ECT, EMO and the Port of Rotterdam Authority have made 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”, said port authority CEO Hans Smits.
The Amazonehaven will be widened from 255m to 305m, to accommodate very large container vessels. Such ships will have problem-free access to the Amazonehaven, whatever the circumstances.
The port authority will be investing approximately €175M 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 hectares of its 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 11.5-ha 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, said a port spokesman, and 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 will now set up was previously granted to the Van Uden Group BV.
Van Uden has returned the option as it now aims to concentrate on serving smaller handysize bulk carriers at the existing terminal on the Merwehaven, and on inland activities at Moerdijk, Alphen aan de Rijn and Haaften/Zaltbommel.
