Rik Pek of Broekman Group, and Ole Saevild of Norwegian Sea-Cargo signed an agreement on Monday, 17 November to develop and utilise the ‘Continental Hub’. “This gives us a good base from which to serve the Scandinavian market,” said Rik Pek.

“We are very pleased to add Rotterdam and the Broekman Distriport as our new Continental gateway – connecting our WC Norway services with the European mainland.The gateway comes as a direct result of Sea-Cargo´s agile approach; to always deliver the best possible solution for our customers,” said Ole Sævild.

By expanding the terminal at the Theemsweg in Botlek Rotterdam, one of the largest of Rotterdam’s seaports, Broekman Distriport is also extending its activities in the Port of Rotterdam. These include building a roll-on, roll-off ramp to tranship non-ferrous metal, oil & gas, off-shore and forest products. These are important import and export commodities for Scandinavia. In addition, the company is investing in improving the location’s infrastructure.

The new ‘Continental Hub’ is going to play a substantial role for the Port of Rotterdam in its trade with Scandinavian countries, according to Broekman Distriport. Incoming goods from the Asian region can now be collected in Rotterdam and transported in one batch to Norway. It works both ways: the Port of Rotterdam is a strategic place for distributing Scandinavian goods to western and southern Europe and Asia. Not surprisingly, Broekman Distriport and Sea-Cargo have decided to enter into a long-term partnership, one in which Broekman Group invests in adapting and renovating the terminal.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority congratulates Broekman Distriport and Sea-Cargo on its partnership. Emile Hoogsteden (Director of Containers, Breakbulk and Logistics) says ‘We are strongly committed to this segment because it delivers a great deal of added value to the port. We’re seeing a strong upturn in ‘Breakbulk’ this year. We aim to be a full-service port, with a complete cluster of activities and optimum connections. This partnership reconfirms the strength of Rotterdam Breakbulk Port.’

Operational in April 2015
Broekman Group will start developing the new terminal at the beginning of 2015. Construction will be complete and the hub operational in April of the same year. Initially, Sea-Cargo will use the terminal in both directions twice a week. This project will create 35 new jobs at Broekman Distriport. Raymond Riemen of Broekman Group: ‘It is expected that expanding the terminal will attract a lot of interest from other parties as well.’