European Inland Ports - Ports Combine to Promote Sector

Port Partnerships
 
Many sea and inland ports are forming partnerships to meet the need for new strategies in port logistics.

Last month the European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP) and the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) signed an agreement to jointly represent and promote the interests of sea and inland ports.

"With this platform, we intend to strengthen the role of maritime and inland ports as essential nodal points in the transport chain, " explains EFIP president Willy Robijns.

Separately this has already begun with the creation of InterPorts.

This association comprises the four seaports of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Medway, and 10 small inland ports in Germany: Mulheim/Ruhr, Neuss-Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen, Wanne-Herne, Dortmund, Dorsten, Münster, Minden, Hamm and Lünen.

"The image of the participating inland ports has improved, and logistics providers appreciate having one point of contact for a group of inland ports, " says Holger Platz of Planco Consulting in Essen.

"The scope for networking by sea and inland ports includes a shift of logistics functions from seaports to inland ports, and not only for container cargo, " says Platz.

This calls for barge and rail shuttle connections, joint marketing and information and operating networks.

One InterPorts project due to start this autumn involves setting up dedicated rail links between sea and inland ports, in co-operation with railway companies.

Besides InterPorts, there is also the EUbacked Naiades, the proposal for an integrated inland waterway transport programme.

Launched last year, this is designed to promote the use of waterways and the development of inland ports as multifunctional hubs.