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HARBOURMASTER’S OFFICE
In 2008, 16,406 seagoing ships and 95,762 barges called at the port of
Antwerp. Of these barges, 61,356 had their destination in the port and
33,730 were in transit. 11,730 seagoing ships made use of a lock. In 2008
all the locks between them handled a total of 39,903 movements.
The Port Authority received 19,453 pre-announcements of arrival via
the e-desk and 276 manually, together with 19,154 berth requests via
the e-desk and 344 manually. The Vessel Traffic System (VTS) and the
dockmasters monitored 28,872 ship movements to or from the open sea.
In 2008, 2,306 ships moored in the Deurganck dock and 1,750 in the container
terminals.
The Average Department of the Harbourmaster’s Office received 257 reports
of damage to port property, 56 of them caused by unknown parties.
There were 94 cases of pollution of dock water and/or quays, 32 of them
by unknown parties. A total of 92,280 kg of floating rubbish was collected
by the Condor cleaning boat.
Finally there were 313,382 declarations for handling of dangerous goods,
a rise of 8% compared with 2007 and twice the number in 1998.
Tugs
The number of tugging jobs in 2007 was already 7.6% higher than in the
previous year, and in 2008 it rose another 1.8% compared with 2007. The
Port Authority carried out a total of 22,771 tugging jobs.
Two years ago three new tugs with a BP (bollard pull) capacity of 55
tonnes were acquired, to replace the series 70 tugs with a capacity of
only 24 tonnes BP. The hulls of the new tugs were built in the Czech Re-
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New mobile cranes
Last year Antwerp Port Authority put an additional seven mobile cranes
into operation, in order to meet the rising demand from freight handlers
for faster, more flexible service. The Crane Department carried out 4,676
jobs in 2008, an increase of 3.6% compared with 2007.
THE PORT IN THE WORLD
Dredging, tugging
and crane services:
always available,
always ready,
day and night.
public, and the vessels are due for delivery in late 2009 or early 2010.
The arrival of the latest generation of ultra-large container carriers and
the construction of the new Deurganck dock on the left bank have made
it necessary to greatly expand the tug fleet. The Board of Directors therefore
decided to place an order in 2008 to have another four tugs built with
a capacity of 70 tonnes BP, with an additional option for construction of
five tugs with firefighting equipment.
Dredger fleet
The Dredging Department extracted some 520,000 tonnes of dry spoil in
2008, thus once again exceeding the target of half a million tonnes. As
usual, the greatest proportion was accounted for by the “Sinjoor I” suction
hopper dredger (290,000 TDS), while the dredging crane “De Neus”
scooped up 150,000 TDS.
At the end of April the pusher barge “Den Duvel” was taken out of dry
dock and moored for further finishing work to be carried out on it. By the
end of 2008 all the basic components had been fitted, and the final fitting
work is expected to be completed in early 2009.
A new and important step was taken in the Amoras project for mechanical
dewatering, sand separation and disposal of maintenance dredging
spoil when the decision to award the contract was approved by the
Flemish Government on 18 July 2008. The contract for carrying out the
construction work was granted by the Flemish Minister of Public Works,
Energy, the Environment and Nature, Kris Peeters, to the SeReAnt consortium
made up of Jan De Nul nv, Dredging International nv, Envisan nv
and DEC nv. Construction started on 1 October 2008 and is expected to
continue into 2010.
The Port Authority is unrelenting in its efforts to position Antwerp more
effectively in the world market. 2008 was yet another well-filled promotional
and commercial year. In the many contacts with shippers, consignees,
forwarders, logistics groups, shipping companies, ship’s agents,
interest groups and other players, attention focused on the many advantages
of the port of Antwerp. In these promotional activities the Port
Authority collaborates closely with Alfaport and private companies in the
port sector. By organising Port Days, the port community contributes to
the success of port promotion, while the Port Authority supports the companies
in their contacts with local shippers.
In mid-2008 the Commercial Department was expanded with the arrival
of three new business development managers.
Missions
The Port Authority took part in the royal missions to Buenos Aires and
Montevideo, Jakarta, India and Singapore. “Flanders Port Area” was
launched at the end of September, with the concept being presented to
the press and to the public during the mission to Japan by the Flemish
Institute for Logistics. The second FPA mission went to St. Petersburg.
