Rotterdam volume drops 10pc in 2009 to 9.7 million TEU

THE share of container transshipment volume at the Port of Rotterdam rose from 28 per cent to 30 per cent in 2009, despite total throughput decreasing 10 per cent to 9.7 million TEU, with transshipments down two per cent to 2.9 million TEU.

"The result corresponds with the expectations based on the stark rise in the number of feeder services in 2009. Especially to and from the Baltic, specialists such as Unifeeder and Team Lines expanded their Rotterdam volumes considerably.

"There was a southwards move away from Hamburg, but on the other hand almost 140,000 TEU moved from Rotterdam to Felixstowe, Zeebrugge and Bremerhaven. The feeder business is and will continue to be fluid," a statement from the Rotterdam Port Authority said.

This was due to the exchange of containers between large ocean going vessels (up to 15,000 TEU) on the intercontinental routes and smaller short-sea vessels (up to 1,000 TEU) on the European routes. In addition to this feedering, a number of services also carry intra-European boxes, but are not included in these figures.
(source:www.schednet.com)