ECT FastForward Issue 40

FAST FORWARD WINTER 2007

ISSUE

40

DEDICATED BETWEEN DUISBURG AND DELTA INTERVIEW JOHN MEREDITH ECT CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY

FAST FORWARD CONTENTS

ECT celebrates 40th Anniversary This year, ECT marks its 40th anniversary. More than enough reason for our photographer Eric Bakker to go in search of special images to illustrate the 2007 covers of Fast Forward. His starting point was of course the number ‘40’, this time at ECT’s anniversary party.

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Colophon Fast Forward, a business-to-business publication of ECT, appears three times a year. Please contact our Communications Department with any questions or suggestions you may have regarding the contents.

Copy Rob Schoemaker, Nicolette van Viersen / Lucie Groeneveld, Rob Wilken (editor-in-chief) Translation Niall Martin, Dean Harte, Susannah Greaves Photography Eric Bakker (unless stated otherwise) Layout Ontwerpwerk, The Hague Printing Drukkerij De Longte, Dordrecht External coordination RWP, Voorburg Chief editor ECT Rose Wiggers

No rights can be derived from this publication.

Europe Container Terminals (ECT) Europe Container Terminals (ECT) is the largest and most advanced container terminal operator in Europe, handling almost three-quarters of all containers at the Port of Rotterdam. ECT operates the ECT Delta Terminal on the Maasvlakte

The Roots of a Global Player Group Managing Director John Meredith of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) recently spent several days in the Netherlands. In an interview he outlines HPH’s business philosophy and reflects on developments in the container sector in general and at ECT in particular. “The ideal container terminal is free from government intervention and has a large cargo catchment area.”

peninsula (close to the North Sea) and the ECT City Terminals in the Eemhaven area (close to the city centre). ECT City Terminals includes ECT Home Terminal and ECT Hanno Terminal. Currently, ECT is developing a network of inland terminals to facilitate better intermodal transport between Rotterdam and the European hinterland. In 2006, ECT handled 5.49 million TEU. ECT is a member of the Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group, a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL). HPH is

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EDI as Basis for Successful Product

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40 Years of Container Handling

the world’s leading port investor, developer and operator with interests in a total of 292 berths in 46 ports, spanning 23 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. HPH also owns a number of transportation-related service companies. In 2006, the HPH Group handled a combined throughput of 59.3 million TEU worldwide.

P.O. Box 7385, 3000 HJ Rotterdam, the Netherlands T +31 (0) 181 278 278 | F +31 (0) 181 278 315 E info@ect.nl | W www.ect.nl

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Distri Rail is a relatively new rail operator which for the last 1.5 years has been successfully maintaining a daily rail link between Rotterdam and DeCeTe in Duisburg. The basis for the product: a pro-active approach and sound electronic data exchange, with, among others, ECT.

ECT celebrated it’s 40th anniversary in style along with many guests. In conformity with ECT’s jubilee slogan - Challenging the Future the Euromax Terminal, currently under construction, functioned as the venue for the party.

WINTER 2007 COLUMN Rooted in Reality

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ECT donates 2.25 million Euro to Generation R During a sizzling anniversary celebration on the 6th of October, ECT pledged its support to Generation R. This pioneering research project of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam was awarded a donation of 2.25 million euro.

More Ease in doing Business The ECT Delta Terminal together with shipping company APL, APL Logistics and forwarder DHL embarked on a pilot with an extended gate at TCT Venlo. After arrival at the sea port, containers are directly moved to this inland terminal, which is considered by Customs as an extension of the ECT Delta Terminal.

Counting Down to Take Off On the northern side of the Maasvlakte work on the ECT Euromax Terminal is in full swing. “The time of sketching and thinking is over, it now all boils down to realising the ideas and executing the plans.”

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Dedicated between Duisburg and Delta

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Capacity Round the Corner! Part 3

With clock-like regularity, the container barge Fixut Maris plies the more than 200 kilometres between the ECT Delta Terminal at the Maasvlakte and the inland terminal of DeCeTe Duisburg in Germany. Limiting the number of terminals of call has resulted in a consistently reliable service.

At the Maasvlakte, directly on the North Sea, ECT is constructing two new terminals: the ECT Euromax Terminal and the Delta Barge Feeder Terminal. In each 2007 edition of Fast Forward, we will extensively focus on how the construction progresses.

2007 has been a special year for ECT, with the festive celebration of our 40th anniversary together with customers and relations last October. A true milestone: after all, we were at the cradle of container handling in Rotterdam back in 1967. A lot has changed since then. Looking back is therefore quite enjoyable, but the reality of course is that of today and tomorrow.

In conformity with our jubilee motto ‘Challenging the Future’, all our resources are fully geared to the timely coming on stream of the Delta Barge Feeder Terminal in mid-2008 and, slightly after that, the ECT Euromax Terminal. This new deep-sea terminal will gradually be phased into operation together with our partner CKYH (Cosco, “K” Line, Yang Ming, Hanjin) from July 2008; its official opening is planned for the 5th of September and it will be taken into commercial use no later than January 2009.

Phase 1 of the ECT Euromax Terminal is the last major expansion of the port of Rotterdam before Maasvlakte 2 (hopefully) becomes available in 2013. The Euromax Terminal can then further grow at this land reclamation site in the North Sea. Until then, ECT will do its utmost to consistently offer customers optimum service levels and adequately facilitate the handling of the ever-growing container flows in the existing port area. Not just by means of the Euromax Terminal, but also by making full use of the capacity that becomes available at the ECT Delta Terminal and by ensuring that the ECT Home Terminal, our foothold in the city area, functions to the best of its ability.

There is hardly any doubt that the growth will continue.

For the next three years, shipyards have orders for more than a hundred new vessels with an even larger capacity than those already in operation. ECT is aware of the challenges this poses and will, together with the customer, adequately respond to them. Not just on the sea side, but also on the landside. More than ever, we strive for an active role in the smooth transport of containers to and from the hinterland. The pilot with the extended gate, featured in this Fast Forward on page 16-17, is a good example of this, as is our aim to further develop rail transport on the east-west axis together with Deutsche Bahn.

Plenty of ambitions. Everyday reality however is sometimes far from rosy. A tragic accident at the ECT Delta Terminal in mid-October, in which one of our employees was heavily injured, deeply touched us. Our thoughts go out to him and his family. Once again, it has become apparent that safety can never be put too high on the agenda. It must always remain our top priority. In the realization of our aims for the future, this is something we should never forget.

