PSA Antwerp inks contracts to refurbish its Europa Terminal

Belgian terminal operator PSA Antwerp has signed agreements with two contractors to execute large-scale works to refurbish its Europa Terminal on the river Scheldt. 

As disclosed, one of the contracts was signed with Austrian crane builder Kuenz and the global technology provider of electrification and automation ABB for 14 new automatic stacking cranes for Europa Terminal.

Furthermore, the firm penciled a deal with Belgian Stadsbader/DSG to upgrade Europa Terminal’s civil and electrical infrastructure.

One of the significant changes to how the terminal operates will be the introduction of electric automatic stacking cranes (ASCs) for all yard operations and truck handling.

When fully completed, the Europa Terminal will have 48 new ASCs to operate its upgraded yard. The
new state-of-the-art ASCs will help PSAA expand the terminal’s capacity by 40 percent and reach its
sustainability goals by reducing the total carbon emissions per handled container at the terminal by
more than 50 percent. This is PSA’s first order of end-load ASCs Group-wide.

Kuenz will design and produce the ASCs together with systems integration specialist ABB. Parts of the
first six cranes will be delivered in early 2024 and assembled on site.

According to the operator, testing is expected to start in the third quarter of 2024. Kuenz and its partners will start the process of building the next four modules (eight cranes) in the third quarter of 2024, following a similar timeline as the first batch.

These works will expand the container terminal’s capacity by 40% and help PSA Antwerp reach its ambitious sustainability goals to reduce its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, compared to 2019.

The operator aims to become completely carbon neutral by 2050.

Port of Antwerp-Bruges and terminal operator PSA Antwerp gave the official green light for the renewal of the quayside and terminal at Europa Terminal in October this year.

The renewal process, which will cost 335 million euros, is expected to take nine years and will be carried out in three phases. The project aims to strengthen the project’s competitive position while the port takes steps towards becoming more sustainable.

The project will increase the depth of vessels that can moor at the 1,200-metre quayside from 13.5 meters to 16 meters.