Dryport Press Release: 6.10.09

Sea ports “looking to their hinterland”

SEA ports are increasingly looking to their hinterland for adding value and providing additional facilities, delegates to a Dryport & Inland Shipping Conference were told.

“Major ports are looking at the concept of dryport terminals – more and more sea ports are looking at their hinterland and how they can get better access to that hinterland,” Richard Morton, communications manager for the EU Dryport project, said. “One of the biggest problems sea ports face is the space issue; even though we have seen a downturn in the past year, there is a belief that this will come back up.

“Ports are having to look at new, innovative ways of moving goods and improving the throughput of cargo – and we believe a dryport is one of the key ways they will do it.”

Some large ports are known to be purchasing land 30-40 kms inland in order to relieve congestion at the port and, by using waterways or rail, to relieve road congestion too, said Mr Morton, who is also project director for the Haven Gateway, one of the Dryport partners.

“Ten years ago, nobody was thinking like that. The sea port wanted as much of the business as possible itself; but now the sea port is much more multifaceted and looking for delivery of goods via local networks.”

Dryports – hinterland intermodal hubs – can help to improve the efficiency of the supply chain, and this idea will attract increasing interest, Mr Morton predicted. However, the environmental aspects were also increasingly critical. “I believe that in years to come, freight costs will be aligned to carbon emissions costs and coastal shipping will also become more important.”

There was a bit of an academic debate about the definition of a dryport, he added: “But if you are in business, you are not too worried about the exact definition. You are more worried about the practicalities and detail of how you move cargo from A to B with an economic and environmentally friendly result.”

The conference, held in Harlingen in the northern Netherlands as part of the annual general meeting of the EU Dryport project, heard about plans by the Port of Harlingen (another partner in Dryport) to attract more containers by increasing the flow of barges and feeder vessels via the Ijsselmeer from Amsterdam and Rotterdam as well as handling more direct traffic.

Other speakers highlighted the environmental virtues, cost efficiencies and flexibilities that barge transport and inland hubs can provide.

“There is no company in the world that doesn’t have in its promotion the fact that it is sustainable,” said Paul Scheffer, the mayor of Harlingen. “And sustainability is not only promoting and marketing – but really something that you can do.”

He also highlighted the fact that a number of large manufacturing companies local to Harlingen transport their goods by road to Amsterdam and Rotterdam for export – “and yet how close they are to the sea via Harlingen”.

Jan Egbertsen, in charge of strategic development at the Port of Amsterdam, said: “Sea ports and dryports need to work more closely together – not just as a corridor but in an integrated network. We should work towards national and regional solutions.”

Road traffic has been exploding, and with Amsterdam expected to handle 125m tonnes by 2020, it is essential that sustainable intermodal solutions are developed, said Mr Egbertsen. “If we don’t do more on inland water, shortsea or rail, we will have an even bigger problem than we have today. We should develop an intermodal hub and spoke system.”

NOTES to editors:

The partners in the three-year Dryport project are key players with strong regional and national impact and connections. They are all positioned to have influence in national policy-making and regulations.

Region Västra Götaland, in Sweden, is the lead partner in Dryport. The other core partners in the project are:

  • Port of Göteborg, Road and rail authority as well as the Municipality of Falköping, Sweden
  • Port of Zeebrugge and Chamber of Commerce, Belgium
  • Haven Gateway and Babergh District Council, England, UK
  • Transport Research Institute (TRI) Napier University and SEStran (South East of Scotland Transport Partnership), Scotland, UK
  • Province of Fryslân and Harlingen Seaport, Netherlands
  • Municipalities of Emmen and Coevorden, Netherlands.

For further information, please contact:

Richard Morton, Dryports communications manager

Tel: +44 1206 848416

Mob: +44 7769962554

E-mail: