Opening Ceremony of APM Terminals Maasvlakte II Kicks Off

The opening ceremony of APM Terminals Maasvlakte II port located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands has officially opened today afternoon.

APM Terminals’ newest port in the world will be the first fully automated facility with zero emissions from cargo handling equipment.

Built on land reclaimed from the North Sea – the port is described by APM Terminals as an engineering marvel that will set the pace for other ports worldwide in sustainability, higher productivity, safety and innovation.

The total cost of the investment is said to be EUR 500 million.

The Dutch King Willem-Alexander, and 500 senior representatives from the global industry and world governments are attending the opening event, which has included speeches by Maersk Group CEO Nils S. Andersen and APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer.

“The development of MVII is about team work, cooperation, leadership, passion,” said Fejfer while speaking at the ceremony.

“We demonstrate that safety, efficiency, sustainability and world economic trade can go hand-in-hand,” he said, adding that “MVII project began with listening to our customers and stakeholders.”

“APM Terminals You have added another world class facility to our port,” said Mr Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam.

Sustainability also ranks high on the list of ambitions of the new port with the recent signing of a two-year contract for environmentally-sustainable wind-generated electricity. This electricity will be used to drive virtually all terminal equipment including the battery-driven lift Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) for container transport within the yard.

The 18,300 TEU EEE-Class Marstal Maersk became the largest vessel to call the new Maasvlakte II expansion of the Port of Rotterdam, arriving on January 5th as part of the testing phase prior to regular weekly calls starting in February.

World Maritime News Staff; Image: APM Terminals