Rotterdam has become Europe’s largest container port, partly because of its excellent depth, tells a press release. Following a record year in 2018 and a record quarter in 2019, April of this year was the best month ever for the Port of Rotterdam. 13.6 million tonnes of container freight was handled in April 2019. The previous record month was August 2018 (13.2 million tonnes). Measured in TEU, the standard unit for containers, April 2019 was the second-best month ever, with 1.3 million TEU, just below the record month of August 2018.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority attributes these increases to sufficient available capacity at the deep-sea terminals and that the port has good hinterland connections via inland shipping, road and rail. Moreover the port is making considerable investments in the physical infrastructure, such as the Container Exchange Route, which enables faster and more cost-efficient exchange of containers between the terminals.
Digital transformation of port and logistics will be an important ‘selling point’ for the Port of Rotterdam Authority, who wants to create a global network of smart connected ports. This shall increase efficiency in global trade lanes, lower costs and reduce CO2 emissions. ‘Container 42’ is a metaphor for this digital transformation. ‘Container 42’ has started its two year data collection journey around the world in Rotterdam on 24 May.
The container, equipped with sensors and communications technology, measures vibration, gradient, position, sound, air pollution, humidity and temperature during the journey. The container is also equipped with solar panels, to see how much energy a container can generate during a journey on a container ship, train or truck.
