Port of Antwerp

INTRODUCTION

The Scheldt river owes its existence to God, and Antwerp owes its existence to the
Scheldt river' is a popular saying that shows how important the river Scheldt is for the city
of Antwerp. Thanks to this waterway Antwerp has become the second-largest harbor in
Europe (after Rotterdam), and the fourth largest harbor in the world. Although the open
North Sea is about 60 km away from Antwerp, the river is so large that sea-going vessels
and large oil tankers can sail to deliver their products in the vast port area of the city.

Until the 19th century, the harbor was situated right at the entrance of the city, alongside
the riverbanks where now the 'Steen' -castle stands. The port was enlarged in the 19th
century with an artificial dock, the so-called Napoleon Dock. During the French
occupation of Belgium, Napoleon wanted to turn the Antwerp Harbor into a military port,
from where he could attack England in case of war.

The new harbor is situated further north of the city, between Antwerp and the border with
Holland. The importance of the Harbor in the Second World War (for bringing in allied
military equipment) brought with it that Antwerp was severely hit by V1 and V2 rocket
bombs, sent by the Nazis in the last years of the war to handicap the Allied troops by
bombing one of the most important harbors.
Since the 1950's the use of containers has grown steadily. Antwerp is now the eight largest
container ports in the world. A guided visit of the harbor can show how omnipresent the
metal boxes have become. Antwerp Port Authority Selects IBM's Maximo Asset
Management Software to Manage and Maintain Port Assets. MRO Software, an IBM
company (NYSE: IBM), in 2006 announced that the Antwerp Port Authority has chosen
IBM's Maximo asset management software to manage its operating assets in the port of
Antwerp. The Maximo solution is part of the portfolio of solutions from MRO Software,
which IBM acquired in October 2006, and is now part of IBM's Tivoli software unit.

Maximo will support the organization in the overall maintenance and technical
management of all operating assets, including tugs and dredgers, cranes, buildings,
bridges, locks, docks, roads and the electricity distribution network. More than 750

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employees will eventually have access to the solution, which will support all Maintenance
Management processes. The solution covers work order and data management, planning,
budgeting, reporting, performance tracking, internal and external outsourcing, purchasing,
and stock management. Some adjacent processes will also be handled by Maximo, such as
the monitoring of construction and renovation projects, and recording of certain operating
data and all purchase orders.

The chosen package forms part of an improvement project recently launched by the
Antwerp Port Authority called the "Integrated Maintenance System." This is intended to
improve the quality and efficiency of the management and maintenance of operating
assets. Maintaining these assets costs around 25 million Euros per year and involves some
600 people.

Antwerp Port Authority

The port is administered by an autonomous municipal body with a separate corporate

identity, called Antwerp Port Authority.
It owns the docks and the sites used by port operators and industries on the Right Bank,
and also some of the port’s equipment. Moreover, the Antwerp Port Authority is
responsible for the management of the port on the Left Bank, thus ensuring the
application of uniform policies on both sides of the river. General land development and
industrialization on the Left Bank is in the hands of an inter municipal corporation.
The Antwerp Port Authority has a workforce of 1,800. It owns and manages docks, berths,
locks and bridges. It is responsible for planning, modernizing and maintaining the
infrastructure of the port, and for operating its own equipment, including floating cranes,
shore cranes, tugs and dredgers. The Antwerp Port Authority leases sites and land, and
distributes electricity in the port.

Documentation Centre

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The Antwerp Port Authority disposes of a comprehensive and up-to-date Documentation

Centre participating in several networks allowing partners to consult each other’s
catalogues:

ANET presents links with the Antwerp University Libraries (UFSIA, UIA, and RUCA),
the Stadsbibliotheek, the libraries of the Lessius Hogeschool Antwerpen, the Limburgs
Universitair Centrum and with the Plantin Moretus Museum.

IMPALA interconnects more than 600 libraries.

The Documentation Centre is open to the public by appointment. The Antwerp Port
Authority has a workforce of around 1,600 spread over some 60 centers and operates on
both the left and right banks of the River Schelde. It part-owns and manages docks,
berths, warehouses and official buildings, roads, yards, locks and bridges. It is responsible
for planning, modernizing and maintaining the infrastructure of the port, and for operating
its own equipment, including floating cranes, shore cranes, tugs and dredgers. It also
leases land and warehouses, distributes electricity within the port and of course collects
harbor dues.

