Guest column: Mainport Holland

A special feature spotlighting Dutch seaports makes perfect sense when you consider that the Netherlands is home to two major European ports. The Port of Rotterdam plays a key role in the transhipment of containers and mass cargo, while Amsterdam has built a leading position as a cocoa port and an energy port. And while these are all unique qualities, what truly makes us unique is cooperation, in this case in the form of Mainport Holland Seaport.

Coordinating the harbour-master processes of the various ports is an important part of what we do. Since the summer of 2013, the harbour masters of the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam have been using a single Harbour Master Management Information System (HaMIS) to manage ship inspections. The system also allows users to efficiently share available data with maritime, logistics and government/administrative partners.

The North Sea Canal, which links the North Sea and the port, traverses the four municipalities of Amsterdam, Beverwijk, Velsen and Zaanstad – all of which stand to benefit from the safe, efficient and environmentally friendly passage of ships. In the early 1990s, these four port cities and the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management agreed to enter into a close shipping partnership. This resulted in the establishment of the Central Nautical Management (CNB) for the North Sea Canal Area, of which I, as the harbour master of the Port of Amsterdam, am currently the director.

The port region receives an average of 85,000 ships per year, with safety remaining a key priority at all times. We work closely and efficiently with the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management, which is responsible for managing the quality and quantity of the water and for nautical management. This includes organising joint exercises to train us to manage incidents occurring in the ports in a professional manner. We work closely with the security regions, in which fire departments, law-enforcement agencies and municipal governments are all represented. Just this month, we signed an agreement with the fire service providing that our port will assume responsibility in the event of fire or an emergency.

I am particularly proud of our input in solving the challenge of reconciling the construction of wind farms with maritime safety. You may think this is outside my scope as a harbour master, but in fact it is very much part of my ‘beat’. Our port has negotiated with the management of the major Dutch energy companies, the North Sea management of the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management, and my counterpart at the Port of Rotterdam with the objective of finding a balance between the construction of offshore wind farms and maritime safety. We have managed to successfully facilitate the supply of clean energy while at the same time maintaining safety at sea. This has resulted in new passage routes for the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

As you see, these are all examples that highlight the importance of partnerships. We believe two major European ports located relatively close together can only reinforce each other, and as the Port of Amsterdam’s harbour master I wholeheartedly endorse the notion that we can all achieve more through cooperation.

Janine van Oosten
Harbour Master
Port of Amsterdam