Zeevaart

Paul Smits, Financial Director of the Port of Rotterdam Authority: “We are not against paying corporation tax, but then it should apply to all European sea ports. This is a matter of principle for us. The foreign ports with which we have to compete do not pay corporation tax and, in addition, are even supported in various ways by their governments. Within Europe, it should be a question of ‘what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’. The payment of corporation tax will come at the expense of our investments in the port complex. The purpose of this cannot be to increase unfair competition.”

Last year, the Dutch legislature had made an exception in the law for port authorities: they did not have to pay corporation tax because they were not competing with private parties, but with foreign ports and with each other. The Netherlands did this because port authorities in, for example, Hamburg and Antwerp receive support from the government by respectively covering losses or co-funding port infrastructure. In January, the European Commission decided to overrule the special position of the sea ports in Dutch legislation. In the legal proceedings, the port authorities will principally allege an infringement of the principles of proper administration, such as equality and proportionality.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority would have to pay about 60 million euros in corporation tax per year on the basis of the most recent annual figures. This comes on top of the dividend that the Port Authority pays to the Municipality of Rotterdam and to the State. The dividend amounts to about 90 million euros and is indexed annually. It is not dependent on the profits made. In addition, the Port of Rotterdam Authority also contributes regularly to the costs of public, national infrastructure in Rotterdam. For example, earlier this month the Port Authority announced that it will be contributing nearly one hundred million euros to the re-routing of four kilometres of public railway line.

The key industrial and economic centres in Western Europe can be reached within 24 hours from Rotterdam. This is because the port of Rotterdam is optimally connected with the rest of Europe via an extensive intermodal network comprising rail, inland waterways, road, shortsea routes and pipelines. You can select from among these different modalities or a combination of various transportation options on the basis of volume, desired speed, costs and sustainability goals. InlandLinks maps out Rotterdam’s hinterland network and provides an overview of the most efficient intermodal routes. In addition to searching on and selecting the terminals and container depots of shipping companies, it is now also possible to find information about operators and connections with Rotterdam.

An additional benefit is that the port of Rotterdam is very well positioned for companies that specifically want to reduce their ecological footprint. Due to the unsurpassed depth and unimpeded access, Rotterdam first and foremost is able to accommodate and service the largest, most modern, and therefore most efficient ships. This makes a considerable difference in terms of environmental performance per shipped kilogram of cargo. Furthermore, the terminal infrastructure is among the most modern in the world. This applies to all types of cargo, ranging from dry to liquid bulk and from LNG to breakbulk.
This is particularly evident for containers in the hypermodern terminals on Maasvlakte 2.

Thermal Energy Storage
The APM Terminal is CO2-neutral. Sustainability was also a key principle in the design of the RWG Terminal. The decision was to incorporate a very high degree of automation and the terminal is completely electric. Furthermore, all buildings are energy-neutral. This was achieved in various ways, such as via the use of triple-glazed glass panels, thermal energy storage, and ceiling and floor heating.

Generators
In 2013, ECT was presented with the Lean and Green Star, because it managed to demonstrably reduce its own CO2 footprint by at least twenty per cent, five years in a row. For example, the lifting motors of the cranes at ECT’s deepsea terminals change into generators that convert braking or lowering forces during container lifting operations into electricity.

Natural Infrastructure
Another key aspect of reducing the ecological footprint lies in the extensive possibilities available to reach Rotterdam from the hinterland, and vice versa, via rail or inland navigation. By making use of the Rhine River and other naturally present infrastructure, water-based transportation least affects the living environment. Ships emit three to six times less CO2 than trucks per ton-kilometer.

More Shuttles
The railway freight transportation network also scores significantly better in terms of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, fine particulates and sulphur dioxide emissions. The options and possibilities concerning this modality are increasing monthly. At the present time each day some 150 freight trains travel between the ports in the Netherlands and places such as Duisburg, Munich, Milan and Poznan. Last year railway services were expanded between Rotterdam and Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy and Hungary. For example, the Bayern-Rotterdam Express of EGS/ TX Logistics nowadays makes five trips per week, Shuttlewise has initiated a shuttle with the same frequency to Dourges, France, and Hupac has increased the frequency of its shuttle to Busto, Italy, to eleven times per week.

Anyone wanting to engage in serious boardroom discussions about reducing the ecological footprint will find it impossible to do so without considering Rotterdam in terms of logistics.