Mission

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The Antwerp Port Authority strives to maximize the added value that the port of
Antwerp generates for the city and the region, in a long-term way. It also has the mission
of strengthening the port's competitive position by offering a high-quality, uninterrupted
service and suitably developed infrastructure. The Port Authority has the role of leading
the way in terms of long-term development of the port and promotes environment-
friendly modes of transport for carrying goods to and from the hinterland. It can only
achieve its mission and ambitions if it has the full support and cooperation of the
employees. Mutual confidence lies at the basis of its corporate philosophy.

6 good reasons to use the port of Antwerp:

• Central geographical location

• Excellent hinterland connections
• World-wide sailing possibilities
• High productivity and quality
• Efficient logistic services
• RORO HUB centralized on left bank Port

Some Facts about the harbor

• a total area: 14,055ha

• largest general cargo port in Europe
• eight largest container port in the world
• the port provides work for about 57,200 people
• Antwerp has the largest dock in the world, the 'Berendrecht' lock s
• overall storage and handling space: 1,200 ha

Port of Antwerp

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 Port of Antwerp

The port of Antwerp is situated in Antwerp city which yields around 60 % of GDP of the
Belgium. It is the main port of Belgium and also the main port of Europe. It is the 2nd
most important port of the Europe as the cargo terminal. The climate of Antwerp also does
not affect mainly the working of the port because Antwerp mainly has moderate weather
through out the year. The Antwerp is the main port as it serves many other countries in
Europe like Netherland, Luxemburg, Germany, and France etc.

The port of Antwerp has many reasons for its success. Some of them are like:-

LOCATION
Antwerp is centrally located in the European area. It connects Europe with other parts of
the World. Many of the ships and cargo carriers come at Antwerp to deliver materials to
every port of Europe and also from Europe to other part of the World.

CONNECTIVITY
Antwerp is connected through almost every means of transport. And port of Antwerp is
also connected through the railways, tram facilities & bus facilities. The roadways carriers
of cargo i.e. trucks are the main part of the port’s business. They are well managed here.
Port of Antwerp also have the excellent logistics services of various types of the cranes,
stackers, loaders, unloaders, packagers and other such machines to do the work in
efficient manner & also very fast.

There are almost 6600 people working in the port area. Almost all of them are men and
there are only four females are till date. They are none encouraging more a more females
to works at the port. Port adds 94 billion Euros of the value to the country through its
services.

The port mainly serves the four functions;-

1. Changing mode of transport
2. Distribution (Import& Export)
3. Chemical production

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4. Commercial business

Changing mode of transport:-

Port serves as the changing mode of transport to carry cargo to different port of country &
other parts of Europe too. The port is connecting with various types of transport. The
main ones are railways & roadways.

Railways: - In Antwerp the Government of Belgium has provided full access to the port
through railways. The cargo can be easily transported from ships and then to the goods
trains, to send to their destinations. Even some of the major industries like Arcelor Mittal
(Steel Company) is directly connected to port through railways to transport their goods to
various part of the world.

Roadways: - In roadways the major role is of the tracks. There are numerous kinds of
trucks to deliver goods to the respective destinations. The trucks usually carry containers
which are easy to carry. The trucks also carry vehicles such as GM Motors cars to various
part of Europe. GM Motor plant is situated in at the port only.

Distribution
The distribution is the main function of the port to carry goods from & to the destinations
of Europe. The 55% of the traffic at the port is mainly imports and 45% is exports works.
The main business is containerized business.

Chemical Production
The main chemical industry of Europe is located at the port only. The port here produces
& exports various types chemicals like Ethylene to others parts of Europe. Antwerp is 2nd
most important chemical producer in the world.

Commercial Business

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Here at the port mainly commercial business is carried on. Private companies have also
acquired space from the port authorities to work for their clients in an efficient manner or
they can further provide the land for lease to other companies.
Containerized Business: The port has mainly the containerized business. It is the 3 rd
largest port in container business. In 2006 the volume of containerized goods came to 80.8
million tones. Over the last 10 years container tonnage has risen by 51.4%. At present
78.1% of the business is containerized business. Antwerp is 3rd largest port in this business
after Rotterdam and Hamburg and has the market share of 20.5%. The port mainly
consists of male business only.

