April container record for Rotterdam
April was the best ever month for Rotterdam container handling by tonnage - 13.6 Mt, as against 13.2 Mt handled in the previous record month, August 2018
The result follows a record Q1 2019 after a record whole year 2018. In unit terms, April’s 1.3M TEU was a fraction below the August 2018 result, however. The Rotterdam port authority (HbR) released these figures at the 2019 Transport & Logistics Trade Fair in Munich, being held this year from 4 to 7 June.
The announcement seems was a peg for the Dutch port to hang the hat of its key digital transformation selling point. Together with the announcement, a round-up was distributed of the 15 apps and other digitisation projects that the Port of Rotterdam has in place or in progress.
This includes the latest initiative, the ’hyper-smart’ Container 42, which contains an array of sensors and communications equipment for measuring changes in parameters like vibration, slope, position, sound, local air pollution, humidity and temperature.
The unit also has solar panels, which can be used to determine how much power a container can generate during a given journey by ship, train or truck. TLM Munich is the first stop in the first leg of this container’s two-year data-collecting mission around the world.
Amidst many digital (and physical) tools, the Container Exchange Route (CER) is a further boost for Rotterdam container handling. The internal lane will connect all Maasvlakte I and II container facilities.