The shipping platform

Location: Rotterdam is situated on the mouth of the River Maas and is the premier port of the North European hinterland. General overview: The Port of Rotterdam covers a total area of over 10.5 thousand hectares (26 thousand acres), including 5.1 thousand hectares of industrial sites and 5.5 thousand hectares of infrastructure and water surface. The port is 40 kilometers (25 miles) long and contains 89 kilometers (55 miles) of quays and 1500 kilometers (932 miles) of pipelines. When Maasvlakte 2 is completed, the port area will grow by 20%. The Port of Rotterdam contains tank storage for 30 million cubic meters of liquids, including refinery storage for crude oil (12 million cubic meters), refinery storage for mineral oil products (6.7 million cubic meters), independent storage for mineral oil products (5.5 million cubic meters), independent storage for chemical products (2.3 million cubic meters), independent storage for vegetable oils and fats (1.1 million cubic meters), and independent storage for crude oil (800 thousand cubic meters). The Port of Rotterdam has 300 thousand cubic meters of storage space for agribulk cargoes with additional floating storage as needed. More than 200 exporters and importers of fresh foods use the Port of Rotterdam. The port contains about three million square meters of capacity in conventional sheds. The Port of Rotterdam also has over 600 pallet places for climate-controlled storage (of 1.8 million cubic meters) and more than 250 thousand pallet places for cold storage (of 750 thousand cubic meters). The Port of Rotterdam contains 122 jetties and 23 berths on buoys. It maintains 29 tug boats and 6 pilot boats. The Port of Rotterdam has ample cargo-handling equipment, including 162 multi-purpose cranes, 103 container gantry cranes, 25 floating cranes, 22 ship-to-shore bulk cranes, 12 container cranes (rail terminals), and ten sheer leg cranes. The Port of Rotterdam has over 90 terminals specializing in different types of cargoes. There are 35 terminals for liquid bulk cargoes, 17 multi-purpose terminals, and 15 dry bulk terminals. The Port of Rotterdam contains nine container terminals for deep-sea, short-sea, and inland shipping. It also has seven roll-on/roll-off terminals. It contains three juice terminals and two fruit terminals. The Port of Rotterdam also has one terminal each for steel and paper, cars, and cruise vessels. The steel and paper terminal is an all-weather terminal. The Port of Rotterdam is a gateway to a market of more than 500 million European consumers, and it handles over 400 million tons of cargoes every year. Over 500 liner services make scheduled calls at the Port of Rotterdam and connect it with more than a thousand ports around the world. Rotterdam is the main port of European container transport. With the transhipment of over 9,000,000TEU, this port largely outstrips all other ports in Europe. Approx 70% of the containers loaded and unloaded in Rotterdam either come from or are destined for much larger European countries than the Netherlands. The intercontinental services of almost all major carriers include Rotterdam. From this strategically located port, the containers destined for other European countries are then forwarded by coaster, freight barge, truck or train. The port's large industrial centre and its position at the gateway of the European inland waterway network enable it to produce a large throughput of cargo. Rotterdam is well equipped for handling this throughput having facilities for bulk and general cargoes, coal and ores, crude oil, LNG, bio fuels, agricultural products, chemicals, containers, cars, fruit and refrigerated cargoes. There are also extensive ship repair, maintenance and storage facilities available. The port is never closed by ice. Even in severe winters when drift ice occurs in the river, causing some difficulties and delays, the traffic of seagoing vessels will continue uninterrupted. With depth of 24 meters, the Port of Rotterdam has no locks. The Port of Rotterdam's terminals at Maasvlakte can be reached from the pilot station within an hour or two. Off the North Sea coast, the Eurogeul has been dug to accommodate the world's largest vessels, at 57 kilometers long and a depth of 23 meters. Traffic figures: Approx 33,700 vessels, 434,600,000t of cargo and 10,000,000TEU handled annually. Load line zone: North Atlantic Winter Seasonal Zone II, Winter Nov 1 to Mar 31, Summer Apr 1 to Oct 31. Max size: Maximum arrival draught is 24 m; there are no restrictions to length and beam. Breakbulk: Depth 13.5 m. (CD). Containers: Depth 19.6 m. (CD). Ro-Ro: Depth 12.6 m. (CD). Bulk: Depth 23.6 m. (CD). Tankers: Depth 23.6 m. (CD). Gas: Depth 14.5 m. (CD). Max departure draught 20.7m. IMO Class 1 (Beatrix terminal; Maasvlakte terminal): maximum amount of substances of ADR subclass 1.1 may not exceed 52,000 kg NEM (Net Explosive Mass) Only in containers and within 3 hours of the terminal.