· The Port of Rotterdam Authority has signed a land transfer agreement allowing Shtandart TT B.V. and VTTI to begin the construction of Terminal Europort West early next year.
The agreement represents the final stage of an open assessment procedure to select Shtandart TT B.V. and VTTI, a Dutch tank terminal operator, as the joint venture fit to construct and operate a new terminal in the Port of Rotterdam.
Terminal Europort West will operate as an ‘open hub terminal’ for the transshipment and storage of oil products predominately from the Russian Baltic Port of Primrosk. The development of new port sites, such as TEW is part of the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s strategy to enhance their competitive position as a logistics hub and world-class industrial complex.
The terminal expects to accommodate the storage needs of 800 vessels (or 1,600 ship movements) ranging from barges to very large crude carriers across an area of over fifty-five hectares. The northern section, ‘Kop van de Beer’ (Bear’s Head), will be dedicated to crude oil with a planned capacity of 2.3 million cubic metres. Dintelhaven, the southern location, will accommodate crude, gas and fuel oil with a capacity of 0.9 million cubic metres.
The Port of Rotterdam also plans to construct a harbour basin for deep draft tankers as well as quays for barges so the terminal can function at full potential.
The Summa Group, co-owner of Russia’s largest crude oil export port in the Baltic Sea, will implement a daily shuttle service of oil tankers to transport crude from Primorsk to Rotterdam. In order to ensure the availability of this service throughout the year, a new generation of Balticmax tankers will be designed to withstand the icy conditions of the Finnish Gulf. Once in the Netherlands, the crude will be re-distributed through other tankers, barges or pipelines.
Investments in the project are speculated to reach a total of $1billion.
The terminal plans to be operational in 2016.
Ben Oliver Briceno,Staff writer at Port Technology International
