The port of Antwerp set a new record for maritime cargo volume in 2002, with the amount of shipping freight rising above the 131 million tonne mark.

2002 was a very good year for the port of Antwerp in many respects. The volume of shipping freight rose above the 131 million tonne mark, setting a new record and putting Antwerp up one place among the 10 largest ports in the world. Container freight continues to be the main engine of our port's growth, and last year it expanded by 14.2% to 53 million tonnes or 4.7 million TEU.

Barge freight in Antwerp also had an excellent year, with the volume rising by nearly 2 million tonnes to 74.3 million tonnes, another record. Both barge and rail were able to significantly increase their share of transport to and from the hinterland. The various measures for stimulating freight transport by inland waterway seem to have been effective. In the future, however, more attention will have to be paid to port-related rail investments.

2002 was also a good year for the Port Authority in financial terms. The turnover from port activities, the operating costs and labour costs all remained stable. In contrast to the two previous years, no new large provisions had to be set aside, and so an extra contribution for the pension fund could be made.

The Port Authority invested 81.4 million euros, nearly half of it in construction of the new, tidal container dock on the left bank. Apart from the actual construction of this Deurganck dock, a great deal of attention was paid to developing a series of compensating measures for nature conservation. The tugging division for its part put three new, powerful tugs into operation in 2002.

Despite the good performance in 2002, the Port Authority has to remain vigilant, as the strong growth in container freight tends to obscure the worrying decline in conventional general freight. A second source of concern is the timing for the further deepening of the Western Scheldt. In the course of 2002 the Dutch-Flemish working party ProSes began the task of drawing up a development outline for the Scheldt estuary. It is crucially important to keep to the proposed schedule for the further deepening of the Scheldt.

We would like to take this opportunity of thanking all our members of personnel for their enthusiastic efforts, which every day afresh help up to carry out our mission. Finally, we would also like to thank the private companies operating in the port sector, together with the Flemish and federal authorities, for the confidence that they have shown in us during the past year.