ECT, EMO and the Port of Rotterdam Authority have reached
agreements for the further development of their commercial
activities on the existing Maasvlakte. At the beginning of 2011, a
start will be made on widening the Amazonehaven. At the same
time, EMO will relocate some of its operations to the
Hartelstrook on the southern side of the Mississippihaven.
“These two projects are very much in line with our policy to
make optimum use of the space in the existing port area,”
explains Port Authority CEO Hans Smits.
The Amazonehaven will be widened from 255 to 305 metres
so that it will be able to accommodate the increasingly large
container vessels which dock at the ECT terminal. When
widened, the very largest container ships will have problem-free
access to the Amazonehaven, whatever the circumstances. The
Port Authority will be investing approximately €175 million in
this project.
To facilitate the widening of the Amazonehaven and in
connection with the establishment of the Electrabel power plant,
EMO has given up 23 ha of the existing terminal. At the same
time, EMO foresees an increase in throughput as a result of the
arrival of Electrabel and the use of biomass as an additional
source of fuel by coal-fired power plants. EMO is therefore
taking over an 11.5ha site on the Hartelstrook in the
Mississippihaven, bordering the Steinweg terminal. EMO also has
an option on an adjacent 12 ha site on the Hartelstrook. If EMO
also puts that land to use, the company’s site will be returned to
its former size. The new EMO terminal will have a rail link.
The effects of this new EMO facility on noise levels, air quality
(fine dust and NOx) and the natural world have been studied and
are within the legal limits. The results of the research are being
translated into the design of the new terminal. EMO will take
measures to restrict the burden on the environment to a
minimum. The licensing procedures for the establishment of
EMO on the Hartelstrook are to start shortly.
The option on the location on deep water on the
Hartelstrook where EMO is now to set up business was
previously granted to the Van Uden Group BV. This company
returned the option because Van Uden is to concentrate, among
other things, on the sector of smaller Handysize bulk carriers at
the existing terminal on the Merwehaven, and on inland activities
such as those in Moerdijk, Alphen aan de Rijn and
Haaften/Zaltbommel.