Jan Westerhoud, President of ECT 3

NEWS

Forty years of ECT: the Book ECT’s 40th anniversary has also been celebrated by the publication of a book with an appropriate title: ‘Forty Years of ECT’. This richly-illustrated publication transports the reader through ECT’s past, present and future, with a historical section giving a bird’s eye view of ECT’s development from its establishment in 1967 to the building of the new ECT Euromax Terminal that is now in 2007 fully underway. ECT employees also recall their favourite memories. In the section on the present day the logistic chains take the limelight. Nowadays ECT is a part of many worldwide networks. This is shown through 26 portraits of people from all corners of the globe who are directly involved with container logistics and ECT. Delicious recipes of dishes from their home countries emphasise the international character of the container business. The book also contains a CD with the exciting computer game Container Terminal XL (see the news item on page 5).

For readers of Fast Forward ECT is raffling off 25 copies of ‘Forty Years of ECT’.

To take part in the raffle send an email with your address before January 1st 2008 to info@ect.nl with in the subject: Jubilee book Fast Forward.

World First in Information Exchange Since the beginning of September the new internet service Cargo information has been available via Rotterdam’s Port Community System. Using this service forwarders have a 24/7 easy insight into all their bills of lading on board a sea-going vessel entering the port.

In addition, the new service also displays the exchange rate at which the cargo will be financially settled (the so-called ‘boat rate’), the date from which the forwarder should start paying demurrage to the shipping line and the return address for an empty container.

Moreover, companies can at a single glance see the exact location of the vessel carrying their cargo. For forwarders all this information is extremely important for the correct handling of cargo formalities and for organizing the inland transport.

The new service from the Port Community System thus makes for far more efficiency.

Forwarders no longer need to repeatedly phone the shipping company but can simply consult Cargo information. Port infolink, the organization behind the Port Community System, has worked out that this saves companies in the port of Rotterdam ten million telephone calls annually. The service is also a world first, no other port community system offers comparable possibilities.

Acrobatics on the ECT Delta Terminal Not only ECT was celebrating this year (see the feature e on pages 12 - 13) but the Port of Rotterdam Authorityy as well. To mark its 75th anniversary, the port manager made the annual World Port Days in the second weekend of September into an extra festive occasion.

On the Saturday evening there was a glittering show on the water of the river New Maas, including a concert by Gloria Estafan that was broadcasted live on Dutch TV. The show was alternated with spectacular acrobatics (photo), high-divers and singing in the high-tech décor of the ECT Delta Terminal. For this extra special occasio on all possible cooperation.

ECT was pleased to offer Photo Theo van Pelt

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NEWS

Rotterdam’s Ten Millionth TEU Rotterdam recently became the first European port ever to handle 10 million TEU in a single year. On Friday the 23rd of November, Hans Smits, chairman of the board of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, retrieved the record container from the stack at the ECT Delta Terminal in the presence of, among others, ECT president Jan Westerhoud. The export box was especially painted by the organization ‘Right to Play’ which aims to help children who fall victim to violence, disasters or poverty. Thanks to the cooperation of various Rotterdam branches of shipping companies and different terminals, a number of containers carrying a total of 40,000 Adidas balls will be dispatched free-of-charge to destinations in Africa and Asia for this special occasion.

To support the charity, the Port of Rotterdam Authority in addition offered ‘Right to Play’ a 10,000-euro donation.

Play Container Terminal XL! To celebrate its 40th anniversary ECT has had the exciting computer game Container Terminal XL designed. It can be downloaded free from www.containerterminalxl.com.

In Container Terminal XL the player is the terminal manager who takes care of the efficient unloading and loading of deep-sea vessels, as well as the construction of infrastructure and the dispatch of inland barges, trains and trucks. The terminal manager earns points by performing well. With these points he can then expand his terminal in order to receive more ships. But be aware… the terminal manager has to keep a cool head at all times, unexpected situations are always lying in wait.

Want to play? Go to www.containerterminalxl.com

Pre-gate New Style Since the middle of September trucks have been riding into the pre-gate area of the ECT Delta Terminal via a new entrance (photo). The drivers get access here via the Cargo Card, the personalized ID card held by practically every truck driver in the port of Rotterdam. Drivers who, for whatever reason, do not have a Cargo Card first have to alight from their vehicles and pay ten euros at the security building to purchase a temporary card. They can then make their way to the reception building, where the parking lot has recently been expanded from approx. 300 to 450 parking places. The building itself is now housed entirely within the terminal fences, so that no one can enter without a pass - a Cargo Card, Port Key, ECT badge or visitor’s permit.

At the reception building truck drivers no longer receive a separate terrain card. Since the end of November all the necessary data for unloading and loading containers are linked to their Cargo Card. At every process point at the terminal (inspection gate in/out, landside interchange point, Customs) the driver holds his Cargo Card to the reader so that the terminal system can generate the appropriate action.

And the improvements will go on - in the first six months of 2008 the ECT Delta Terminal is starting tests for remote check-in. Road transporters can then assemble truck visits from their own desks. This will mark the first step towards ECT’s ultimate aim of one-stop-processing, whereby drivers no longer need to leave their cabs when visiting the ECT Delta Terminal.

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NEWS

Quay Wall allows for Growth Co onstruction company BAM Civiel has recently completed the almost 200 00 metre long quay wall in the Yangtzehaven on the Maasvlakte for its clie ent, the Port of Rotterdam Authority. The first 1500 metres of this quay are e earmarked for the ECT Euromax Terminal phase 1 (see the report on pages 18-19 and 22-23), while the other 500 metres have been built with an eye e to future expansion. For the first time in the Netherlands a quay wall has been built with a deep concrete construction, rather than the combi wa alls of steel tubing with steel plates in between which are the norm.

The concrete wall reaches 34 metres deep, is 1.20 metres wide and is very ma aintenance-friendly. The construction took place in a dry dock; once the wa all was finished the sand was dredged from one side and ships were able to moor here. The depth along the quay is 16.65 metres, with the possibility of its being deepened to 19.65 metres in order to accommodate the even larrger container ships of the future.

Good start to 2008 New Betuweroute Locomotives This autumn, the Dutch branch of railway company Railion - a part of Deutsche Bahn - will be taking into service 26 new BR 189 electric locomotives (photo). These locomotives have been specially designed for dealing with all the different types of current that are in use throughout Europe. Moreover, the locomotives are fitted with the ECTS control and security system, which is programmed to become the new European standard. Taken all together this makes the BR 189 very suitable for the Betuweroute, the 160-kilometre long dedicated freight rail line between Rotterdam and Germany. The Betuweroute was put into service in June 2007 and ECTS is compulsory on the locomotives. This is one of the most important reasons why the number of trains on the freight rail line was still limited during the first few months. With the new BR 189 locomotives - and the acquisition of comparable locomotives by other railway companies - this is set to change quickly. At the Dutch-German border the BR 189s can simply ride on. For Railion the acquisition of the 26 new locomotives means an investment of over 90 million euro.

