The transport of goods by inland navigation from the North Sea Port, the merger of the ports of Ghent, Terneuzen, and Flushing, to the hinterland has continued to increase. In five years, it rose from 54% to 60%.

The port reports this based on the fifth survey conducted among companies in the 60-kilometer-long cross-border port area. It covers both the loading and unloading of inland vessels.According to North Sea Port, inland waterway transport will increase even more with the Seine-Scheldt project’s realization, allowing barges with a carrying capacity of 4 500 tons to sail as far as Paris.

North Sea Port actively pushes for a ‘modal shift’ toward sustainable transport via inland shipping and rail. After all, the port area is at the crossroads of European transport options via inland shipping, rail (up to China), road transport, and several European transport corridors.

New railway arch

Road transport’s share takes 28%. Rail remains steady at 10%, despite cost increases. Transferring cargo from one vessel to another vessel or mode of transport – transshipment – stands at 2%.

As far as rail developments are concerned, the port is working with rail operators ProRail and Infrabel on, among other things, a new connection on the east bank between Dutch Axel and Belgian Zelzate, a new south-east railway arch east of the Sluiskil bridge and the opening to the north of the railway bundle at the Kluizendok.

Last year, North Sea Port had a cargo throughput via inland navigation of 64,5 million tons. Together with the 73,6 million tons of goods transshipment via seagoing navigation, this puts it in tenth place among European seaports for goods traffic.

Over one million twenty-foot containers (TEU) were transported on the Flemish waterways last year.