How was your business in 2024, and what is it that you are looking at in 2025?
For the Port of Antwerp Bruges and the whole shipping industry, 2024 was a very challenging year, but we had grown tremendously in market share, there was growth in containers, and there was growth in RoRo.
We became the leading container port in Europe by tonnage, which is a significant achievement measured in TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units).
Finally, we have received all political approvals to add an additional 10 million TEU capacity to ensure further growth of the port in the future. So, we are fully preparing for 2025 to go full steam ahead to Greening and sustainability are challenges to ports implement and build that new additional capacity.
What is the timeline for this additional 10 million capacity?
The timeline for the 10 million TEU additional capacity is a long preparation, and we hope to have it ready or operational by 2030 or 2031.
From where did this exponential growth come in 2024? What contributed to this growth?
There are two things: on the container part, it is the strong commitment of our existing shipping lines, especially MSC, and also the car sector also remains very strong. Despite the challenging period for the international maritime and port sector, we experienced a good year with an overall growth of 3 per cent in cargo volumes, which is commendable given the current international circumstances.
How do you see the scenario in geopolitical issues and the challenges?
There are a couple of things to focus on regarding India. Domestic and free trade agreement negotiations between India and Europe have made significant progress last week. Let’s hope they continue to work on this and push for the evolution of trade between India and the European Union.
In general, let’s hope that positive signs regarding the issue of Gaza ceasefire will lead Houthis to stabilize in the Red Sea and the reopening of the Suez Canal.
This would be beneficial for India-Europe trade, as it serves as a major business artery for us. There are still several challenges on the international front, but 2025 has begun positively with discussions on the Indian Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) and promising developments in the right direction.
Apart from the trade agreements, how do you see the container infrastructure and the government’s positive approach towards maritime growth?
Overall, the government took a very courageous step in the development of mega ports. We believe that there is some potential still to increase existing infrastructure. We will also join forces with the government to think about policies. The Government of India, for the moment, has a strong will to further develop Indian ports as transshipment hubs. They are looking at what is happening with transshipment in the wider region, and that will become one of the main focuses, and it will still be more capacity-oriented and more transhipment-oriented.
In policy it will bring enough attention to bring transition in automation and IT. In our interactions with the private sector, they are keen to see how fast these policies are implemented and executed. Our partnerships with Indian ports are going very well; we are quite happy with the support we are getting from the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Apart from the 10 million capacity addition plan, are there any other new initiatives at the port?
We’ve achieved a major breakthrough in our international port project at Duqm in Oman by signing a significant deal with the Indian steelmaker Jindal Group. This investment aims to develop a green steel factory at our port in Oman. We are excited to collaborate with Vulcan Green Steel, a subsidiary of the Jindal Group.
The project is already under construction. We’re delighted to work with the Indian industry and organizations like FICCI to involve Indian businesses in the growth of our port project in Oman and to create mutually beneficial partnerships.
What are the challenges ports are facing in general today?
There are two primary challenges: greening and sustainability. The first challenge involves making the green transition sustainable by handling substantial amounts of green ammonia, green energy, electrification, and environmental care to reduce shipping emissions.
The second challenge is achieving fluent and secure ports that operate at a high pace. This requires international collaboration to integrate port systems, country security systems, customs systems, and revenue systems into a truly unified system.
Currently, too many ports, including those in India, lose significant time due to varying formalities across different systems. Can you elaborate on why they are challenging?
It is challenging because, while there are technical solutions available on the market, they are not yet implemented on a large scale. The industry remains in a phase of innovation and testing. For example, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges received its first hydrogen-cofired tugboats last year and its first electric tugboats this year. We are constantly testing these new technologies, but none have been implemented on a large scale. The challenge lies in scaling up these solutions and making the green transition, which requires significant investment. There is ongoing debate about who will bear the cost—whether it will be the client or the port itself. That is the crux of the challenge.
