The new shuttle service is a cooperative venture between the Rotterdam company, Shuttlewise, and the French company Novatrans. Through the connection to the terminals in the Port of Rotterdam, France will gain access to short sea and deep sea destinations.
There are also plenty of developments in the inland shipping sector, which will not only be beneficial to logistics service providers in Rotterdam, but also to French shippers. In April, the inland shipping container connection between Rotterdam and Lille/Dourges will be starting, with several sailings per week. In addition, funding for the new Scheldt-Seine connection has now been settled. The project will commence in 2018 and will be finished in 2021.
All these developments create opportunities. In order to inform all the parties involved about this, the Rotterdam Port Promotion Council will be organising a Port of Rotterdam Seminar & Business Event in Lille on 26 May. In the meantime, the innovative Rotterdam Port Connector website will make it easier for international companies to get in touch with service providers who are active in the Port of Rotterdam or who are located in the network of satellite ports and inland terminals that are connected to Rotterdam.
During the Royal couple’s visit, the focus will lie on the further deepening of economic, cultural and European ties between the Netherlands and France. The King and Queen will be in Paris at the invitation of the French President, François Hollande, and their visit will be a follow-up to the official visit made by Hollande to the Netherlands in January 2014.