Europe ports struggle with Asia trade boom

EUROPE'S biggest ports face increasing chaotic congestion and delays in deliveries as they have failed to expand quickly enough to handle booming container imports from Asia. Europe's busiest port of Rotterdam, Hamburg in Germany and Felixstowe and Southampton in Britain have all had to return container ships this year due to lack of docking space, industry officials said.

Barge operators are facing delays in Rotterdam and Europe's second biggest port of Antwerp in Belgium, with the waiting time reaching over two days in the Netherlands last week. Trucks which carry containers inland queue for hours in Rotterdam.

Industry officials believe that the only remedy for congestion is to expand terminal capacity to cope with booming exports of manufactured goods from China. But expansion projects are not moving fast enough to keep up with the trade flow.

"The future doesn't look very bright for container shipping at Europe's biggest ports," Johan Blinde, manager of operations at Hanjin Shipping's Dutch office, told Reuters.

Data from Europe's association for transport, logistic and customs services Clecat showed container shipping is expected to grow 7.8 per cent per year between 2005 and 2011, while European port capacity is seen rising by only 4.2 per cent.

Congestion at west European ports was not as alarming as in some US, Asian or Russian ports, Clecat said, but warned that the trend was unlikely to slow in the near future because of expected traffic increase.

In the first quarter of 2007, 73 per cent of container ships arrived late in European ports, up from 45 per cent in the same period last year, showed data from Drewry Shipping Consultants.

"The Far East trade is booming. We have so much volume to handle ... that sometimes we have significant delays," said Jan Westerhoud, president of ECT, the main container terminal operator at Rotterdam's port.

Rotterdam saw a 15 per cent growth in container cargo in 2004 and 2005 as the world economy grew more dependent on the 20- or 40-foot steel boxes, which help lower transport costs, but require new infrastructure, deep-water docks and more storage space.

The rise in container volume slowed to four per cent in Rotterdam last year, but jumped 10 per cent in the first months of this year, while Antwerp registered an 18 per cent growth in the first quarter. Hamburg, Europe's second-biggest container port, reported a 9.6 per cent increase last year.

To cope with Asia shipments, ECT is building new barge and container terminals in Rotterdam although construction has been delayed.Reuters