Wright: Port shipping up

Duisburg saw container volumes in the first quarter this year up 26 per cent on the same quarter of 2009. Barge operators, whose vessels account for about 30 per cent of container movements in and out of the large ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, are benefiting from a surge of restocking by European retailers and manufacturers following the economic traumas of the past 18 months.

The waterways’ resurgence reflects a remarkable rebound in international container traffic – container imports into Europe from Asia were up more than 25 per cent this April over April 2009, when imports fell 25 per cent.