Europe’s second-largest seaport Port of Antwerp is building additional container handling capacity in the Antwerp port area.
To cope with further growth until 2030 and also to attract international investment in the future, additional capacity of 7 million containers per year is required, said a press release from the port in the heart of Europe accessible to capesize ships.
With the ECA Complex Project the Flemish government is considering the best location for this additional handling capacity. The investigation is multidisciplinary, consisting of various detailed studies.
ECA focuses on three objectives: Creating additional container handling capacity, developing associated industrial/logistical sites, and multimodal connections to the main transport network.
Based on the results of the study phase and the various consultations, the preferred choice is a combination of expansion and "inspansion" (i.e. repurposing of existing sites).
Freddy Aerts, Chairman of the Flemish government's ECA Complex Project Task Force, explains: "Wide-ranging studies and intensive consultation have been carried out over the past few years in order to determine the impact of possible components and the degree of support among stakeholders."
Freddy added: "This has enabled us to develop the plans in greater detail and to comply with the principles of complex projects, namely open communication, transparency, participation, customisation and solutions-oriented collaboration. The public inquiry on the subject of the 'draft preference decree' runs from 8 June to 17 August 2019."