Trade fairs
The Port Authority participated in the usual trade fairs in 2008, but it
also opted for a number of new, more sector-related exhibitions. At the
trade fairs the Port Authority’s Commercial Department was able to call
on wide support from private companies in the port of Antwerp. In June,
POM Antwerpen and the Port Authority collaborated in the Transport
Logistics exhibition in Shanghai, resulting in a full-blown mission with
seminars in Ningbo, Beijing and Tianjin.
Port Days
In 2008, Port Days were organised in Stuttgart, Mannheim, Luxembourg,
Geneva, Lyons and Liège. These events are a powerful promotional tool,
with an Antwerp delegation of about 30 people and drawing between 80
and 120 people each time.
Presentations and receptions
Various notable persons visited the port of Antwerp in 2008. These included
Captain Wei Jaifu, the chairman and CEO of Cosco, as well as the
Secretary of State of North Rhine Westphalia and the Governor of the Port
56 Annual Report 2008 57 Reliable

Port Alderman
Marc Van Peel,
Cosco CEO Captain
Wei Jaifu, Governor
Cathy Berx and Liu
Guojin (Far East
staff member).
Personnel make
the port: Antwerp
Port Authority as
“Top Employer.”
of Rotterdam. In addition to all these official visits, numerous customers
and potential customers from all over the world were welcomed. In total
nearly 5,000 visitors came to make further acquaintance with Antwerp
and its port.
Conferences
The Port Authority took part in among others Automotive Logistics in
Montreux, the Logistics Forum in Duisburg, the annual conference of the
NPRA (National Petrochemical & Refiners Association) and the annual
conference of the EPCA (European Petrochemical Association).
Activities in Antwerp
The second Steel Logistics Conference organised by Metal Bulletin was
held in Antwerp in 2008. As the main sponsor, the Port Authority was
able to receive the delegates at the welcoming reception in the St. Felix
Archives.
The European Breakbulk Conference for its part was held for the third
time in Antwerp Expo. The Port Authority, which acted as main sponsor
along with Alfaport Antwerpen, is keen to keep this important conference
in Antwerp for several years. With around 2,000 delegates the latest
conference was the most successful so far.
Flanders Port Area
On 22 February 2008 the four ports of Flanders Port Area signed a Code
of Conduct in which they undertake to observe a number of rules in their
commercial dealings with customers and investors as regards the image
and position of the other Flemish ports.
To also make the other ports in Belgium better known, a joint Flemish
Ports Day was organised for the first time, with great success. Flanders
Port Area has drawn up a programme of initiatives. Last year these included
among other things more training and introduction days organised
for Flemish Government officials, a four-way conference on the subject
of the job market, and a joint trade mission to Japan.
PERSONNEL
Last year Antwerp Port Authority signed a new Collective Labour Agreement,
for the period 2008-2009. This contained some important qualitative
undertakings, and confirmed various existing and planned initiatives.
As regards the qualitative HR aspects, the new selection style was
introduced in 2008, and further attention was paid to career development
for members of personnel, with among other things the introduction
paths for new jobholders. Attention also focused on the welfare of members
of personnel, with appropriate work, a policy for absence from work,
an age-conscious personnel policy, continuation of the alcohol and drugs
policy, etc.
A start was made last year with development and implementation of a
new grading system, combined with a new wage system and performance-oriented
career development opportunities.
Various projects were started up for further automating the personnel
administration, to reflect new technical developments. One such project
is the Chronis project for phased introduction of the new planning tool,
Harmony. This is an important tool for drawing up correct, feasible work
planning for those services that operate around the clock.
The age structure of the pool of employees demands a critical and creative
approach, along with appropriate communication towards the job
market. Special projects have been set up in collaboration with VDAB
and Levanto to deal with critical shortages in certain jobs.
In order to inform people more widely about employment opportunities
within the port, a Job Fair was held in the Port House on 21 May. At this
event the various departments of the Port Authority were able to present
themselves to potential employees. Some 600 interested people attended.
On the occasion of the Port Days on 5 July, the Personnel Department
organised a second Job Fair in the Waagnatie hall, this time in collaboration
with the private sector. No fewer than 6,000 potential job-seekers
visited the 50 or so stands.
Since 1 January 2008 the Port Authority has had its own personnel association.
During its first year of operation it was kept very busy and garnered
a great deal of praise.
2008 was a crucial year for personnel and for personnel policy. The new
projects will be further developed and more firmly founded over the
course of the next few years, with the collaboration and involvement of
all members of staff. Also in that year, the Port Authority won an award
as “Top Employer.”
