History
The muddy estuary (rotta) of the Maas River became a settlement in the 10th century CE. A few hundred years later, a dam was built in the rotta, giving the fledgling seaport its name: Rotterdam. By the 14th century the Rotterdam Schie, or shipping canal, had been fully dredged, giving birth to what would one day become the world’s most important shipping port (“A History of the Port of Rotterdam,” 2015).
Rotterdam immediately gained traction as a pivotal shipping destination because of its strategic location linking England with not just the Netherlands but also the rest of Europe. Trade routes boomed during the Age of Exploration and Imperialism, boosting the significance of Rotterdam especially as the Dutch East India Company dominated global trade.
During the Industrial Age, Rotterdam suffered a major setback as the rotte, its naturally muddy estuary, proved too shallow for high tech industrial barges. The city of Rotterdam responded immediately to the crisis by constructing a new waterway, or Nieuwe Waterweg, by 1872 (“A History of the Port of Rotterdam,” 2015). Crisis averted, the Nieuwe Waterweg helped retain the Rotterdam’s status as one of the world’s most important shipping ports. Seamless connections on rail and river ensured Rotterdam would become the world’s largest port, a position it occupied for much of the 20th century.
With the Nieuwe Waterweg, the Port of Rotterdam also bolstered shipping ties with the rest of Europe. Since the Industrial Age, the Port of Rotterdam has made successive improvements to the depth and stability of the Nieuwe Waterweg to enable it to accommodate newer and different sized vessels. In the 1960s, Rotterdam commenced construction on the Gate to Europe (Europoort) complex. Completed in the 1970s, the Europoort also entailed massive land reclamation projects that displaced sand banks to allow for the largest possible shipping vessels in the world (“A History of the Port of Rotterdam,” 2015). Called the Maasvlakte, the massive new shipping port recently received a sister port simply called Maasvlakte 2. Improved rail and road connections also helped Rotterdam retain its reputation for reliability and shipping capacity.
Current Status and Competition
By the time the Maasvlakte 2 was completed in 2013 Rotterdam had lost its superlative status as the world’s largest shipping port. However, the Maasvlakte 2 proves Rotterdam’s commitment to remaining the largest shipping port in Europe and still one of the globe’s most important. Currently outpaced by both Shanghai and Singapore, Rotterdam is still the largest in Europe and third largest in the world not just in terms of its footprint but also in terms of throughput. The Port of Rotterdam currently occupies about 105 square kilometers, or 41 square miles. Throughput numbers in 2014 were at about 445 million tonnes of cargo, ranking Rotterdam 8th in the world. Those numbers actually increased in 2016, when the Port of Rotterdam saw more than 461 million tonnes of dry bulk, liquid bulk, containers, and breakbulk pass through the Maasvlakte and Massvlakte 2 (Port of Rotterdam, 2016, “Facts and Figures”). The Port of Rotterdam has more than 20 moorages, over 120 bulwarks, 29 tugboat facilities, six pilot boat facilities, 95 liquid and dry cargo depots, moorage for cruise liners and also for vessels navigating internally (Karan, 2016).
Major competitors to Rotterdam started to emerge by the late 1980s, when Singapore and Shanghai rose to ascension as global shipping ports. Although Rotterdam remains number one in Europe, followed by regional rivals only like Antwerp and Hamberg, it is China that presents the most significant competition. Of the top ten shipping ports in the world based on throughput tonnage, seven...
References
“A History of the Port of Rotterdam,” (2015). Twente. Retrieved online: https://www.marineinsight.com/ports/the-port-of-rotterdam-the-biggest-port-of-europe/
Hurenkamp, J. (2017). Port of Rotterdam. Chemical Parks in Europe. Retrieved online: https://chemicalparks.eu/parks/port-of-rotterdam
JOC (2017). Port of Rotterdam. Retrieved online: https://www.joc.com/port-news/european-ports/port-rotterdam
Karan, C. (2016). The port of Rotterdam. Marine Insight. Retrieved online: https://www.marineinsight.com/ports/the-port-of-rotterdam-the-biggest-port-of-europe/
Opticool (2017). Port of Rotterdam. Retrieved online: http://opticool.nl/en/about-opticool/port-of-rotterdam/
Port of Rotterdam (2016). Facts and figures. Retrieved online: https://www.portofrotterdam.com/sites/default/files/facts-and-figures-port-of-rotterdam-2016.pdf
Port of Rotterdam (2017). Clean vessels: Real discount. Retrieved online: https://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/news-and-press-releases/clean-vessels-real-discount
“Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands,” (2017). Retrieved online: http://www.ship-technology.com/projects/portofrotterdam/
Rotterdam Tourist Information (2017). The port. Retrieved online: https://en.rotterdam.info/locations/the-port/
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