History of Port of Antwerp

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Antwerp's potential was recognized by Napoleon Bonaparte and he ordered the

construction of Antwerp's first lock and dock in 1811. Called the Bonaparte Dock it was
joined by a second dock - called the Willem Dock after the Dutch King - in 1813. When
the Belgian revolution broke out in 1830 there was a well-founded fear that the Dutch
would blockade the Scheldt again, but in the event they contented themselves with
levying a stiff toll. Fortunately the young Belgium had friends in Britain and particularly
in the person of Lord Palmerston, who believed that the existence of Belgium would be
beneficial to Britain, and that in consequence it was important to make sure that the newly
born state was economically viable. With his support, the Belgian government was able to
redeem the Dutch Toll in 1863. By that time the Kattendijk Dock had been completed
1860 and the all important Iron Rhine Railway to the Ruhr had been finished in 1879.
Antwerp then experienced a second golden age and by 1908 eight docks had been
constructed. The opening of the Royers Lock, commenced in 1905 meant that ships
drawing up to 31 feet of water were able to enter the existing docks and access the new
Lefèbvre and America docks. Such was the situation at the outbreak of the First World
War (1914-1918).

The British, and Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, in particular, were well aware
of the Port of Antwerp's strategic importance. So much so that Churchill arrived in
Antwerp on 4 October 1914 to take charge of the defence of the city and its port.

When peace returned work started on the Grote Doorsteek, an ambitious plan which
ultimately resulted in the extension of the docklands on the right bank of the Scheldt to
the Dutch border. The construction of the Berendrecht Lock, was the crowning element of
this plan. It is the world's largest shipping lock and was inaugurated in 1989. Since 1989,
development has been concentrated on the creation of fast turnaround tidal berths, both on
the Right Bank (Europa Terminal and the North Sea Terminal) and on the Left Bank
(Deurganck Dock).

PEST Analysis

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 Port of Antwerp

Pest analysis means the political, economic, social and technology.

Political:
The political aspect of their port was very high. There are many international governments
which are connected to the port for their business. Every country wants to have business
with Europe; therefore Antwerp being the 2nd important port in Europe requires businesses
from many Asian, American, European, and African Countries.
For example, US Minister has contributed large amounts of money to build the Marshall
dock at the port. The US Government is now planning to setup a refinery at the port. Also
Belgium being in European Union, it is connected to 27 other European countries for
open trade. Therefore here also the political interest comes into the picture. Many
European countries are connected for their import and export through port of Antwerp
only.

Economic:
The port of Antwerp as mentioned as provide 60% of the country’s GDP. It also provides
numerous amounts of employment opportunities through dock workers, various
industries, various showrooms and shops around the port, through the various transport
facilities connecting the port. The port deals with 55% of import and 45% of exports. The
port of Antwerp helps in enormous economic development of the country and Europe as a
whole. A dock worker gets 1500 Euros per month and a container worker gets 3000 Euros
per month which is fixed by the port authorities. There are around 64000 people working
at the port directly or indirectly. 30000 in industries, 7000 as dock workers and 25000 in
companies as staff and the rest are port authorities. 15000 additionally are the indirect
labors as drivers. The port helps in a lot of economic development.

Social:
The social analysis is such that port is providing a lot of jobs to Belgium country men and
also they have now started hiring females for the jobs.

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Technology:
The technology applied or used at the port is really very advanced and modern. The
cranes, the stackers, the loaders and the unloaders that are used are of latest technology.
The technology applied at each level is the latest technology. Overall the port has 200
companies which provide a lot of assistance in technological upliftment.

Business Model of the Company

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The harbor authorities control each sea ships. There is nothing to do with private
companies in case of entry into the port. The locks and sides are organized by harbor
authorities and the permission for entry o ship is also granted by the harbor authorities
only.

Harbor authorities are linked with government. 60% of the money is given by the Flemish
government and rest by the harbor authorities only.

The harbor authorities get their money by renting the place to the private companies take
the lace from the harbor authorities to set up their business on the harbor. Thus this helps
the harbor to get their income.

