The Port of Antwerp-Bruges has recently marked the first year of the merger deal with the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge — which the gateway noted had "reshaped the Western European maritime landscape."

In a statement, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges noted that new investments and projects confirm the attractiveness of the unified port — despite the current difficult geopolitical context.

"The unification significantly accelerated the already existing innovation and energy ambitions of both port authorities. After all, an increase in scale brings with it greater political and economic clout," the gateway said, noting that the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is positioning itself as a "major player in the import, local production, processing and throughput of green hydrogen and hydrogen carriers (such as ammonia and methanol) to the hinterland."

It added that, for one, some concrete hydrogen projects are now ready to be rolled out.

"Over the past year, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges has increasingly emerged as a crucial link in the international logistics chain. Today, for example, 15% of the total supply of LNG and natural gas to Europe arrives via the Zeebrugge port platform. One year earlier, this was about 8%," the port said.

"This makes the Port of Antwerp-Bruges one of the main access routes for gas to the European hinterland," it added, noting that in terms of energy supply and transition, the merged port intends to continue its pioneering role in the future.

The port said that the integration process for transforming the various digital applications into a single system is well underway — as geographical data from the Zeebrugge platform has since been integrated into the Digital Twin (a virtual copy of the port), and real-time data (e.g. air quality sensors) has also been linked to it.

Container volumes

The Port of Antwerp-Brugges also noted that the fact that the ports can complement one another where necessary is reflected, among other things, in the shift of container volumes from Antwerp to Zeebrugge.

"Because Antwerp was at its limit in terms of container capacity last year, companies were able to divert to the Zeebrugge platform for their container handling. So container volumes can now be spread across two platforms — a win-win for both Port of Antwerp-Bruges and the logistics players," it added.

After one year, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is "still in transition "and evaluating its processes and systems non-stop.

"A merger is a long-term project and involves some major challenges — technical, operational and human. Port of Antwerp-Bruges can look back, as well as forward, with satisfaction," it said, adding that the port platforms have joined forces, helped shape the merger story and made it happen.

Dirk De fauw, mayor of the City of Bruges and vice president of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said the merger is a "win-win" and an added value for both Zeebrugge and Antwerp.

"Now, a year after the effective merging of the two ports, we see this very clearly in the figures. This added value was also evident in their joint performance abroad, which was much appreciated by the port clientele, such as the princely missions to the United Kingdom, the US and Japan, and the visit of the King and Queen to the port of Duqm in Oman," de Fauw said.

"I am convinced that this feeling will only accelerate and intensify in the future. We have a port here that we can be proud of because we are the first world port that has the ambition to reconcile economy, people and climate," he added.

Annick De Ridder, Port Alderwoman of the City of Antwerp and chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, for her part, noted that the merged port is a "world port" that is ensuring sustainable growth and economic prosperity.

"The merger of the highly complementary port platforms is proving its added value in practice. Our merged port is the economic engine of Flanders. And that engine keeps running thanks to all the hard work of all the employees, both on the Antwerp and Zeebrugge port platforms," De Ridder added.

Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said the unified port is "holding strong in geopolitically and economically challenging times and during the energy crisis, can also count on a great deal of international resonance."