Rotterdam has the largest port area in Europe. Every day there is a coming and going of sea-going vessels that deliver goods for transit to the European hinterland. The transit of general cargo and liquid and dry bulk takes place by road, rail and the world’s largest fleet (almost 6,000!) of inland vessels. More than half of European inland vessels sail under the Dutch flag.
At an earlier stage, we did a proof of concept with Rijkswaterstaat to predict the availability of berths for inland shipping in order to better serve skippers. Following this proof of concept, we have done an in-depth study together with Port of Rotterdam specifically for the Rotterdam port area and taking numerous factors into account, such as the ship type, the size of the ship, the cargo, the dimensions of the berth, the presence of extra facilities at the berth, etc.
This has resulted in an information service that allows skippers to better plan their journey and arrival, with less inconvenience and annoyance and without unnecessary fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.