The ship owners also pay the fees for passing the locks. The ship owners also pay the fees
for standing at the port that is they pay the fees for parking the ships at harbors.
Harbor authorities though are the real owners of the harbor but they only have the work to
do with sea traffic and rest all is managed by private companies. Here the different
terminals on harbors are owned by different companies. Xeon Company has a lease of 99
years which was signed a long time ago. Bur now the authorities provide the lease for 30
years and incase of industries they provide for 60 years.

If a company wants to stop business at the harbor, they can give the place to other
companies on further lease or they can remove their terminals and leave them to the
original form.

Here different places are also taken by different countries like fertilizer are taken by
Australia, west side of river by China and right side by America.

Port information

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The traffic at the port is regulated by control tower. The control gives the direction to the
every coming and going ship so that it can work efficiently in the port area.
The ship coming from sea enters the river and then it comes to the dock after entering
locks. The locks serve the very important part in the port business.

The port has the inland harbor which is away from the sea so this help in efficient and
perfect going business. The connecting river is the “Schelde” river, it is the tidal river, in a
day two time the river has high tide and two time it has low tide, twice a month the river
also has extra high tides. The start of the river is Schelde River; it then connects to various
docks for the transfer of cargos.

Docks are important as they help in key linking and constant transfer of cargo. There is
only one disadvantage of docks i.e. the docks contains the locks. Every ship coming to the
dock has to pass through the locks which are very time consuming. On an average it takes
2 hours for a ship to pass through locks for the whole trip. But the locks help on security
of the port.

Petroleum
There was one of the big ministers of US who provided large Marshall Plan of the port
and also provided money to develop the harbor in the better way to carry out the US
business in the Europe. Marshall Dock is the dock for petroleum. USA has planned to
develop an oil refinery at the future.

The port of Antwerp produces 80 million tones of crude oil, and the main companies are
Total, Alph and Fena. The refineries are owned by these companies collectively.

The tanks which are there at the oil refinery have the capacity of 76 million liters and the
cost in Belgium is 1.5 Euros per liter of the crude oil.

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The port also consists of chemical plants. 70% are own by Total. The tankers come at the
docks to carry the goods but the bigger tankers go to the Rotterdam, goods can also be
transferred in bigger tankers.

Katoen Natie

Katoen natie is the worldwide player in import and export. It helps the other companies to
carry out there trade at the harbor. The company work according to the UN regulations
and international safety and port security conditions.
[UN regulations and ISPS are the bodies whose purpose is to make the harbors secure for
the future]
Rotterdam is the largest port in the Europe but Antwerp gives more added value than
Rotterdam to the country.
The place where we went at Katoen Natie was the packing plant of the
polyethylene granules. High density poly ethylene was produced by Total and packing is
done by Katoen Natie in bags of 25 kg each. The granules can also be directly loaded in
the trucks. Numbers are also assigned to the bags and trucks.

Software- ERP

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Requirements

The tasks of a DGO are rather complex as lots of communication with different parties is
involved. Of great importance are the collection, validation and storage of the
consumption data. The data has to be transferred to the Energy Traders using specific
EDI messages; and allocation and reconciliation need to be handled. Furthermore, the
DGO has to direct the switching procedure when a customer changes traders. Connecting
New customers to the network and administering the physical network and existing
connections is also a major task of a DGO.

The software to be implemented needs to communicate with:

• The existing hardware and software for remote meter reading.
• The market parties active in the liberalized energy market (such as balance responsible
parties, suppliers and fellow distribution grid operators).
• A yet to be designed module capable of tariff control for low-voltage kWh-meters, with
the ability to read out these kWh-metes remotely. Communication needs to be done via a
GPRS connection.

The client management system needs to be expandable with modules for the follow-up of
technical inventories, assets, message exchange handling and data handling specifically
associated with a client connection. Furthermore, the Port of Antwerp requires a future-
proof system with great flexibility. The project needs to be fully implemented by 2008.

EnergyICT Solution

EnergyICT proposed its advanced multi-vendor software platform EIServer to meet these
requirements. The project needs to be implemented as an ASP concept (Application
Server Provider), which implies that all application infrastructure, software and data is not
installed and stored locally, but at EnergyICTs premises and that the Port authorities have
remote access to their data via a web browser.

