Eurogate developing inland terminal network

Eurogate developing inland terminal network European container terminal operator Eurogate Thursday announced its plans to build up an inland container terminal network to cater to the expected box growth at German North Sea ports.
   Eurogate said its inland network will go into operation on Jan. 2, and will be realized together with partner companies. Eurogate has already concluded contracts with six inland container terminals for the handling of transshipment and storage activities with additional inland locations planned.
   “This concept offers a lot of advantages. On the one hand, the existing infrastructure can be more efficiently utilized by consolidating transport operations. The inland terminals will become points of consolidation for hinterland traffic. On the other hand, they will allow us to significantly reduce the container storage times at the sea terminals. This will increase our productivities and benefit customers. Given the ever tighter handling capacities, the time has now come to implement a concept of this kind,” said Emanuel Schiffer, Eurogate’s chairman.
   Eurogate, jointly with Contship Italia, operates nine container terminals from the North Sea Coast to the Mediterranean area and has two more facilities under construction in Wilhelmshaven, Germany and Tangier in Morocco. In 2007, the company’s throughput increased 10.6 percent to 13.9 million TEUs.