At the turn of the year, the ECT Home Terminal is expecting the first call into port of the YM Vancouver with a capacity of 4311 TEU. The ship is sailing in the new AES3 service that Yang Ming, as part of the CKYH alliance has begun between Asia and Europe. The AES3 is in point of fact a two-weekly service, but with the entry of Yang Ming’s new U-class ships (8200 TEU) it will gradually become a weekly service in the course of 2008. The intention is that in the future the AES3 service will dock at the new ECT Euromax Terminal. Until that time, the ECT Home once again will prove its worth as an attractive alternative for efficient and flexible container handling. The sailing schedule of the AES3 service comprises respectively the ports of Qingdao, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shekou, Singapore, Jeddah, Port Said, Thamesport, Antwerp and Rotterdam, from where the vessels will return via Jeddah and Singapore back to Qingdao.

China chooses Rotterdam

Photo Ruud Ploeg

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This summer in Rotterdam’s city centre the first Dutch branch of the Bank of China, the largest but one bank in the People’s Republic, opened its doors, once more emphasising the strong relationship between Rotterdam and China.

In 2006 more than two million TEU from China was handled in the Rotterdam port, accounting for around 40 percent of all container imports.

What’s more, on September 11th, the Chinese Vice-Minister of Trade, Mr Yu Guangzhou paid a visit to Rotterdam and the ECT Delta Terminal, to see for himself the further development of the port’s capacity.

AT T H E H E L M

Name Country of birth Captain of Career

Nautical qualities Rotterdam

Current sailing schedule Specifications ship

Song Jeong-Geun (45) Korea M/V Hanjin Tianjin, sailing in the FEX service (Far East Europe Express) “After graduating from the Korean Maritime University, I have already been at sea for 21 years now; I have been master since 1997. I always liked sailing and being the master of this kind of container ship is like a dream come true. The Hanjin Tianjin was christened in February of this year. Her performance is excellent. With a top speed of 27 knots an hour, the vessel is very fast; in addition, she is highly environmental-friendly. By early 2008, Hanjin Shipping will be deploying eight of these ships of the 6500 TEU class, part of a total fleet of over 80 container vessels.”

“In my opinion, Rotterdam is simply the best port in Europe. Draft is never an issue and the pilot system is very efficient. If necessary, pilots are even brought aboard by helicopter. In Rotterdam, you always know what to expect and the port in addition is very time-conscious.”

“Xingang, Kwangyang, Busan, Kaosiung, Singapore, Suez, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Felixstowe, Port Said, Singapore, Kaohsiung, Xingang. A roundtrip takes us 56 days.”

Crew 22 men; length 304 metres; width 40 metres; draft 14.2 metres; height 58 metres; service speed 26.8 knots; gross tonnage 74,962; capacity 6500 TEU; reefer plugs 600.

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Group Managing Director John Meredith of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) recently spent several days in the Netherlands to help celebrate ECT’s 40th anniversary. In an interview he outlines HPH’s business philosophy and reflects on developments in the container sector in general and at ECT in particular. “The ideal container terminal is free from government intervention and has a large cargo catchment area.”

John Meredith standing on the party site for the celebration of 40 years of ECT: “The construction of the Euromax Terminal is a great challenge. We are very keen that the terminal starts on time and that it works.”

Interview John Meredith, Group Managing Director HPH

The Roots of a Global Player What were you doing forty years ago? “I was at sea, sailing as captain on different P&O vessels, ranging from oil tankers to cruise liners. Next I went to work on shore for P&O and became involved in the emerging container business. I did various tests with the new equipment, for example to determine the best paint colour for a container in order to protect its contents from the heat. I was also involved on behalf of P&O with research into the development of container terminals. To be honest, at first I wasn’t a believer in the container. In those days the ship brought the cargo to the port and that was that. Now shipping lines became also involved in the inland transport including the repositioning of empty containers. I thought that would be too complicated.”

“In 1972 I arrived in Hong Kong. I’d left P&O and joined the Whampoa Dock Company to set up a container terminal for them. That was the start of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH). The main business of the Whampoa Dock Company at that time was ship repair. A couple of years later that had all changed.”

What distinguishes HPH on the world stage? “We are fully independent, we are not state owned, neither are we controlled by a shipping line. That gives us great flexibility to invest where we think this fits best. But the most important thing is that all our customers can count on being treated equally. We are a true common operator. It’s like an airport: every airline is welcome.”

HPH currently has operating rights in 46 different ports.

How do you manage that? “Our philosophy is that each port has its own identity and can operate independently.

Just as in an army each regiment has its own history and traditions, but together form a whole. That’s also reflected in our logo. Each terminal has its own symbol against the background of the HPH corporate logo.”

What role does the Hong Kong head office play within the whole? “Commercially each port has to fight his own case.

In the area of civil engineering and the purchase of heavy equipment however we have ‘centres of excellence’ at group level. In that way we can profit from the group purchasing power when buying heavy equipment and contracting civil engineering. That makes for better deals.

Nevertheless, the ports decide for themselves what they

precisely need. In addition we have for other disciplines IT, operations, public relations etc - so-called ‘core centres’ at group level in which all the ports share their know-how and experience.”

What are HPH’s plans for the future? “The port industry is quite interesting. With new construction projects we’re looking at concessions of 25 years or so. Once granted, that’s it. That means that HPH can’t afford to wait and see.

We have teams all over the world always on the lookout for new biddings. But you never know in advance whether you’re going to be successful. South Africa, for example, is still a black box for us. The terminals there are still run by government enterprises. Even so we’re constantly monitoring the situation. We can’t afford to just come back after five or ten years.”

“Also in the USA, Japan and Taiwan the port areas are government-owned. But I’m really convinced that one day they will come to us. The constant modernisation and expansion of the port infrastructure requires huge investments. Look at the Chinese ports: if they’d shut out the private sector, they would never have been able to develop so rapidly over the last ten years.”

What’s your idea of the perfect terminal? “The perfect container terminal is one that operates without state funding or involvement from the port authority. Let the private sector do its work - like in Hong Kong or the Bahamas, for example. In addition, the ideal container terminal has a good cargo catchment area and is not overly dependent on transhipment. Transhipment cargoes can disappear overnight.”

