Port of Antwerp cargo up 7% in first half

Port of Antwerp cargo up 7% in first half    Maritime cargo traffic at the port of Antwerp increased 6.7 percent during the first half of the year, to 89 million tons.
   During the six-month period, the Belgian port handled 46.6 million tons of containerized cargo, a 15.2 percent increase. Measured in TEUs, box traffic increased 14.6 percent to 4.02 million TEUs.
   The number of seagoing ships calling at the port in the first half of 2007 rose by 4.8 percent to 8,171.
   Meanwhile, the European Commission has approved a 450,000-euro ($621,262) aid scheme to boost transportation by inland waterways in Belgium. The scheme will provide grants to companies operating one or more services transporting containers by waterway from a terminus in Brussels. The aid will be granted only to operators of regular transport lines, be they existing ones (to be operated with greater frequency) or new lines.