This means that the final figure for cargo shipped in and out by sea this year is expected to exceed 34 million tonnes. In 2011, this was 35.5 million tonnes. That was what CEO Hans van der Hart of Zeeland Seaports was able to report last wednesday during the annual year-end meeting of the port authority and the ZPPC (Zeeland Port Promotion Council).
Half-way through the year, the Zeeland ports were still 8% down but, thanks to the good results in the last quarter in particular, the fall in comparison with last year is limited.
The main reason for the decline in is that transhipment operations which took place sporadically last year, no longer occured. Examples include the increase in incoming traffic by sea for the Zeeland Refinery as a result of the leak in the oil pipeline from Rotterdam to Zeeland Refinery. Also, the export of potatoes to Russia fell this year because the harvest there was very good. The increase in coal, artificial fertilizers and aluminium, among other things, was unable to compensate for the decline attributable to these co-called incidental deliveries.
The good news is that figures for inland shipping at Zeeland Seaports are expected to exceed 35 million tonnes: an increase of around 12%! That is an absolute record for the Zeeland ports.
Never before were so many goods transported to and from Zeeland by inland shipping. The growth in inland shipping mainly concerned chemicals, metals and other general cargo.
Together, the two figures bring maritime throughput to almost 70 million tonnes. This too is a record.
Last year, Zeeland Seaports entered into new lease agreements for about 26 hectares of land.