European Port Policy
European Port Policy
European Port Policy
The Analyst: Sustainable port-industrial ‘islands’?
By PortEconomics member and Port Strategy Analyst, Peter de Langen The energy and raw materials transition, critical for achieving a sustainable and (more) circular economy, creates a huge demand for new private investments in ports, in activities like production, assembly, storage and maintenance of offshore windmills, hydrogen plants to convert sustainable energy in hydrogen and ammonia, plants for biofuels and circular recycling and production activities. Many ports struggle with land availability, especially in advanced...
European Port Policy
Exploring the EU container port sector in 2023
PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom compiled a table showing the EU container port landscape in 2023, and provides a comprehensive overview of the trends, challenges, and notable developments within the EU container port sector in 2023: By Theo Notteboom The top 15 EU ports combined handled 72.5 million TEU in 2023, or 5.3% less than in 2022. This compares to -4.2% in 2022 and +5% in 2021. The economic and geopolitical situation is reflected in the handled container volumes. The top three ports in the EU all recorded a traffic...
European Port Policy
The Analyst: First movers in feeders on methanol
By PortEconomics member and Port Strategy Analyst, Peter de Langen X-Press Feeders has recently decided to deploy green methanol-powered ships on its feeder network in Europe, with Evergreen committing to using X-Press Feeders services. The ships will operate out of and receive methanol in Rotterdam and serve feeder markets in Scandinavia -with plans to expand the green feeder services to other destinations in Europe once new methanol-powered vessels are delivered to X-press. This decision is a first in container shipping and shows...
European Port Policy
PortGraphic: traffic evolution at top-4 container ports in Northern Europe
In a new PortGraph PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom presents the container traffic evolution (in TEU) in the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges (i.e., the sum of Antwerp and Zeebrugge before the 2022 merger), Hamburg, and Bremerhaven. Theo Notteboom details: "Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges (i.e., the sum of Antwerp and Zeebrugge before the 2022 merger), Hamburg, and Bremerhaven are the top 4 container ports in Northern Europe. The period 2008-2021 led to a diverging traffic trend. Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges...
European Port Policy
Moving forward together: what's next for EU mobility & transport?
European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, in cooperation with the Florence School of Regulation, are organising an Academic conference with the topic "Moving forward together: what's next for EU mobility & transport?" It will be organised on the 21st of February 2024, and it will be an all-day academic conference on the state of play on EU transport policy and the challenges and priorities for the future of EU transport and mobility. The Conference will open with Commissioner Adina Valean and DG...
European Port Policy
The leading global container terminal operators in the top 15 EU container ports
PortEconomics member Theo Notteboom reviews the presence of the leading global container terminal operators in the top 15 EU container ports (based on 2022 TEU figures). The blue boxes refer to all types of direct or indirect terminal involvement: full ownership, joint venture or a majority or minority shareholding. A distinction is made between carrier-linked (bottom) and non carrier-linked (top) terminal operators. The table puts the current controversy in Hamburg on MSC’s offer to buy a 49.9% share in HHLA, Hamburg's largest...
European Port Policy
Piraeus port privatisation revisited: geopolitical leverage in maritime transport and global supply chains
PortEconomics co-directors Thanos Pallis and Peter de Langen had the opportunity to present their current portstudy in progress on geopolitical leverage in maritime transport and global supply chains at the workshop on Globalization, Shipping and Trade, organized in Paris on October 12, 2023. Globalized production entails large flows of goods that are for 80% of them shipped over the seas. It is, therefore, essential to understanding the motivation of all stakeholders participating in the maritime transport of goods and their interaction...
European Port Policy
China’s investments in seaports along the maritime silk road
by Thanos Pallispublished in Naftemporiki (ed). Focus on Shipping, 28 Sept, 2023 Chinese investments in European seaports have increased rapidly in the 21st century. This increase is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – in particular, its maritime component, the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) – and is among the economic and geopolitical effects of China’s growing role in global affairs. Seaports are crucial pivots connecting a national economy with the world economy. Historically, however, China was a land power;...
European Port Policy