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EnergyICT will deliver:

• A data concentrator for communication with the kWhmeter, with a user interface via an
internal Web Server and the ability to control a digital output.
• Data communication with the central server in 3 possible ways:
- Via the Web Server with a local Internet connection.
- Via RTU-messages: using GPRS, the software can send a command to control the meter.
This is a unique quality and greatly limits the costs of GPRS data communication.
- Via an EnergyICT protocol that sends data encrypted to EIServer.
EnergyICT will install several operators (full clients) with the following options:
• EDI messaging, portfolio management & flow management.
• Grid fees functionality for suppliers concerning DGO tariffs.
• Supported by an Oracle license. Tariff control can be supported via an agenda in 2 ways:
• Directly via the Web Server using Ethernet or GPRS communication.
• Via RTU messages in the EIServer software platform.
Amongst the 300 “Smart Meters” to be implemented for tariff control will be single
phase, direct 3-phase and indirect 3- phase meters. EnergyICT proposed 2 of its advanced
data concentrators to read out these meters: the RTU+ V6 and the WebRTU Z2. Both
these devices are compliant with all specifications concerning IP housing,
communication, calendar control, digital outputs, LED’s, internal clock and GPRS
modem.

The data collection, already carried out by EIServer, will be transferred to the new
EIServer system, together with all historical data and possibly, the present structure. The
data collection of the “smart meters” will be carried out by EIServer’s AMR (Automatic
Meter Reading) module. EIServer has an MMR (Manual Meter Reading) module as well,
capable of setting up import schedules and importing metering data from handheld
terminals (PDA’s) equipped with EIServer software. Concerning data migration, all
existing data in the current AS-400 system will be transferred to an Oracle Database, as
has been successfully executed for other grid operators in the past. Moreover, to ensure

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data reconstruction during complex situations, the EnergyICT solution keeps a

chronological diary on status modifications, messaging and operator actions.

A system UMIG upgrade from V3.53 to V4.00 is necessary as well to live up to the full
responsibility of being a distribution grid operator. EIServer supports UMIG compliancy
for a period of 7 years and supports multi-data formats used on the Belgian market.

As in all other projects, EnergyICT is multi-vendor, offering high quality tariff approved
meters from different manufacturers. EnergyICT offered competitive data communication
providers for GPRS communication as well; all solutions provide a Separate APN with
fixed IP addresses, including radio service management.

Implementation

A preliminary period of 2 weeks will be used for analysis, after which the implementation
period of 3 months begins. Together with the people of the Port of Antwerp, EnergyICT
will undoubtedly realize this smart metering project with success.

About EnergyICT

EnergyICT is a global leader in providing advanced Energy Information and

Communication Technology solutions to utilities and their end customers. It is world-
renowned for its in-depth knowledge of energy markets and its leading edge hardware and
software products.

EnergyICT is an established, well-run, privately-held company with international offices

in Europe, Australia, and the U.S.A. and focuses on providing “Tomorrow’s Energy
Metering Solutions Today”.

SWOT Analysis

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 Port of Antwerp

Strength: The main strength of the harbor is the coordination between the different
companies, different authorities and the Flemish government. All of them organize
together to work for the upliftment of the whole country.

Weakness: the weakness although we was not able to recognize any but we think that
maintaining the huge number of ships through locks was hectic as it takes two hours to
enter a lock for a ship. Thus this consume a lot of time

Opportunities: There are various opportunities for the port to extend the business. There
is still a lot of space empty to set up more terminals and industries. The port is also
developing a new harbor for the shipment of ships. The old docks were 9 meter docks but
now by removing the slog they are not increasing to 13 meters. They are also now going
to hire female workers. The overall port has currently 200 employees and their number
can be used in future.

Threat: Threat can always be there from terrorists. There can be smuggling of drugs and
other kind of that items that are not allowed by the government. Therefore the port has
established X-Ray system and radioactive system to detect the materials inside the
containers. The X-Ray can be used to detect the size and weight of material and
radioactive rays can be used to detect the drugs and other chemicals that can be used as a
bomb. Therefore a lot of security is required.
Also the port always has threat from the sea. The sea can anytime show its anger and
destroy the port, harbor and docks. Therefore this threat will always be there, and the
threat is having more prominence due to global warming issue prevailing on the earth.

