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The capacity of the inland shipping terminal in Wanssum (province of Limburg) looks set to double to around 100,000 TEU, according to the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

The plan to raise the terminal's capacity would involve the purchase of a site bordering on the Wanssum Intermodal Terminal.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority said it hopes to reach agreement with the municipality of Meerlo-Wanssum on the expansion within the next few weeks.

The Authority already owns the land for the terminal, which is managed by BCTN and the Waalhaven Group. Negotiations are still under way regarding the operation of the expansion in North Limburg.

Inland terminals

The Port of Rotterdam Authority also owns the land for the inland terminal in Alphen aan de Rijn (Central Netherlands), the major client being Heineken, which fills around 100,000 TEU of containers with export beer.

The Authority said it also wishes to purchase land for a Container Transferium in Alblasserdam (located east of Rotterdam).

Bunker sales volumes

Bunker sales volumes at Europe's leading bunker port fell by over 600,000 tonnes, or 4.7 percent, in 2008 compared to the previous year. This was said to be mainly due to the lower number of container ships bunkering last year.

Throughput figures for Rotterdam dropped from 13.6 million tonnes in 2007 to just under 13 million tonnes last year, almost equalling 2006 levels.

In total, 12,493,424 tonnes of fuel oil, 252,414 tonnes of marine gas oil (MGO), 87,526 tonnes of diesel oil (MDO) and 123,954 tonnes of lubricating oil were bunkered in 2008. This resulted in a total turnover of 12,967,317 tonnes.

The number of bunker calls was also down slightly last year, from 22,165 to 21,864.