Vanuit Rotterdam zijn de belangrijkste industriële en economische centra van West-Europa binnen 24 uur bereikbaar. Dit komt doordat de haven van Rotterdam via een uitgebreid intermodaal netwerk van spoor, binnenvaart, weg, shortsea en pijpleiding optimaal verbonden is met de rest van Europa. Op basis van het volume, de gewenste snelheid, de kosten en duurzaamheidsdoelstellingen kan een keuze genaakt worden tussen de verschillende modaliteiten of een combinatie van de diverse transportmogelijkheden. InlandLinks brengt het achterlandnetwerk van Rotterdam in kaart en geeft een overzicht van de meest efficiënte intermodale routes. Naast zoeken en selecteren op terminals en containerdepots van rederijen is het nu ook mogelijk om informatie over operatoren en verbindingen met Rotterdam te vinden.

Bijkomend voordeel is dat de Rotterdamse haven uitstekend gepositioneerd is voor bedrijven die specifiek hun ecologische footprint willen verkleinen. Door de onovertroffen diepgang en onbelemmerde toegang, is het allereerst zo dat Rotterdam in staat is om de grootste, meest moderne en dus ook zuinigste schepen te servicen. Dit scheelt aanmerkelijk aan milieuprestatie per vervoerde kilo vracht. Daarnaast behoort de terminal-infrastructuur tot de meest moderne ter wereld. Dat geldt voor alle soorten lading van droge tot natte bulk en van LNG tot breakbulk. Bij containers is het met de hypermoderne terminals op de Maasvlakte 2 wel het meest evident.

Warmte-koudeopslag
Zo is de APM-terminal CO2-neutraal. Ook bij de RWG-terminal was duurzaamheid een belangrijk uitgangspunt bij het ontwerp. Er is gekozen voor een zeer hoge mate van automatisering en de terminal is volledig elektrisch. Alle gebouwen zijn bovendien energieneutraal uitgevoerd. Dit is onder meer gerealiseerd door de inzet van driedubbel glas, warmte-koudeopslag en plafond- en vloerverwarming.

Generatoren
ECT ontving in 2013 de Lean and Green Star omdat zij vijf jaar achter elkaar haar eigen CO2-footprint aantoonbaar met minimaal twintig procent wist te reduceren. Zo veranderen bijvoorbeeld de hijsmotoren van de kranen op ECT’s deep-sea terminals in generatoren die elektriciteit creëren, als tijdens het hijsen van een container deze afgeremd of gevierd wordt.

Natuurlijke infrastructuur
Een ander belangrijk aspect van het verlagen van de ecologische footprint, schuilt in de uitgebreide mogelijkheden om via spoor of binnenvaart vanuit Rotterdam het achterland en vice versa te bereiken. Gebruik makend van de Rijn en andere van nature aanwezige infrastructuur heeft vervoer over water de minste invloed op de leefomgeving. Per tonkilometer stoten schepen drie tot zes maal minder CO2 uit dan vrachtwagens.

Meer shuttles
Ook het spoorgoederenvervoer scoort aanmerkelijk beter als het gaat om kooldioxide, stikstofoxiden, fijnstof en zwaveldioxide. De keuze en mogelijkheden wat betreft deze modaliteit nemen nog maandelijks toe. Nu al rijden er dagelijks zo'n 150 goederentreinen tussen de havens in Nederland en plaatsten als Duisburg, München, Milaan en Poznan. Vorig jaar liet uitbreiding van de spoordiensten zien tussen Rotterdam en Duitsland, Oostenrijk, Frankrijk, Nederland, Polen, Italië en Hongarije. Zo rijdt bijvoorbeeld de Bayern-Rotterdam Express van EGS/ TX Logistics tegenwoordig vijf keer per week, is Shuttlewise een shuttle met dezelfde frequentie naar het Franse Dourges gestart en heeft Hupac haar shuttle naar Busto tot elf keer per week opgevoerd.

Wie dus serieus het gesprek in de boardroom wil aangaan over het verkleinen van de ecologische voetafdruk, kan qua logistiek niet om Rotterdam heen.

The shuttle service is a partnership with the French Novatrans. "Through their seven shuttles from Dourges, we connect Rotterdam to the whole of France via rail," said Martijn Elbers, general manager of Shuttlewise. The signing of the contract between Shuttlewise and Novatrans took place during the state visit of the Dutch royal couple to France. Elbers: "Ultimately, we want to extend the service, with a mix of continental, short sea and maritime cargo, to Spain as well."

The shuttle runs on the trimodal Delta 3 terminal in Dourges; which last Friday officially joined InlandLinks, the online platform for container terminals in the hinterland with intermodal (rail and/or inland shipping) services to and from Rotterdam. The network now includes more than 80 terminals in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, France, Hungary, Austria and Italy. In Dourges, the Shuttlewise train also connects to the Greenmodal service to Marseille.

These are positive developments for the Port of Rotterdam Authority. "The shuttle to Dourges contributes nicely to the development of the rail network from Rotterdam," said Peter ten Broek, business manager at the Port Authority. "In recent months, we have seen many extensions to Germany, Italy, Austria and Poland. Shuttlewise has allowed us to further expand our connections to Southern Europe.”