The Harbour of Rotterdam

Rotterdam has always been a port city. Situated near deep water, easily accessible from both the North Sea and from inland, it was in a perfect position to become the largest port in the world. And that is what happened.

How is the harbour situated?

The harbour is near to the Northsea and is situated in deep water. The Meuse comes into Holland at ‘Maastricht’. The Rhine comes in at ‘Lobith’. The Rhine and the Meuse come together at the “Nieuwe Waterweg”. The harbour is situated around and in the Rhine/Meuse. The harbour of Rotterdam is part of the local and national territory. The harbour exists as part of the global economy of goods, money and information.

How did it grew out to be the worlds greatest harbour?

The harbour of Rotterdam is also called: The Port of Rotterdam. This is because the harbour is a passage for products to the back lands. Lots of ships from all over the world come into the harbour and through the “Nieuwe Waterweg”. The products of the ships will be loaded over into barges. Companies like Seabrex (for the Netherlands itself) and ECT (worldwide) are specialised in this. The barges will deliver the products (bulk) for the back lands, like Germany for example. Rotterdam is good situated, because of the deliverance of products

to the backlands.

Parkkade

CDMR

This is a company that rolls containers on the ships and rolls them of in other harbours. This takes places everywhere in the harbour of Rotterdam (the ships are called ‘roro-ships’).

Seabrex

Speed is the key at

this fruit terminal

Seabrex is a temperature controlled terminal that stores and ships fresh fruit and juices. The implementation of a wireless network has increased the speed at which they bring in and ship out the perishable items. This means less waste and greater profit for Seabrex.

Seabrex is the biggest terminal for fresh fruit in Europe, and it is also the biggest in the world.

ECT

ECT is the largest and most customer focussed container terminal operator in Europe, handling almost three – quarters of all containers at the port of Rotterdam. All year round, twenty-four hours a day, ECT operates the Delta Terminal on Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte along the North Sea and the home terminal in the Eemhaven area, near the city center. Both terminals are under all conditions easily accessible from sea.

ECT plant

What is the role of Rotterdam and its waterways in providing Germany with cargo?

The barges (with the products loaded from the ships that came into the harbour) bring the bulk to Germany (one of the back lands). So Rotterdam is a passage way for products to Germany.

Is it a ‘win’ ‘win’ situation or not?

It is a ‘win’ ‘win’ situation, because both countries profit of the trade. When the barges go to Germany, they bring also products for The Netherlands back. There is trade on both sides.What if it is transported by train or truck? What changes there are in the use of space?

The transport of cargo goes cheap, easy and fast with ships. The space will be good used, because the ships are bigger, than the train or truck. When the bulk is transported by train or truck, the roads and railways will be very crowded and the rivers not. You have to use the space of the rivers to transport the bulk.