Believe in collaboration between seaports and inland ports!

Due to the rapid expansion of the Asian market and the resulting exponential growth in container export traffic, there is a real threat that sea ports (and their interior transport links) will end up as major bottlenecks in the system.  As a result, these constantly rising cargo flows have prompted different market players to identify optimal solutions aimed at unblocking roads and freeways. 

It seems clear, in that regard, that the relationship between seaports and interior ports is being redefined.  Increasingly, sea ports will be looking toward inland ports for collaboration in their objective to handle the growing cargo flows.  I am absolutely convinced of the essential and growing role of the inland ports, such as the one at Liège, the first Belgian inland port and the third interior European port (21.8 million tonnes in 2008) after Duisburg and Paris. It forms the hinterland of the North Sea seaports (Antwerp, Zeebruges, Dunkirk and Rotterdam). While there has always been traffic between sea ports and inland ports, the collaboration between the two was reasonably marginal.  However, today, it is increasingly possible to manage logistics in the hinterland. These are developments that fit in the “extended gateways” theory developed by VIL (Vlaams Instituut voor Logistiek). The objective is to optimise the logistics chain from sea port to hinterland via outstanding collaboration between the seaports and the inland ports. It entails conveying the containers, as fast as possible, towards the hinterland. It is there, away from the traffic and congestion, that the containers can be processed (e.g. by repackaging the cargo on pallets) and sent on in the next phases of their logistics chain. Situated 14 hours (via inland shipping) from Antwerp and 24 hours from Rotterdam, the Port of Liège is increasingly considered a strategic location in order to better supply the hinterland with goods. 

Thus, I firmly believe in the success of our multimodal platform, “Liège Trilogiport” (100 hectares).  This is where the container terminal (15 hectares) will be managed by, on the one hand, a consortium made up of Manuport / Water Container Transport and Dubai Ports World. The management of the logistics zone, on the other hand, is assigned to the German company Deutsche Lagerhaus Trilogiport (30 hectares) and to the Belgian company Warehouses De Pauw (10 hectares). Lastly, Liège Trilogiport also has 15 ha of port ground that is still available. As far as I am concerned, the use of waterways is the best way of dealing with the continuing explosion of container traffic. Also, it is necessary to concentrate more on intermodality, i.e., the optimal combination of different modes of transport. It is thanks to this intermodality, or rather, to the modal shift (that is to say transporting goods by rail and sea instead of by road) as promoted by the European Union, that we will be able to reduce the number of trucks on our roads.  In addition, water transport and the development of logistics centres, such as Liège Trilogiport, are economic activities that are unquestionably important to the creation of jobs. 

I am taking advantage of this opportunity to stress the necessity of making enterprises more aware of using water transport. The environmental aspect plays in favour of river transport! This mode of transport is reliable, fast, punctual, environmentally friendly and economical. The increasing environmental worries, sustainable development and the problems tied to the overloading of our roads must prompt more enterprises to find modes of transport for goods that are different from road transport. River transport has its place in this development.

In this context, I find it fitting to underline that river transport presents a number of significant advantages:  

• a secure and reliable solution: the risk of accidents is extremely low. River transport is reliable in terms of delivery times.

• an environmentally friendly solution: this mode of transport  respects the environment. A 1,350 tonne barge, sailing with a full load, represents approximately forty less trucks on our roads!

• lastly, an economic solution: less costly in terms of energy, river transport allows for the transportation of very large tonnages. This is in fact a mode of bulk transport that is less polluting.

Lastly, I am persuaded and I definitely hope that in the future, barges will replace hundreds and thousands of trucks that travel each year on our roads. It is thanks to this type of alternative that we are able to contribute, in our way, to the climate change objectives.