So how does ECT measure up? “ECT has a good cargo catchment area. The opening of the Betuweroute (the new 160 kilometre long dedicated freight rail line between Rotterdam and Germany, ed.) is another aid to efficient cargo transport. On the other hand, I see local government in Rotterdam going down the wrong route in giving terminals on the future Maasvlakte 2 to shipping lines. That’s not the way to utilise resources to maximum effect. As a global operator we are well positioned to judge the differences between ports. But it’s difficult for us to put that information to use. It would look like we’re being selfserving.”

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“Where it goes wrong is when ports start to be driven by status-oriented league table thinking. Then the issue primarily becomes one of increasing volume rather than concentrating on return on investments. In that respect there is a distinction to be made between Europe and Asia.

Governments and port authorities in the different European countries have great rivalry with one another, with all the attendant risk of oversupply. Shipping lines love it. Because of the primarily private investments, Asia generally doesn’t have the same problem of governments over-expanding in ports. Korea however, is an exception, for there the government took the lead in port development, with as a result miles and miles of empty docks. On the other hand, in Europe the United Kingdom has let the private sector take the lead. So there’s no such thing as a wholly Asian or wholly European concept, but the league table syndrome is similar between the two places.”

It’s said that Asia and Europe still differ in terms of productivity. “That’s right. Asia is still hungrier. That’s true of all sectors, not just ports. You see it too in factories, hotels etc. The living standards however are changing very rapidly. Many Europeans would be surprised by the number of Rolls Royces and expensive shopping centres etc in Shanghai these days.”

What is ECT’s position in the HPH network? “That’s best illustrated by the fact that at the time Mr Li Ka-shing (the owner of the Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate of which HPH is a part, ed.) was personally very interested in the purchase of ECT. Normally speaking he’s not directly involved in the port business.”

“The automated terminal concept of ECT reflects the high labour costs in Western Europe. For that reason we are also considering the concept for other locations.”

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What do you think of ECT’s automated terminal concept? “That automation reflects the high labour costs in Western Europe. For that reason we are also considering the concept for other locations. To date we haven’t identified any other site however where the balance between manpower and an automated system yields the same outcome. A scaled-down version that combines the ECT technology with a manned operation may prove attractive, and we’re examining that option for various terminals in different parts of the world.”

Are there other things to be learned from ECT? “ECT makes good use of inland shipping via the river Rhine. The cargo catchment area of the port of Rotterdam is much bigger than the Netherlands. Inland shipping is an excellent means of extending the tentacles of the port even further inland. In Hong Kong, barges are used to navigate between Hong Kong and South China, but we haven’t got anywhere near the experience of ECT with inland terminals like DeCeTe in Duisburg. In Southern China we see a growing trend among producers to locate further inland. The challenge is to compete with other ports in attracting those cargoes to Hong Kong. ECT’s input can help us do that.”

And what’s the next step for ECT? “The construction of the Euromax Terminal is a great challenge. It represents a true greenfield investment, starting from scratch. We are very keen that the terminal starts on time and that it works.”

A last question. Container ships are becoming larger and larger. Where do you see that ending? “I think we will get pretty close to the limit at a capacity of 14,000 to 15,000 TEU. If the ships get much bigger than that, it will lead to structural problems for many ports. Because you’ll have to start fitting vessels with two screws, etc the cost savings will also go up past the curve.”

New Rail Operator Distri Rail:

EDI as Basis for Successful Product Distri Rail is a relatively new rail operator which for the last 1.5 years has been successfully maintaining a daily rail link between Rotterdam and the inland terminal of DeCeTe in Duisburg. Recently, the company also started servicing Karlsruhe, deeper in Germany, with a bi-weekly service. The basis for the product: a pro-active approach and sound electronic data exchange, with, among others, ECT.

A highly customer-oriented approach was the reason for the establishment of Distri Rail in the middle of last year. With six departures a week, the new rail operator’s fast shuttle between the Maasvlakte (ECT Delta Terminal), the Waalhaven/Eemhaven (ECT Home Terminal) and DeCeTe in Duisburg is always fully booked. In this transport hub in Germany’s Ruhr area, six local transport companies then take care of the efficient pretransport and post-transport. As of December 2007, Distri Rail will further expand the current number of weekly departures. In addition, a bi-weekly shuttle has been going back and forth between Rotterdam and Karlsruhe in Germany since early November.

Good Information One of the cornerstones of the train, which each day is filled to its maximum capacity, is optimum data exchange with customers, transport companies and ECT. Richard Schoonderwoerd, commercial manager of Distri Rail: “From day one, we have tried to educate our customers.

Insufficient information is often the result of unawareness. In our experi-

ence, companies give you exactly what you want once they know what you need.” To ensure smooth everyday rail operations, Distri Rail also actively checks the arrival times of sea-going vessels, the Customs clearance of each container, the Cargo Opening Time at the ECT terminals for export containers etc. Much of this information is available at www.ect.nl, for example via the on-line service Inland Carrier Tool.

EDI with ECT Distri Rail fully submits its pickup and delivery notifications (or: discharge and loading lists) to ECT via EDI. This constantly allows for a good handling at the rail terminal. For those exceptions in which a container on the loading list of Distri Rail does not match the data in the ECT system, electronic feedback is quickly rendered. This allows the rail operator to immediately solve the problem.

The 100 percent EDI between Distri Rail and ECT was realized in just a couple of months. Early 2007, everything was still done using paper.

A software package of supplier Modality made a rapid switch possible.

Tom Niels, head of ECT’s Quality &

Optimization department which stimulates an optimum use of electronic data exchange with customers and transporters: “Distri Rail is an outstanding example that a serious approach can yield results within a couple of months. And this is highly necessary as well. With container volumes constantly on the up, electronic data exchange is ECT’s only option if it wants to continue optimally serving all parties involved. In the near future, it will definitely be made compulsory.

Nobody needs to object to this: in addition to EDI, there are various easy-access options to electronically communicate with us: via the Port Community System of Port infolink or through our own website www.ect.nl.”

See also www.distrirail.nl

Want to know more about Electronic Communication with ECT? Check out www.ect.nl or contact ECT’s Quality & Optimization department, telephone +31 (0)181 278 669 or email QO@ECT.nl.

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ECT celebrates Anniversary Together with Many Guests

40 Years of Container

Handling On the 31st of August 1967, ECT welcomed the very first vessel at its own terminal in the Eemhaven near the city of Rotterdam. The terminal had hardly been finished at the time and the container was a completely new phenomenon in Europe. Nobody could predict then that ECT would grow into the leading container stevedore it is today.

More than enough reason to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary in style along with many guests. In conformity with ECT’s jubilee slogan - Challenging the Future - the ECT Euromax Terminal, currently under construction, functioned as the venue for the party.