Competitive Analysis

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Port of Antwerp is basically a harbor or the main trade port for the country of Belgium.
The Belgium gets its 60% of GDP from the Antwerp only. It’s the only 200 sq. km area
that produces large amount of turnover. But this port also can have competition from other
ports. The other ports are Rotterdam and Hamburg. The Rotterdam though is highest in
carrying out ships but the Antwerp adds more added values to Europe.
Antwerp will always have benefits due its centralized location and good transport
facilities. The Antwerp is well connected to Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and
Germany for trade. Therefore the utility if the port is very high. But Rotterdam on the
other hand has the capacity to handle bigger ships. The docks at the Antwerp are smaller
than Rotterdam, so bigger container ships are landed at the Rotterdam. Therefore the port
of Antwerp will always have such kind of competition.

Some other information about port

The port authorities are developing heavy container terminal which is good to carry the
container load and also it is very big in size. This will help in handling more number of
ships and more number of containers. The constitution of a new lock at the harbor takes a
very long time. It takes around 3 to 4 years of hectic schedule due to political
intervention. The labor rates are very much high in Belgium therefore it requires various
imports from other countries at cheaper rates.

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Financial performance of the company

The port of Antwerp is a very big organization, occupying a space of about 200 sq. km of
Belgium. It consists of number of locks, terminals and docks.
It consists of 6500 people direct or indirect working in the area. They generate about 9.4
billion Euros of added value per year. The port consists of about 60% of GDP of the
country. The port is generating a lot of income for the country, that’s why government
also supports the port in 80% of financial activities.

The port has the huge amount of industrial area which has petroleum products like
naphtha, ethylene, crude oil etc. This constitutes a lot to the growth of the company.
The transportation is done through railways, ships and roadways. Presently the
transportation is through 65% by trucks, 10% by railways and rest by ships. But
government is now planning to have 40% by trucks, 40% by ships and rest by railways.
So the government is now planning to invest in new plans.

The port contains around 200 companies, various numbers of foreign companies. There
are special docks which are taken by China and America. So this help in a lot of foreign
exchange at the port and thus increasing the value of currency.
Therefore the port generates a huge amount of income for the country and helps in
countries upliftment and growth.

Future plans of port

Harbor is like the main hub for the import and export business. The currently done
businesses of the port consist of 65% through trucks, 10% by railways and rest by ships.
But the government is planning to have 40% cargo by trucks, 40% by ships and rest by
railways. Therefore government is investing in new plans for the port.

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LABOUR ORGANISATION
At the port labors are organized in groups to perform their specific work. At the logistics
area there are mainly two types of groups. There are companies owned workers and dock
workers .dock workers is a pool of 7000 people who are highly skilled people and are
trained in their work. Dock workers have the advantage that they can be shifted from one
place to another because they have almost same type of work.

A dock worker gets 1500 euro per month and a container worker gets 3000 euro per
month. If a worker works on holiday, than they gets 300% of the days pay and if workers
work on Sunday than they gets 200% of the salary of a day.

At the port workers work in shifts. Port mainly operates 24 hours and workers have three
shifts. Dock workers does not require any specific education qualification, the only
condition is that must be above 18 years of age. At the port 95% of containers are owned
by the shipping companies and only few are owned by private industries.

The loading and unloading of cargo is done with the help of cranes and shifting of
containers is done by stacker. The cranes, stackers, loaders, unloaders are owned by
companies and not by shipping companies. The dock workers works on these machines

As they are skilled in this .when a container comes to, it is first stripped (unloading of
material). The material is arranged in groups inside and outside the container. The empty
container is again ready to be stuffed. The materials are grouped in particular fashion
mainly according to the countries.

STRIPPING - REGROUPING – STUFFING

CUSTOMS
The formalities like customs formalities are based on European rules .customs decide how
much duty and on which countries the duty are allowed to charge or free. Customs
officers use to sitting at each terminal of the port, to have trade in European Union the
customs formalities are not required. The trucks are also scanned in the process through
X-rays and radioactive scanning. Thus customs plays an important role at the port.

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Regulations and port customs

When considering the regulations and customs governing the Port of Antwerp it is
important to make a clear distinction between the rates implemented and applied by the
authorities and those of the private sector.

The port authority's rates are published officially and apply mainly to port dues, the use of
berths and sheds, and the provision of towage services in the docks and the hire of cranes.
Those applied by the regional government are those charged for the pilotage services in
Belgium's territorial waters and on the Scheldt.

