The Port of Rotterdam said the vessels that were delayed by the week-long blockade of the Suez Canal in March have now been processed by the Port of Rotterdam.

"Currently, all vessels (63 excluding Ever Given) have made their call in Rotterdam," port officials said in a recent briefing on May 19.

Europe's busiest container port, however, will remain busy until next month as challenges are still expected ahead for the shipping sector.

"Nevertheless, it will remain very busy for the weeks to come with relief expected around June," said Emile Hoogsteden, Vice President Commercial, and Hans Nagtegaal, Director of Containers, in their presentations.

"This is dependent on the efficiency of second modalities and improving reliability of deep-sea vessels."

The port noted that it has taken various actions to limit the impact of the Suez Canal backlog to operations including support in realizing additional empty depot capacity on request; active call for the use of night distribution.

Terminals also followed strict protocol cargo opening/closing, and various hinterland operators actively approved the market to offer support as an overflow location for export cargo and for bundling import cargo.

The port, saw its throughput increase by 3% year-on-year in the first quarter mainly attributed to increases shipments of biomass, coal, mineral oil products, and TEU containers.

Port of Rotterdam reported that the volume of freight handled in the gateway totalled 115.8 million tonnes — setting up a new step in its recovery from the decrease in throughput in 2020 as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.