On Saturday the 6th of October, almost a thousand guests drove to the most westerly point of the Rotterdam port, where ECT is rapidly constructing the Euromax Terminal. At this vast site, an inviting ‘party village’ had been erected for the occasion. Inside, in the main

John Meredith, Group Managing Director Hutchison Port Holdings “Much has changed since the first container ship berthed at ECT in August, 1967. From a small facility, ECT has grown to become Europe’s largest container terminal operator, handling almost three-quarters of the port of Rotterdam’s total container throughput. As we look to the future, we will continue to expand our terminal facilities with the completion of the Euromax Terminal next year.”

tent with its transparent roof, customers and relations from both the Netherlands and abroad could enjoy a whole evening of music, including the Dutch top act Bløf, and drinks and snacks from all over the world. Outside, a real-life container theatre was constructed for the official part of the programme. Five speakers took to the stage to reflect on four decades of ECT (see elsewhere on these pages) after which the invitees could, from a comfortable grandstand, enjoy a breathtaking show with a mix of light, water, projection, sound, special effects and break-dancing. Also featured in the spectacle were one of the new Euromax deep-sea cranes, a container and a ‘dancing’ Automated Guided Vehicle. The show climaxed in a spectacular fireworks display.

More photos of the anniversary party are available via the special link on the homepage of ECT’s website, www.ect.nl.

Hans Smits, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority “ECT continues to grow rapidly in Rotterdam, and we continue to facilitate that as best we can: with investments in the Delta Barge Feeder Terminal, with the Euromax Terminal; and, if it’s up to us, with the expansion of the Euromax Terminal at Maasvlakte 2. The future of ECT in Rotterdam is looking good. ECT may not be the only container handling company in Rotterdam, but its position is such that containers and ECT are almost synonymous in many people’s minds.”

Ivo Opstelten, Mayor of Rotterdam “Forty years ago, stevedoring companies and their employees were doubtful about the new form of cargo packaging.

Today, however, those containers are significant in determining the image of the port of Rotterdam and in maintaining our position as Gateway to Europe. During the pioneering phase, it was men like Gerrit Wormmeester and Frans Swarttouw who built up the company. Their successors subsequently made ECT to what it is today. A company - and people - to be proud of!”

Hans Büller, Chairman Board of Directors Erasmus Medical Centre “ECT has shown healthy growth over the last 40 years. And that is of course a key to success. A healthy growth however is not only important for companies like ECT, it is equally important for children growing up.

Generation R (see page 14-15) is one of the world’s most famous epidemiologic research projects concerning the health and development of children.”

Jan Westerhoud, President of ECT “Over the last 40 years, ECT has become Europe’s leading container terminal operator. But that achievement isn’t ours alone. Effective container logistics is a joint product. In the first place we have our customers to thank, for having confidence in us, year in year out. And then of course there are our employees who give it their all, every day, to ensure that this confidence is justified. Last but not least, thanks is also due to our partners in the port of Rotterdam and to our shareholder, Hutchison Port Holdings, who supports and stimulates us in our ambitious goals for the future.”

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Forty Years of Commitment to Rotterdam

ECT donates 2.25 million During a sizzling anniversary celebration on the 6th of October, ECT pledged its support to Generation R. This pioneering research project of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam was awarded a donation of 2.25 million euro. “We are aware of our social responsibilities. ECT’s 40th anniversary is a perfect moment for us to thank the community for their continued backing,” said ECT president Jan Westerhoud.

Generation R is a comprehensive study conducted by the Erasmus Medical Centre into the growth, development and health of 10,000 children in Rotterdam. In the epidemiological study, children are monitored from early pregnancy to young adulthood. The aim of Generation R is to find out why some children develop optimally and others do not.

Particular attention is paid to the identification of factors in the early lives of children from all population groups that may influence their physical and mental health at later ages. Ethnical and socio-economical differences in growth development and health are studied as well as the effectiveness of strategies aimed at prevention and the early detection of risk groups. The broad scope of Generation R makes the project valuable to cities all over the world and gives it a large international appeal.

Studying Children “We all know perfectly well what we should - or should not do in order to age as healthily as possible,” says prof. dr.

Hans Büller, professor of Paediatrics and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Erasmus Medical Centre, in answer to the question what makes Generation R so important. “Not smoking, not drinking too much, watching your weight... all insights which were acquired in the second half of the last century by monitoring the health situation of people aged between 25 and 50 in villages or parts of city districts. It is because of this that we now know how much salt we should eat or how important a varied diet is.

But at the end of the nineties, we realised that research into children had never been conducted.” This is why Generation R was launched on the 8th of December 2001.

groups in terms of growth, development and health.

Büller: “That makes a major study such as Generation R absolutely essential. In Rotterdam, we can take a multicultural approach. After all, regardless of whether you are brown, black, yellow or white... everyone wonders what kind of world his or her child will grow up in. And we all consider it important that our children turn into healthy adults. We want to find out what is essential to make sure the growth process runs as optimally as possible. For this jubilee year, ECT has adopted the slogan ‘Challenging the Future’. By supporting Generation R, the company is living up to this promise.”

Show of Involvement ECT will support Generation R for a three-year-period.

According to ECT president Jan Westerhoud the contribution is closely related to the important position ECT holds in Rotterdam. “Because of this, we have a social obligation to contribute to the well-being of the city’s population.

Generation R looks at the factors that are at the basis of all kinds of diseases, such as cancer. Li Ka-shing, chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (the parent company of Hutchison Port Holdings, ed) has dedicated himself to the fight against cancer. Cancer is a horrible disease which can have a devastating impact, especially where children are involved. Generation R is a typically Rotterdam project in which many problems are addressed in a profound manner. This is why we value it so much. Our 40-year anniversary is an outstanding moment to support Generation R. By doing so, we show our involvement with the city. We as ECT are proud to offer our contribution.”

Growing up Healthily Generation R is unique in the world because data is already gathered during pregnancy. Moreover, the composition of the study group is remarkable. All the ethnic groups in Rotterdam are represented. Statistics show that there are substantial differences between the various population 14

John Meredith (l), Group Managing Director of Hutchison Port Holdings and ECT president Jan Westerhoud (r) present a symbolic check of 2.25 million euro to prof. dr.

Hans Büller, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Erasmus Medical Centre.

Euro to Generation R

The Study Generation R(otterdam) follows 10,000 children over a twenty-year period.

The focus is on four specific areas: growth and development, behaviour and learning ability, diseases among children and health and health care.

