SUCCESS STORIES IN BELGIUM
INTERVIEW WITH
Marc Adriansens, CEO
COMPANY
ICO Terminals REGION
Flanders Founded: ICO founded in 2007 – but part of ICO was founded back in 1934 (Zeebrugge Coal and Bunkering Station) Location: Zeebrugge and Antwerp Number of employees: 1,250 Turnover (2019): EUR 160 million Growth (2019): +10% extra handled volume Investments (2019): • Extension terminal with 54 ha EUR 30 million • Wind mills: EUR 13 million • Electric loading stations: EUR 2 million • Equipment: EUR 4 million Website: www.icoterminals.com
ICO is the market leader in port handling and storage of roll-on/roll-off cargo in the Port of Zeebrugge, the world’s largest port for the shipment of cars, and an important player in the Port of Antwerp. As Marc Adriansens, CEO of ICO Terminals, a subsidiary of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), explains: “We handle cars from the moment the vessel arrives in the port right up to delivery of the cars to the dealer.” In between those two phases, ICO offers additional services at technical centers. “In our Vehicle Processing Centers (VPC), we carry out the final adjustments before the cars are delivered or shipped to the dealer. We check the condition of the cars, we repair them if needed, we install accessories like a GPS, and install new leather seats, apply underbody coating, etc.” adds Adriansens. ICO also has a logistics arm and offers services related to customs formalities.
QUALITY IS KEY During the ship handling process, ICO keeps the number of damaged cars close to zero. “The number of damaged cars is below 30 per one million vehicles handled. To achieve this, we need
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“Putting a lot of effort into the training of our people to make sure they can handle all cars in a qualitative way is our trademark.” to constantly train our people in the handling process,” says Adriansens. “Cars coming from Japan, for example, are loaded on large vessels with a capacity of 6,000 cars. When the ship arrives, we start unloading the cars with a driver for each vehicle,” he adds. “Our drivers are trained in how to handle the car in a specific way, like how to adjust the seat or how to drive backwards. Putting a lot of effort into the training of our people to make sure they can handle all cars in a qualitative way is our trademark.”
DIGITAL HIGHWAY ICO is able to give real-time information to the customer thanks to its Terminal Operating System (TOS), which controls every action taking place during terminal handling and in the Vehicle Processing Centers. The
