The container terminals on the Right bank of the Scheldt in the Port of Antwerp will also be open at night as of Monday 3 June. This means that the PSA Europa and Noordzee terminals will be open 24 hours per day on weekdays. In addition the MedRepair empty container depot on the Right bank will open one hour earlier, at 5 a.m.
Both initiatives are the result of structural collaboration between various partners in the port: Antwerp Port Authority, Alfaport Voka, the terminals, representatives from the transport sector, forwarders, shippers and professional associations. Together they aim to work more efficiently, with distributed flows of transport. The ambition in the next phase is to involve the entire supply chain in this initiative along with Multimodal Flanders.
With two additional night terminals for container trucks on the Right bank, PSA is helping to further develop night logistics in the port. On the Left bank, in the Deurganck dock, the MPET and Antwerp Gateway terminals for their part have been developing this service since March 2017.
With the introduction of this initiative PSA Antwerp and MedRepair aim to meet the demand from the transport sector and thus to promote more efficient traffic movements in and around the port of Antwerp. The port partners involved in the initiative will analyse the operation of this night-time opening on an ongoing basis. If everything goes according to plan, then the initial phase of six months will be followed by a conversion phase lasting two years with the whole of the market being involved in this logistics project.
Alfaport-Voka director Stephan Vanfraechem declares: “Now the terminals and depots in the port are offering a way to avoid congestion during the day. However this will only work if everybody joins in, including the warehouses and production sites in the hinterland.”