Generation R gathers data about growth, development, behaviour, school performance, diseases and accidents and the need for care. The study is being carried out by the Erasmus Medical Centre, the Erasmus University of Rotterdam and the Sophia Children’s Hospital in cooperation with the Municipal Health Service for Rotterdam and Environs.

More information: www.generationR.nl

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Extended Gate brings Front and Back Door of ECT Delta Terminal to Hinterland

More Ease in doing ng Business

From left to right: Paul Ham (ECT), Dimitri Maaten (DHL), Koos Rodenberg (APL) and Tom Niels (ECT).

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In mid-September, the ECT Delta Terminal together with shipping company APL, APL Logistics and forwarder DHL embarked on a pilot with an extended gate in the hinterland. After arrival at the sea port, containers are directly moved by train to TCT Venlo, ECT’s inland terminal on the Dutch-German border, which is considered by Customs as an extension of the ECT Delta. Here, Customs clearance can be awaited. The advantages are substantial: APL and DHL quickly and efficiently have containers waiting round the corner from their final destination and for ECT, there is less pressure on the sea terminals.

For Koos Rodenberg, manager Customs Benelux at APL Logistics, the extended gate constitutes the first step in the realisation of a long-cherished wish. Some years ago, he was already asked by a colleague from APL whether it would be possible to go ahead and move containers at the sea terminal to Germany in anticipation of Customs handling. As soon as all the formalities had been dealt with, the container could then immediately be delivered to its final destination.

Everyone would win: containers would spend less time at the sea terminal and the customer knew that his container was already nearby. Rodenberg: “A highly complicated question in all its simplicity. The main obstacle was the crossborder character of this arrangement and the accompanying differences in Customs legislation. Too bad, but… I of course knew that ECT had an own hinterland terminal in the Dutch border town of Venlo, on the edge of the Ruhr area. There were possibilities there.”

Illustration Josje van Koppen

Joint Responsibility Rodenberg’s idea was warmly received by ECT. Business development manager Paul Ham: “The supply chain is a joint responsibility of all the relevant links: it is up to all of us together to actively streamline that chain. The problem that we are all faced with - and also create together - is that some containers simply spend too much time at the sea terminal. There are various reasons for this. The mutual planning is faulty, not everyone works 24/7, the paperwork is not in order… hundreds of reasons. And once that Customs clearance is finally there, schedules suddenly become very tight. If even the slightest thing goes wrong, the container reaches the final destination too late. On the 17th of September, we made a start with addressing these issues by means of the pilot project for the extended gate.

Together with APL and DHL, under the header ‘more ease in doing business’.”

How does it Work?

The extended gate principle is very simple. Well before a deep-sea vessel arrives, shipping company APL informs ECT which containers are bound for the Venlo region. In anticipation of Customs clearance, ECT then already moves those containers - in this case on one of the three daily rail shuttles - to TCT Venlo. En route, ECT remains responsible: the security of the container is guaranteed to the same level as at the sea terminal. Via the website ECT.nl, those involved can track the progress of their container at all times.

Rodenberg: “The pilot has been underway for a couple of weeks now and things are going very well. TCT Venlo has a so-called ‘bonded warehouse C license’, we don’t have to generate the NCTS document (the Customs document for

the follow-up declaration, ed) for transport to Venlo. For containers standing in Venlo, it is also possible to go ahead and already administratively enter the contents in the warehouse management system of the customer. After all, what could possibly go wrong in the transport to the nearby warehouse?”

Dimitri Maaten, logistics manager competence centre Benelux at DHL, also considers the pilot a success. “A huge additional advantage for example is that we do not constantly need to monitor the validity of the NCTS document: the ECT Delta Terminal and TCT Venlo are covered by the same permit. That is a very important factor. The extended gate is a solution to all sorts of minor details that in the past required attention and have now been taken care of.

That saves actions, time and therefore money.”

Shorter Dwell Times On behalf of ECT, Tom Niels, manager Quality & Optimization, is project leader of the pilot. “In addition to the fact that we can offer our customers and the customers of our customers an extra distinguishing service, the extended gate results in shorter dwell times of containers at the sea terminal.

Rail transport to Venlo is also better plannable and our trains have an optimum occupancy. The same will apply to modalities like inland shipping and trucking when we expand our service to other terminals. In short, the extended gate offers flexibility, saves time and money, leads to less congestion and makes the cooperation with our customers go smoother.”

Basis for Expansion Already, the pilot participants are looking beyond Venlo.

Rodenberg: “We have not yet discussed export containers, but in theory this should be just as easy.” Maaten: “The entire concept could also be implemented at other hinterland terminals, definitely those in the Netherlands, for small and large customers.”

Ham in conclusion points out an important pre-condition for the success of the concept: “The containers remain under the control of ECT, so we must be able to guarantee our customers that their boxes are in good hands. But I am convinced we can make agreements about this. Everyone cooperates and thinks along, especially Dutch Customs.

Venlo could serve as a stepping stone for exporting the concept abroad, for example to our hinterland terminals in Willebroek in Belgium and Duisburg in Germany, both of which are ISPS certified. In Venlo, we can show the world that the extended gate works. We can see that the market is increasingly becoming ready for it. Innovation and cooperation, after all, are the future.”

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Ensuring the Successful Launch of the ECT Euromax Terminal

Counting Down to Take Off “From December 2007 we want to start testing the discharging and loading of containers on the sea-side for real.” Jan Waas, Pieter Oudejans and Alex de Jong, all three members of the project management team, are eager to get started. A hired feeder or barge with both full and empty containers will be used as a test vessel. “Right up until we have the terminal process running like clockwork.”

The trials planned for December will be the first to involve container flows through the terminal and to test the interaction of equipment. From quay crane to Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) to Automated Rail Mounted Gantry crane (ARMG) etc: the whole terminal has to function like a single, well-oiled machine.

The container flow tests signal a critical new phase on the road to the ECT Euromax Terminal’s launch. Previously, 2007 had been concerned mainly with completion of the terminal infrastructure and testing individual pieces of equipment. Each device has to function completely in accordance with its specifications. Alex de Jong, responsible for ICT: “In early September we already conducted a so-called ‘proof of concept’ with the AGVs. For four hours 26 AGVs functioned in a simulated real situation. That went very well.”

Phased Introduction In the first months of 2008 the container flow tests will be stepped up to become ever more intensive and comprehensive. By July 2008 that should result in a terminal that is ready to start operational testing. Project director Jan Waas: “By then 600 metres of quayside, with three deep-

The project management team for the ECT Euromax

sea cranes and one barge/feeder crane, will be handed over from the project to the operation. After that, up until mid2009, the remaining 900 metres of quay and equipment of phase 1 of the ECT Euromax Terminal will be phased in.”