No fixed rates exist for cargo-handling, storage, forwarding, the completion of formalities
and other services provided by private firms. These prices tend to differ from firm to firm.
Port operators usually negotiate their terms on an individual basis, taking account of
factors such as local and foreign competition; the type of cargo involved the volume, unit
weights, and quantities and so on.

The flexibility with which private rates are applied also goes for Antwerp's regulations,
port customs and provisions. These are revised to accommodate new technical and
organizational conditions as needs dictate.

MAJOR IMPORT AND EXPORT AT THE PORT

There are numerous kinds of items that are imported and exported at the port. The major
items are petroleum, chemicals, food items, chocolates, beer, and some other food
products. Since Belgium is a small country with moderate kind of temperature
throughout the year, therefore the countries require a lot of food materials to be imported.
Belgium produces a large quantity of chocolate and beer, which have to be exported
In Belgium car assembly is very expensive, because the country of Belgium is labor
intensive. Thus Belgium requires import of cars from other countries.

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Antwerp port also has 480 thousand tones of sugar warehouse. The sugar from port is
exported to Iran in exchange of petroleum products.

The northern part of port is developed in 10 years of time; it was developed during 1956
to 1965 AD. Antwerp port also has warehouse of various such materials which are first
imported from other countries and than exported to some other countries like Evian Water
Company situated in France .from France it is firstly imported to port and then it is
exported to other companies. The worldwide export of Evian is done from port of
Antwerp only. In current scenario Japan has also asked for Evian water, that’s why a new
warehouse of 9000sq. feet is under construction .The transferring of goods is done on
FIFO basis. Some materials are transferred in bulks, while some in the form of packets.

The special regulations for food products are there, fumigation is done for making the
products free from insects and worms. For example there is a tobacco warehouse which
warehouse requires a great care from sunlight and humidity.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT CARGO TERMINAL

Generally a cargo terminal is taken by a private company and they operate on transferring
of cargo along with the dock workers. The ships that are made are according to the
various sizes. There is a panamax ship, which can pass through Panama Canal without
any hurdle. It is 12.5 mts wide and 180 to 300 mts long. There is a post panamax ship
which is wider than panamax and even wider ships are calamax ships .Antwerp port can
handle panamax and post panamax ships more easily.

The container which are used at the port are of standard size worldwide .the most
commonly used is 20 – 40 feet’s in length , 2.4 mts in width and 2.6 mts high . the
panamax can handle 13 container with 2.4 mts in a single row .Generally the floor of
container is wooden made so that it does not harm the product s that are transferred . The
big container can’t go to England because they don’t have gantry cranes and also speed is
low. In Belgium they can handle 40 containers in a minute while England can handle 15
containers in a minute.

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 Port of Antwerp

To work at port at higher level engineering, management or merchant navy types

degree are required. Various companies have there own shipping and containers, some of
them are MSC (Mediterranean ship company), CMR (French company), Happa – Lloyd
(Taiwan company),

Key Success factors and competitive advantages

The port of Antwerp is an efficient place for working. The port is so well organized and
each and every worker is very dedicated in their work .some of the factors for successes
are

Centralized Location - since the port is centrally located to various other European
countries and also centrally situated to other continents. Therefore it has great
advantages of imports and exports especially to and from European Union.

Technological Advancement – Technologically the port is very advanced. The

cranes, stackers, loaders and unloaders are very much advanced in their work. This
makes their work easy. Some of the machines are such that they are not available in
England.

Labor Intensive – The market in Belgium is labor intensive, therefore the labor at the
port is highly paid. Therefore the authorities need a good and efficient work from
them. Thus every worker works very effectively and with full dedication

Government support – the Belgium government is also very supportive to the port
authorities. A huge amount is produced by the government for the maintenance and
works carried out the port. Therefore it helps a lot in working in the port area.

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 Port of Antwerp

Key findings & learning

The major learning from the port is that for an efficient working of organization labor and
technology support is very much required.
The finding can be that how other company’s work through the port or how much
channels a product can pass through. How the in between channel partners work for a big
company to transfer its goods.
In Indian context the technological upliftment is still needed at the ports since now
it has been highly advanced but it should be well organized also. Skilled labors can
perform a task in an efficient manner.

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 Port of Antwerp

Bibliography

www.portofantwerp.be
www.wikipedia.com
Self Gathered Information from visit

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