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The number of sea-going ships arriving at Rotterdam decreased further in 2012, according to figures released by Port of Rotterdam Authority.

In total, there were 32,057 ship visits to Europe's leading bunkering hub, representing a decrease of 2,347 ship visits on the previous year.

The main reasons given by the port authority for the decline were the economic crisis, larger-sized ships and fewer ferry service departures.

Despite the decline, throughput in 2012 increased by 1.7 percent to 442 million tonnes. However, bunker sales volumes fell by 1.3 million tonnes, or 8.2 percent, from 12.2 million tonnes to 10.9 million tonnes. Intermediate fuel oil accounted for 10.3 million tonnes of total sales compared to 11.6 million tonnes in 2011. Marine Gas Oil (MGO) sales increased slightly from 530,000 to 550,000 tonnes.

Approximately 23,000 bunker deliveries were carried out at the port last year, of which almost half were to container vessels. Almost 75 percent of the total amount of fuel sold in 2012 was to container ships.

Details of the decrease in ship visits emerged from a presentation given by Harbour Master René de Vries of the Port of Rotterdam Authority.