toledo, General Manager at HCT told World Maritime News.

The group operates three terminals in total, two smaller terminals closer to the lock and one bigger one within the Amsterdam port area, featuring 55 hectares of land in capacity.

The terminal was originally designed as a purely container terminal, but as explained by van Toledo, “that has not been a success”.

“Therefore, with the strategy change, together with the port of Amsterdam, we have decided to develop the terminal into a multipurpose hub, where we focus on four segments:containers, breakbulk, roll on roll off and project cargo, including offshore wind,” he added.

The terminal has already proven its capability to handle cargo of this type with its involvement in Westermeerwind project situated in the waters of the IJsselmeer.

Namely, in July 2015, the terminal took delivery of a shipment of wind turbine components on a RoRo ship, which were later on assembled at the terminal.

As explained, the staff at the terminal do not perform the assembly of components, however HCT provides assistance in that process and ensures the necessary logistics.

“As parts for offshore wind farms become bigger, it is our aim to have parts assembled at our terminal and make the installations as complete as possible and move them in one peace to their final location,” van Toledo continued.

“Once assembled, giant pylons are mounted on a pontoon and they leave the terminal in an erected position, dwarfing  the surroundings as they pass through the city of Amsterdam,” said Anthony van der Hoest, Cluster Manager for Logistics at the Port of Amsterdam.

Speaking of the compatibility of offshore wind platform components with the new lock about to be built at the port of Amsterdam, van Toledo noted that there will always be pieces that would not be able to fit through the lock. However, according to him, the construction of the new lock is not considered to be a hindrance for future projects.

“Our aim is to explain to the industry that we have the necessary capacity for this line of work and we are still in the process of spreading the word that we are there. That process includes approaching heavy lift companies that are in contact with engineering companies involved in such projects and informing them of what he have to offer,” he stressed, concluding that there is still a long way to go.

World Maritime News Staff