2000-present day

Cobelfret Ferries

Further development of the port.

The port is growing at a rapid pace.

Central position in the world.

Zeebrugge

The big breakthrough

The most recent period in history is characterized by, among other things, the globalization of the world economy. This translates into a far-reaching business integration, which has created world players, also in the logistics sector: both with the stevedores and with the shipping companies we see constant increases in scale and changes in the shareholders structure. In Zeebrugge this is mainly noticeable in the clear increase in the dimensions of the ships and in the rise of container volumes as from 2010.  With a cargo flow of 49.6 million tons, 2010 is Zeebrugge’s temporary record year. The economic consequences of the global financial crisis of 2008 nevertheless temper the growth. New container alliances are hard to attract but roro traffic (freight and new cars) and handling of breakbulk keep up traffic figures.

CMA CGM

Most important events:

  • Start of paper and pulp traffic of StoraEnso with a daily roro-connection between Zeebrugge and Göteborg.
  • New weekly roro-services to Finland (Finnlines) and Denmark (Cobelfret).
  • Start of the passenger and cargo connection between Zeebrugge and Rosyth in Schotland.
  • Suspension of the daily services to Dover by P&O North Sea Ferries which will  later be renamed P&O Ferries.
  • Opening of the Toyota Vehicle Logistics Centre in the southern inner port.
  • Construction of the Tern Island.
APM Terminals Zeebrugge
Tropicana Zeebrugge
  • The foundation of PortConnect, the fluvio-maritime chartering division of the port authoriy.
  • Start of the C2C Lines container service to Ireland with CdmC as stevedore. This is an initiative of the Cobelfret-group in cooperation with ECS. Cobelfret also takes over the car terminal of World Port Services and renames the terminal as CdmZ. Furthermore Cobelfret obtains a shareholding of 50% Sea-Ro terminal, next to PSA HNN (Port of Singapore Authority – HesseNoord Natie).
  • Opening of the bottling plant of juice producer Tropicana in the northern inner port.
  • Demolition of the cokesfactory of Carcoke.
  • Modernization of the container terminal on the Western Peninsula, which will from now on be operated by PSA HNN in cooperation with the French shipping company CMA CGM.
  • The Distrigas terminal in the outer port is renamed: Fluxys LNG Terminal and will be extended with a fourth big storage tank. This is followed by a second LNG jetty in 2015 and a 5th storage tank in 2016.
  • Opening of a new car terminal on the former terrains of bulk handling company ZBM at the Bastogne terminal. Initially the installation is operated by PSA HNN which will later sell his shares to International Car Operators (ICO), a part of the NYK-group.
  • Opening of the container terminal APM Terminals Zeebrugge on the former terrains of Flanders Container Terminal at the Albert II-dock and the arrival of the first intercontinental container traffic of Maersk Line. Later on, Shanghai International Ports Group and China Shipping participate in APM Terminals.
Fluxys LNG terminal
zespri packing station
  • New distribution initiatives: the building of a packing station for Zespri and the building of a distribution warehouse by container and trailer operator 2XL.
  • Deepening of the access channel to 17 m and introduction of + 9.000 TEU container vessels of CMA CGM, China Shipping Container Lines and Maersk Line. In 2016, Zeebrugge welcomes several 20,000 TEU container vessels.
  •  Start of the works to eliminate the many crossroads on the N31 expressway between the E40 and Zeebrugge in phases. Commencing of the works for the A11, which links up with the N31 and the N49.
  • Development of the Maritime Logistic Zone (MLZ) with the establishment of coffee distribution centre Seabridge.
  • The building of a bridge and a jetty at the Connection dock and the extension of the quay walls in the Southern Canal Dock.
  • The building of centres for vehicle modification by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics and ICO.
  • Division of Sea-Ro terminal by which Cobelfret acquires concessions of the Brittannia dock, the Swedish quay and the Canada terminal en by which the Wielingen Dock terminal passes into the hands of PSA. In 2014, Sea-Ro changed into C.RO-Ports.
  • The building and start-up of Zeebrugge Food Logistics (storage of deepfrozen products).
  • The building of the border inspection post for the inspection of perishables.
  • Partial completion and start-up of the Zeebrugge International Container Port (ZIP) container terminal by PSA in the Albert II dock.
  • In 2016, PSA returned the container concession to MBZ and closed the CHZ container terminal.
  • Expansion of the Brittannia terminal by partial filling of the Brittannia dock and construction of a roro jetty.
  • Beginning of the rail investment programme  of Infrabel, which will double the rail capacity of the port.
  • Remarkable growth of traffic to and from Scandinavia through regular services of Cobelfret-CLdN, Swedish Orient Lines, Finnlines, UECC, EML en Containerships.
  • Opening of the breakbulk terminal (paper and steel products) of Verbrugge Terminals in the Albert II dock.
  • Capacity extentions at 2XL, ECS and Middlegate Europe.
  • Opening of the terminal of Baggerwerken Decloedt (dredging works) in the inner port.
  • Remarkable increase in cruise traffic up to 160 vessels in 2017 and building of a  cruise terminal.
  • Extension of the Bastogne terminal and putting into operation of the Hanze terminal for the purpose of the growing car traffic of ICO.
  • Handling of breakbulk and assembling of manufactured parts for the Yamal LNG project.
  • Opening of the breakbulk terminal (paper and steel products) of Verbrugge Terminals in the Albert II dock.
  • Capacity extentions at 2XL, ECS and Middlegate Europe.
  • Opening of the terminal of Baggerwerken Decloedt (dredging works) in the inner port.
  • Remarkable increase in cruise traffic up to 160 vessels in 2017 and building of a  cruise terminal.
  • Extension of the Bastogne terminal and putting into operation of the Hanze terminal for the purpose of the growing car traffic of ICO.
  • Handling of breakbulk and assembling of manufactured parts for the Yamal LNG project.
Achterhaven