Collaboration agreements
APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Center
Last year there were no fewer than 1,300 applications to attend seminars.
Antwerp and APEC were able to welcome 587 colleagues from ports in 70
different countries, while another 127 people came for short study visits
and official visits.
APEC was also active outside Belgium. A successful seminar was organised
in South Africa on the subject of container management. In the medium
term APEC plans to extend its “Lecturing abroad” programme to yet
more countries. At the initiative of Flanders Investment & Trade an APEC
Alumni Event was organised in Durban, where 100 or so port representatives
from South Africa were able to renew their acquaintance with their
colleagues in the Flemish delegation.
Thanks to the wide range of seminars, APEC was able to draw on the expertise
of the public and private sector once more in 2008, with 350 or so
lecturers and companies lending their valued collaboration.
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Alumni of APEC-
Antwerp 2008:
sharing know-how
and experience.
As in previous years there were various foreign missions, this time to the
United Arab Emirates, Egypt, China, Vietnam and South Africa. New collaboration
agreements were made with Vietnam, Egypt and China.
Amaris
Amaris is the Antwerp Maritime Information System. The preliminary
studies for APICS2 (v. 2 of the Antwerp Port Information & Control System)
were completed in 2008 with the drawing up of a four-stage release
plan. Given the specific nature of the port of Antwerp there are no suitable
off-the-shelf nautical packages available, and so it was decided to
develop this mission-critical software in-house. A wiki application was
set up to document the local business context and the various procedures
in the ports, for better understanding between the ports involved.
A minor release on the BTS (Barge Traffic System) met an important requirement
of the application operator for use of the barge register. Originally
developed for container carriers, the system was eventually made
available to all barge operators.
In accordance with the new Hazmat regulations, fully automatic handling
of the procedure by means of XML messages was implemented,
making Belgium one of the leaders in this field. In 2008, 1.4 million EDI
messages and 1.8 million XML messages were sent.
An innovation project in collaboration with S/ELA for identifying and
locating vessels included an adapter by means of which APICS is able to
enter “position updates” and “events” based on data from the AIS (Automatic
Identification System) in combination with the radar information.
For the Environment unit of the Integrated Water Management Department,
a GeoPort project was set up that provides everything necessary
for water management and testing, based on internal data plus data integrated
from external partners.
Under the terms of the collaboration agreement with the Left Bank Corporation,
the GIS database was extended with a dataset for long-term
leases. Partnership agreements were also signed with the Land Registry
and Lillo Port Centre.
INFRA is the universal framework for basic components on which all
Java applications can build further. Successive releases in 2008 included
an Event Driven Architecture for central management of events that can
be generated by applications or modules, or to which they can subscribe.
Further, the Mail Manager for managing messages was developed, as
were a test application for testing all the INFRA features and integration
schemes and an extension of the Application Metrics. By the end of 2008,
INFRA version 2.0 included among other things the importing of personnel
data from the SAP master file in order to distribute them to all other
applications, together with extended security for roles, groups and company
activities.
Printers, copiers and scanners were replaced with central and subcentral
multifunctionals, for greater sustainability. Additional cost savings were
achieved by printing less whenever possible, and by printing on both
sides of the paper when necessary.
Finally, the new house style was implemented at the beginning of 2008.
The “Reporting and handling of dangerous goods” and “Calls and movements
by seagoing ships” datamarts were mashed together in MISHA
(the Port Authority’s Management Information System), so as to permit
more detailed analysis and reporting. Meanwhile, further variables were
added to the BTS data warehouse so as to permit more detailed examination
of barge container transport.
Antwerp Port
Authority, a house
with style.
Several Sesam modules became operational in October 2008, for which an
Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system was set up.
The preliminary investigation was completed for the system of managing
tenders for government contracts for construction projects, supplies and
services, and for the progress reports. The 3P software product will be
supplemented by a specific workflow developed in-house.
The Unifact2 financial application went into production in mid-2008, as
the first step towards renewing the invoicing procedure. Aspects such as
sustainability, cost reduction, space saving and efficiency gains are also
applied here. Direct electronic archiving of the invoices not only saves
paper but also enables customers to call up their invoices online.
In 2008 there was a technological switch in the GIS production environment,
from the old ARC/INFO application running on UX systems to the
new ArcGis on Windows servers. The GeoView application, used by specialists
to draw maps, for its part was superseded by ArcCarto.
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