On the evening of Saturday 17 January, the first commercial test vessel was handled at the Rotterdam World Gateway (RWG) terminal. In total, more than 150 containers were discharged. This made Rotterdam World Gateway’s first commercial container handling reality. After discharge, approximately half of the containers were loaded onto a barge on Sunday 18 January.
This first vessel marks the start of commercial activities at Rotterdam World Gateway. In the months ahead, Rotterdam World Gateway will be receiving commercial test ships more regularly, allowing the terminal to further increase volume and functionalities. In the second quarter of 2015, Rotterdam World Gateway will be ready to welcome the first weekly liner service.
The discharge and loading operations were done via the automated process, wherein the quay crane placed the containers on the Lift AGV. These fully electric Lift AGVs transported the containers to Rotterdam World Gateway’s automated stacking cranes. Next, the containers were loaded onto a barge. In subsequent tests, different modes of transport will also be used for hinterland transport.
The Dockers work has been outsourced under contract to renowned businesses in the port of Rotterdam. These third parties are subject to a collective labour agreement. In this way, Rotterdam World Gateway operates in accordance with the Rotterdam standard that work in the port is performed by Dockers with a collective labour agreement.
In the past few years, Rotterdam World Gateway has extensively communicated the distinction it sees between Dockers work and the office staff. For the latter group, uniform terms of employment are in place that meet the minimum level of the collective labour agreements in surrounding terminals and whereby the same rights and rules apply to the employees. Rotterdam World Gateway has always been open to a dialogue with unions in order to discuss non-competition on terms of employment.
