Infrastructure

Seaports

Port of Rotterdam

Rotterdam is one of the main ports and the largest logisc and industrial hubs of Europe. With an annual throughput of 400 million tons of cargo in 2009, Rotterdam is by far the largest seaport of Europe. The port is the gateway to an European market of more than 350 million consumers.

Rotterdam thanks its position to the excellent accessibility via the sea, the hinterland connections and the many companies and organisations, active in the port and industrial complex. The port stretches out over 40 kilometres and is about 10.000 ha (excluding Maasvlakte 2).

Port of Amsterdam

The Port of Amsterdam located on the bank of a bay named IJ and the North Sea Canal, with which it is connected to the North Sea. The port was first used in the 13th century and was one of the main ports of the Dutch East India Company in the 17th century. Today, the Port of Amsterdam is the second largest port in the Netherlands, the largest being the Port of Rotterdam. In 2008, the Port of Amsterdam had a cargo throughput of 75.8 million tons, most of which is was bulk cargo.

Port of Moerdijk

The Moerdijk port is accessible for seagoing vessels in approximately 3.5 hours sailing time from the North Sea via the Nieuwe Waterweg, Oude Maas, Dordtse Kil and Hollandsch Diep. The inland waterway from Rotterdam has no locks.
Inland vessels can reach Moerdijk via a widely branching inland waterway network, via among others, the Rhine, the Meuse, the Scheldt, the Volkerak, the Haringvliet, Markiezaatsmeer and various canals. Moerdijk is part of the Trans-European Network of waterways and is for this reason an ideal operational base.
From Moerdijk to Antwerp is approximately three hours sailing time. Furthermore, you will find topical information on the port and an impression of the facilities and companies on the Moerdijk port and industrial complex.

Port of Den Helder

A modern seaport located at the northern tip of the province of North-Holland, with an open connection to the North Sea and the Wadden Sea via the Marsdiep.
The port area of Den Helder occupies a number of important functions, including: Offshore port - Fishing port - Commercial port - Coastguard port Naval port - Ferry port - Museum port - Yacht marina - Port of refuge

Airports

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Schiphol is an important European airport, ranking as Europe’s 3rd largest and the world’s 14th largest for cargo tonnage. It also ranks as the world’s 3rd largest by international passenger traffic as well as Europe’s 5th and the world’s 14th busiest by overall passenger volume. The airport is one out of four airports in the world to have a rating of four stars in Skytrax's grading system.
Schiphol has five main runways, plus one used mainly by general aviation aircraft. The northern end of the Polderbaan, the name of last runway to be constructed, is 7 km north of the control tower, causing lengthy taxi times (up to 20 min) to the terminal. Plans have been made for a seventh runway. Schiphol is the home base of KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), Arkefly, Martinair, Amsterdam Airlines and Transavia.
Schiphol is geographically one of the world's lowest major commercial airports. The entire airport is below sea level; the lowest point sits at 11 feet (3.4 m) below sea level (or 4.5 feet (1.4 m) below the Dutch Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP)); the runways are around 3 metres (9.8 ft) below NAP.

Rotterdam The Hague Airport

Rotterdam The Hague Airport is since late 2006 the second largest regional airport in the Netherlands after Eindhoven Airport, measured by the number of passengers. Rotterdam The Hague Airport is located at the northern edge of Rotterdam, in the direction of Delft. The airport is owned by the Schiphol Group, whose shareholders are the State of the Netherlands, and the municipalities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. In 2009 nearly 1 million passengers passed through the airport, a decrease compared the previous year.

Road & Rail

The Netherlands has an extensive, modern and well-maintained road and highway network that integrates seamlessly into the European one. And with around 12,000 transport companies ranging from very small, one-truck operations to large international players, ample services are available.
The Dutch transport industry has an excellent reputation, and thanks to free competition and minimal government intervention, Dutch transport companies offer the best price-quality ratio for transportation and distribution services in Europe.

Study results reveal that the Netherlands has retained its lead in road (FTL and LTL) transportation.
Transport tariffs to and from the Netherlands tend to be lower than in the other countries surveyed, making Dutch inbound (air, ocean, and barge) and outbound (road) transport industries more attractive to customers.

Road congestion is and will continue to be perceived as a problem in Western European countries in general, especially in port areas. The Rotterdam area was one of the first ports affected by this but also seems to be at the vanguard in devising solutions to this issue. Rotterdam was the first port in Europe to have a dedicated rail connection with the hinterland (Betuwelijn). Rotterdam is also very active in establishing inland container transfer points.

Although road transport is still by far the most popular mode of transport in Europe, in the past decade, the demand for rail freight has grown tremendously. The Dutch railway network is modern and well-connected and provides excellent links to major economic regions in the European hinterland.

The Netherlands is one of the leading countries within the EU as far as the introduction of competition in rail transportation is concerned. Users of rail transport in the Netherlands have a choice of fourteen competing train operating companies for rail freight services, offering door-to-door services and delivering traction for container shuttle services. From the Port of Rotterdam, numerous freight trains leave on a daily basis to the major industrial centers in Europe, which can be reached within 24 hours. Furthermore, in June 2007, a brand-new railroad dedicated to rail freight transport, the Betuwe Line, was opened, offering uninterrupted and even faster connections than ever before. The Betuwe Line provides direct access to the trans-European rail freight network and runs from the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam straight to the German border. Forecasts show that Dutch volumes of rail transportation will rise to 78-110 million tons in the period of 2020-2040.

Source: http://www.ndl.nl/

Inland Shipping

Due to its location at the mouth of several important European rivers such as the Rhine, the Maas and the Schelde, the Netherlands is the gateway to the European hinterland.

The Netherlands, having a long history concerning inland shipping that goes back to even the 14th century, has an excellent natural infrastructure for waterborne transport and holds the largest market share in inland shipping in Europe. Inland shipping in the Netherlands accounts for more than 30% of all freight transport and over 50% of the entire European fleet is owned by Dutch companies.

The Dutch inland waterway system consists of more than 500 kilometres main transport waterways, almost 900 km of main waterways and 3600 km of other waterways. Together they connect all the 3500 industrial zones in The Netherlands of which around 250 have direct access to an inland terminal. As the number of inland terminals in the Netherlands continues to grow, the inland shipping network is becoming denser, making inland shipping increasingly attractive for transportation across short distances.

With 10% of the European main waterways situated in The Netherlands, it is the logistics gateway to the European market. Many international companies serve their customers throughout Europe and even the Middle East, Africa, and beyond via a central distribution center in the Netherlands.

Having excellent sea- and airport and railway facilities, an advanced and extensive infrastructure, a highly developed logistics industry and being a very central location, the Netherlands offers excellent connections to all these markets via every mode of transport available.

Intermodal shipment is a new buzz word in Europe, which means the movement of goods by successive modes of transport but in the same loading unit, and is increasing enormously.

The changing of mode of transports happens in transshipment locations. In The Netherlands we have about 400 inland ports, where they mostly transship bulk cargo, and that serves as a regional industrial and logistic hub on waterways. The Netherlands also have 25 container terminals, where mostly containers are being transferred, but also pallets, general cargo, bulk and trailers. This way every region is accessible. All these terminals and inland ports are linked to the European hinterland consisting 96 (inland) terminals.

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