(See also the equipment overview on page 23.)

Second Half 2008: Phased Launch On the first operationally ready section of the terminal, ECT together with its partner CKYH (Cosco, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin), will work on the phased commercial launch. An introduction plan - yet to be agreed with the shipping lines - will ensure the smooth coming on-line of the operation, including the transfer of the current CKYH container volumes on the Delta Dedicated North Terminal to the Euromax Terminal. “We will start carefully with handling a first barge, a first train, truck, feeder, etc and will slowly build that up. As of the beginning of 2009, the ECT Euromax Terminal should be commercially operational,” says Pieter Oudejans, the man responsible for operations.

Part of ECT The Euromax Terminal will be full part of ECT. Situated seven kilometres from the ECT Delta Terminal, the complex will be completely self-supporting however with its own gate for the rapid processing of trucks, its own on-dock rail facilities and in the final stage of phase 1, four separate cranes for handling feeders and barges. Moreover, directly adjacent to the terminal probably one or more empty container depots will be established while Customs will ensure that inspections afford a minimum amount of disruption to the logistics chain by using a mobile container scan. The day-to-day operations of the ECT Euromax Terminal will be the responsibility of a terminal manager, who will be supported by two operations managers. From January 2008 the first of some 200 operational staff will be taken on and trained.

Terminal (from left to right): Marcel van Oudenaarden (operations), Jeroen van Meel (implementation), Pieter Oudejans (deputy project director), Joost Achterkamp (construction), Jan Waas (project director), Alex de Jong (ICT) and Jeroen Mostert (finance, planning and control).

Choice of Operating System For reasons of reliability and cost the Euromax Terminal will be operated using the same Navis/Gottwald system used on the ECT Delta. De Jong: “The basis is the same, but the Delta and Euromax operating systems will work independently of one another, each with its own database.”

What’s more, the fact that the Euromax Terminal has been started from scratch offers an opportunity for further refining the Navis/Gottwald system. This improved version will later also be rolled out at the ECT Delta Terminal.

“The realisation of the Euromax Terminal phase 1 is in the final stage,” concludes project director Waas. “In order to deliver up a new, smoothly-operating ECT terminal on schedule, it now all boils down to realising the ideas and executing the plans. The time of sketching and thinking is over.”

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On the northern side of the Maasvlakte work on the ECT Euromax Terminal is in full swing. Together with partner CKYH (the alliance of Cosco, “K” Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin), ECT aims to phase this huge new terminal into operational testing from mid-2008. The new deep-sea facilities will then be ready for commercial use from the beginning of 2009. To achieve that goal ECT has set up a separate project management: “The time of sketching and thinking is over, it now all boils down to realising the ideas and executing the plans.”

Official Opening 5 September 2008 Much has still to be done, but the date of the official opening of the ECT Euromax Terminal is already set. On Friday 5 September 2008 the opening ceremony for the new terminal will simultaneously kick off the 31st edition of Rotterdam’s World Port Days.

Dedicated between With clock-like regularity, the container barge Fixut Maris plies the more than 200 kilometres between the ECT Delta Terminal at the Maasvlakte and the inland terminal of DeCeTe Duisburg in Germany. Every Monday and Friday, the ship arrives in the inland, every Wednesday and Sunday she is moored on the North Sea. Limiting the number of terminals of call has resulted in a consistently reliable service.

An autumnal Tuesday evening in Duisburg. The heart of Germany’s Ruhr area is buzzing with activity. Operations are in full swing at DeCeTe Duisburg, ECT’s trimodal inland terminal. On the landside, trucks with containers constantly come and go; alongside the quay, various inland barges are being discharged and loaded at the same time. The spotlights on the DeCeTe cranes give the activities on the terminal a fairylike atmosphere.

DeCeTe Duisburg

The Fixut Maris One of the inland vessels alongside the quay is the 135metre-long and 11.5-metre-wide Fixut Maris with a capacity of 268 TEU. On board are the owners, the Schapers family: father Piet, mother Nellie, son Johnny and daughter-in-law Clarissa. Together, they make up a family business that keeps going seven days a week and 24 hours a day. Taking turns at the helm, they make sure that the Fixut Maris sticks to her schedule, directly connecting DeCeTe Duisburg and the ECT Delta Terminal at the Maasvlakte twice a week. The dedicated connection was launched in November of last year following an agreement between DeCeTe and a joint venture of inland barge operators Haeger & Schmidt and Rhinecontainer. The latter in its turn charters the Fixut Maris to carry out the actual transport.

Smart Stowage The Fixut Maris arrived in Duisburg on Monday evening.

After the hold was emptied, loading operations commenced in the course of Tuesday. Based on the input of Rhinecontainer and DeCeTe, son Johnny time and again draws up the electronic stowage plan. In this plan, he makes an as-logical-as-possible division between the three Delta Terminals - Delta Dedicated East, Delta Dedicated West and Delta Dedicated North - that are to be visited on the North Sea. This trip, the Fixut Maris will be carrying her maximum load of 268 TEU. This means the boxes will be stacked four-high and four-wide, with the laden containers at the bottom and the empty boxes on top. In addition, the trick is to distribute the weight in such a manner that the ship is always as straight in the water as possible.

Setting sail for Rotterdam Tuesday around 23.00 hours the DeCeTe crane operator puts the last container aboard the vessel. Next, Johnny

The male members of family business Fixut Maris: father Piet and son Johnny Schapers.

Duisburg and Delta takes care of the formalities for dangerous cargo and reports to the port of Duisburg for departure. Then, it’s a matter of unmooring and heading up the river. Wednesday afternoon at 15.00 hours is when the ship is first expected at the Delta Dedicated East Terminal. An easy deadline to meet in sixteen hours, they know from experience. The first couple of hours on the Rhine, mother Nellie is at the helm. The other members of the two families aboard all sleep in their own comfortable houses below deck. From 01.00 to 06.00 hours, father Piet takes control of the vessel.

He in his turn is relieved by Johnny. Navigation mainly takes place using the radar, one of the advanced tools present in the ultramodern pilothouse.

Down the Rhine without Obstacles At the village of Lobith, the Fixut Maris enters the Netherlands. The Rhine in fact runs all the way down to Rotterdam, but constantly changes names on the way.

The inland vessel first navigates the Waal in the Eastern Netherlands, next sails on the Beneden Merwede to then reach the Maasvlakte at Rotterdam via the Oude Maas and the Hartelkanaal. En route, there are no locks or other obstacles: the Fixut Maris can directly set sail for the ECT Delta Terminal.

