duisport and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges have signed a new long-term partnership with a focus on sustainability, port, and intermodal investments.
duisport CEO Markus Bangen and Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, sealed the far-reaching partnership with Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon in attendance.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport, Oliver Krischer, as well as the Deputy Mayor of the City of Antwerp and President of the Board of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Annick De Ridder, attended the event, as did Josef Hovenjürgen, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry for Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Building and Digitization of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
At the heart of the agreement is the expansion of cooperation in the areas of energy transition, rail and hinterland connections, and port infrastructure.
The European energy system will increasingly focus on sustainable energy sources, with green hydrogen carriers playing a role.
The development of solutions for the import, storage and distribution of green hydrogen in various forms is one of the pillars of the cooperation between the two ports.
duisport and Port of Antwerp-Bruges want to establish a high-frequency rail shuttle in addition to planned pipeline connections and establish rail as a “rolling pipeline”.
READ: Container turnover at Duisport reaches record levels
As both ports aim for climate neutrality by 2050, the development of environmentally friendly port handling equipment is also part of the joint agreement.
Similar agreements were already concluded between duisport and the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam in May and June this year.
“Our ports have a key role in their regions as leading logistics and industrial centres and are already linked by various multimodal connections. Against the background of the current global challenges, it is only logical that we sustainably strengthen our European partner network and cooperate even more closely,” said duisport CEO Markus Bangen.
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, added: “To realise the ambitious plan to become a climate neutral continent, we have to guarantee the European industry reliable and secure access to renewable energy sources.
“Developing a robust multimodal supply system will be fundamental to make the change happen. And we are pleased that duisport and Port of Antwerp-Bruges are combining forces to that end.”
