The number of vessels calling at Zeebrugge rose in 2016 with 7.3% to a total of 8,467 ships, the company said in its press release.
The port handled a volume of nearly 38 million tonnes of freight in 2016 (-1.3%).
RORO (+6.7%)
In 2016, the roll-on/roll-off traffic on all destinations grew to a volume of 14,352,087 tonnes (+6,7%).
Within the roll-on/roll-off segment the number of new vehicles handled in our port is especially staggering. No less than 2,776,113 vehicles were handled in 2016, which confirms Zeebrugge’s leading position in the automotive shipping industry. The sector saw a rise of 14.3% compared to the 2015 result.
The countries showing the most growth in automotive traffic with the port of Zeebrugge are the United States (+47.5%), Sweden (+31.7%) and Spain (+25.4%). Mexico and Turkey also show very good growth rates.
The new year has already started with a few new automotive cargo flows. K-Line’s Europe Pacific service vessels coming from the Far East now offer two sailings a month from the port of Zeebrugge and KESS has started a new direct weekly service to Ireland.
Especially remarkable is how the Scandinavian hub in Zeebrugge is continuously growing stronger. The traffic with this region grew 11.7% in 2016. CLdN started a new service between Zeebrugge and the Danish port Hirtshals and SOL raised the frequency for the Gothenburg connection to 7 sailings a week. Maritime traffic with Scandinavia will definitely grow further in the upcoming year. In 2017, Finnlines will add Zeebrugge to a service from Bilbao to Finland. Also in 2017, SOL will start a new route to Ventspils in Latvia, which is a reinforcement specifically on the Baltic region.
Roll-on/Roll-off traffic on the United Kingdom, Zeebrugge’s most important market, has risen 1.2 percent throughout the year. (total tonnage: 17,094,473)
DFDS Seaways reached the best figure of the last six years on the Scottish Rosyth service (total tonnage: 692,000 +9.8%).
The roro freight volume with Ireland knew a strong rise of 18 percent. CLdN added a third sailing to Dublin by deploying an additional ship. The new automotive traffic of KESS’ new service in 2017 will reinforce this figure in the coming year.
CONTAINERS (RoRo: +2.5%, Lolo: -33.8%)
Zeebrugge’s loss of deepsea container services from the Far East due to the reshuffling of alliances, still has a negative effect on the total volume of containers handled in our port. The roll-on/roll-off container volume rose 2.5%, but the lift-on/lift-off volume (mostly deepsea containers) dropped 33.8%.
In 2016, APM Terminals Zeebrugge received a weekly call from CMA CGM’s “North Europe French West Indies (NEFWI)” service. Maersk Line also made a number of inducement calls at the container terminal.
In 2017, Zeebrugge will have a new deepsea connection with the Far East through one of Ocean Alliance’s new container services. Seatrade recently announced to start a new regular intercontinental container service from New Zealand for which Zeebrugge is scheduled as the first European port. This service returns to New Zealand via South America.
The shortsea container traffic grew slightly: + 2.5%. The shortsea service from liner Containerships made 55 sailings in 2017. A part of the shortsea container volume is also shipped on roro-vessels through the various European shipping connections.
DRY BULK (+13.2%)
The volume of dry bulk goods in Zeebrugge rose 13.2% and reached a total of 1,487,949 tonnes. Sand and grint imported for construction makes a large part of the dry bulk volume in Zeebrugge, but also the agri bulk has seen its volumes rise throughout the year.
BREAK BULK (+27.5%)
The port of Zeebrugge covered new ground in 2016 and reached a very strong result in the segment of break bulk: 1,496,192 tonnes (+27.5%).
Also, the forest products sector is growing in our port. Existing clients Stora Enso and Fibria have brought larger volumes to Zeebrugge. Paper pulp rose 22.9%, paper and cardboard went up 10.8%.
The Belgian New Fruit Wharf handled 12.8% more kiwifruit than in 2015. In 2017, the terminal will invest in the expansion of the packing station.
The rise in break bulk volume is also partly due to the heavy modules the port receives for the gasification installations concerning the Yamal LNG project. (250.000 tonnes) About 80 modules are shipped to Zeebrugge from South Korea and China. They are temporarily stocked at our port and then shipped to Russia on ice class vessels.
LIQUID BULK (-10.7%)
The liquid bulk volume is down 10.7% (6,031,916 tonnes). This is mainly because of the LNG volume that dropped 20.6% last year.
Five years after the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan is in high demand for alternate energy. This drives up the market price, which results in fewer LNG vessels for the European market.
Yamal LNG’s 100% subsidiary Yamal Trade and Fluxys LNG signed a 20-year contract for transshipment of up to 8 million tons of LNG per year at the port of Zeebrugge, to support year-round LNG deliveries from the Yamal Peninsula to Asian-Pacific markets.
This will give an impulse to the maritime LNG volumes in our port in 2018. Also, LNG as fuel for the shipping industry is on the rise.
CRUISES (+28%)
2017 was once more a record year for the cruise sector in Zeebrugge. 142 cruise vessels moored at the port of Zeebrugge, bringing a total of 743,085 cruise passengers. In 2015, the port received 111 cruise ships. Since April 2016, AIDA Cruises’ AIDAPrima has a weekly call in the port on Wednesday. For 2017 there are 174 cruise visits scheduled.
PORT LABOUR (+7.6%)
The strong results of the automotive sector and the break bulk sector in Zeebrugge boosted the employment in the port. 219 labourers were hired throughout the year, which led to a record number of port labourers active in Zeebrugge in December 2016, 1,695 in total: +6.7%. They also performed a record number of shifts: 342,712, which is 15.4% more than in 2015.