Coordination with ECT A couple of hours prior to arrival at the Maasvlakte, ECT calls in to ask whether the ship will actually meet her expected arrival time so that the quay planning department can anticipate the vessel’s call. In the meantime, information also comes in from ECT and Rhinecontainer about the containers that need to be taken aboard again at the Delta Terminal. To Johnny, this is essential input for an efficient stowage plan for the return trip, upstream to Duisburg again.

Hopping along the Delta In the end, the Fixut Maris is able to moor alongside the quay of the ECT Delta Dedicated East Terminal on Wednesday at 16.30 hours. A logical first stop: this is where most of the containers need to be discharged and loaded again during this trip. Then, the same actions follow at the Delta Dedicated West Terminal and the Delta Dedicated North Terminal. Around Thursday afternoon, the Fixut Maris once again is loaded up with ‘fresh cargo’ for the

German hinterland. Although it was not necessary during this trip, the Fixut Maris also often discharges and loads at the inland terminal in the nearby Hartelhaven if it’s too busy at one or more of the Delta Terminals. This way, the chances of unnecessary disruptions to the sailing schedule are kept to a minimum.

The crew aboard the Fixut Maris highly enjoys the dedicated service between the Delta Terminal at the Maasvlakte and DeCeTe in Duisburg. Father Piet: “Before we started with this service in November 2006, we often had to call at fifteen or sixteen different terminals in Rotterdam. As long as you are constantly handled according to schedule, that is not a problem. But you can’t be lucky fifteen or sixteen times over a two-day period. The way we are doing it now is much more reliable and therefore better for all parties involved.”

At the Maasvlakte, directly on the North Sea, ECT is constructing two new terminals: the ECT Euromax Terminal and the Delta Barge Feeder Terminal. In each 2007 edition of Fast Forward, we will extensively focus on how the construction progresses. The two terminals will come on stream in different phases from mid 2008.

Capacity Round the Corner!

Part 3, December 2007

Delta Barge Feeder Terminal Phase 1 – Starting mid 2008 Size (hectares) Quay wall (in metres) Capacity (in TEU)

7.5 800 300,000

Wide span gantry cranes Water depth (in metres)

3 10 - 11

Delta Barge Feeder Terminal Phase 1 of the new Delta Barge Feeder Terminal at the tip of the Delta peninsula is increasingly beginning to take shape. The sewage system and other pipes are now in the ground and the terminal area for phase 1 has almost been paved. Between the rails at the front and the rear of the cranes it has been decided to cover the area partially with asphalt and partially with paving stones. Asphalt is ideal for the heavy traffic generated by the Multi Trailer Systems - and at a later stage the Automated Guided Vehicles - that bring the containers under the cranes. The paving stones mark the stacking area.

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In the first months of 2008 also the area behind the cranes is due to be finished. Everything will then be ready for delivery of the three wide span gantry cranes currently being built by ZPMC in China. In mid 2008 the Delta Barge Feeder Terminal Phase 1 is scheduled to be operational. ECT will then have an additional 400 metres of quay for the efficient unloading and loading of feeders and inland barges.

Meanwhile the Port of Rotterdam Authority also handed over the 400 metre quay needed for phase 2 of the new terminal.

Software Release 2 Ready If everything has gone according to plan, the future operational organization of the ECT Euromax Terminal is now working with release 2 of the new software for operating the terminal. The run up to this software release developed

by Navis and Gottwald has followed an intensive course.

Both suppliers tested first their own part of the software, and then collectively. Subsequent to that, release 2 was handed over to ECT in the middle of November for testing

in a laboratory environment. When that went to ECT’s satisfaction the software was extensively tested for a week outside on the terminal. Only then did the actual handover to the operation take place, who now use release 2 of the operating system in its preparations for the start up of the Euromax Terminal (see also the feature on pages 18 - 19).

Navis and Gottwald will be supplying two further releases of the terminal system software before July 2008.

ECT Euromax Terminal Phase 1 – Starting 2nd half of 2008 Size (hectares) 84 Quay wall (in metres) 1500 Capacity (in TEU) 2,300,000 Water depth (in metres) 16.65 > 19.65 Quay cranes 12 Barge/feeder cranes 4 Terminal chassis 124

Rail cranes Automated Guided Vehicles Automated Rail Mounted Gantry cranes Terminal tractors Reach stackers Forklifts

2 96 58 18 3 6

ECT Euromax Terminal Mid October saw another six new Automated Rail Mounted Gantry cranes (ARMGs) being delivered for stacking operations, which means that 34 of the eventual total of 58 ARMGs needed to complete phase 1 of the new ECT Euromax Terminal are already in place. These will be followed at the beginning of December by a further 4 ARMGs and 2 quay cranes (nos. 4 and 5), joined a week later by a rail crane and 2 more ARMGs. The delivery of quay crane no. 6 and ARMGs nos. 41 and 42 is scheduled for January.

Also construction work is continuing at a steady pace. The security lodge and the Customs building are already available and in December the main building is set to follow, while January will see the installation of the pregate for trucks. The first tests here are due to take place in March.

Although construction is still underway and much equipment still has to be delivered, the Euromax Terminal is already provided with maintenance. Following a tender, this has been contracted out to Starmax, a joint venture specially formed for this purpose between Stork Industry Services and Kalmar Industries. Euromax has signed a five-year contract with Starmax for all maintenance work to equipment such as quay cranes, automated guided vehicles and ARMGs, as well as to infrastructure including buildings, the supply of electricity and entry systems. The integral contracting out of maintenance is unique in the container world.

The aim is a reliable and safe availability of the terminal at an optimum cost.

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East to West It is now more than eleven years ago - in June 1996 - that ECT took the first phase of the Delta Dedicated East Terminal (DDE) into use (photo above), with the Global Alliance, the then collaboration between shipping companies APL, Nedlloyd, MISC, Mitsui and OOCL, as its first customer. The opening of the DDE marked the start of the filling in of the south side of the Delta peninsula on the Maasvlakte with new automated terminals. Important milestones were the beginning of the DDE phase 2 in 1998 followed by the first phase of the Delta Dedicated West Terminal (DDW) in 2000.

Since the end of 2006 every square metre of the south side of the

Delta peninsula is being utilized. Spread over a quay of 2660 metres there are now 28 quay cranes ready for the efficient handling of deep-sea vessels and feeders as well as barges. On the landside the DDE and DDW can count on a total of 103 automated stacking lanes each with their corresponding automated stacking cranes.

Approx. 180 automated guided vehicles ensure the efficient transport of containers between this stack and the quay. The equipment is well needed. Times when quays were sometimes empty are already long gone. The current DDE (photo below) and DDW are now in constant use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.