Image: Antwerp Port Authority

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Antwerp Port Authority presented its Business Plan 2018-2020 on Friday, which focuses on five strategic priorities: sustainable growth; mobility; transition; safety and security; and operational excellence. The five main objectives are to be translated into concrete projects.

Discussing transition, the port authority notes that a key challenge will be the move to a low-carbon economy and outlines the plan it will put into place in order to achieve this objective.

Belgium's biggest bunker port says it intends to set up a cross-industry CO2 reduction project along with stakeholders while providing support mechanisms such as a transition fund and an entry-level test-bed for demonstration projects.

Antwerp also plans to improve the ecological footprint of its fleet of tugs and equip its port infrastructure with onshore power supplies and LNG bunkering facilities.

On the issue of safety, the plan is to work on prevention measures and the containment and clean-up of oil spills.

Despite its physical boundaries, the port insists that it intends to expand by providing additional container capacity and developing its collaboration with Zeebrugge.

The port authority's strategy is to be subjected to an annual assessment; this is designed to provide continued clarity, both internally and externally, regarding its corporate direction and how to make best use of its resources.

CEO Jacques Vandermeiren said: "We are working towards a sustainable future for the port. This ambition is expressed in our new mission and vision, in which our role is defined even more sharply."

"Our new Business Plan that aims to bring results in five strategic priorities gives us a sharper focus. We are convinced that we can turn this company around by concentrating on a number of clearly defined strategic priorities that will form our main action guidelines between now and 2020," he added.

Bunker Index reported last month that Fluxys plans to add a permanent LNG bunkering facility in Antwerp by the end of next year to complement the existing truck-to-ship bunkering service at the Belgian port.

Back in December, it was announced that Antwerp would be investing in the construction of hybrid, zero-emission barges as part of a EUR 1.4 million project aimed at making port-generated freight traffic more efficient and sustainable.