About us
The Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority plays an important role in the day-to-day operation of Port of Antwerp-Bruges. Around 1,800 employees work day and night to provide customer-oriented services, optimal infrastructure, innovative projects and to promote the port at home and abroad. Together, they are committed to strengthening the role of Port of Antwerp-Bruges as a sustainable world port. Our mission? Port of Antwerp-Bruges, a home port that acts as a lever to create a sustainable future.
What does the Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority actually do?
The Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority operates the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge and therefore fulfils four roles: as a landlord, operator, regulator and community builder.
Landlord
As landlord, the Port Authority has the task of granting concessions to companies that are looking to set up in the port.
Operator
As an operator, we provide shipping guidance and nautical services. We want to make these services not only more effective, but also more sustainable.
Regulator
As a regulator, we set the necessary parameters by establishing clear rules and agreements. That way, we provide a predictable framework for our customers.
Community builder
As a community builder, we have a leading role and engage in dialogue with parties inside and outside the port community to set things in motion and devise concrete solutions to make the port area more efficient, safer and more sustainable.
Our values: connection, daring and simplicity
Connection
As a Port Authority we connect people, as a port we connect worlds. We engage with customers, stakeholders and society. And with each other. With an open attitude and with respect for all, we strive for excellence and realise extraordinary projects.
Daring
Entrepreneurship is about never staying still. Doing what you do as well as possible, while looking for ways to improve things. Being the first to explore unknown territory, with all senses alert. Daring is about having the courage to be yourself and taking responsibility by thinking and doing.
Simplicity
We attach importance to clear language and transparent processes. As ambitious as we are in our mission, we are also practical when it comes to getting the work done. With a healthy dose of common sense and a critical eye to not make things more difficult than they are, we facilitate smooth collaborations and strong and sustainable solutions.
Code of conduct on social media
As a community builder, we strongly believe in open communication and respect for everyone's personality and beliefs. That is why our social media channels are a platform where we connect with our environment and all stakeholders of the port: from local residents and employees to international investors and customers. A place where everyone feels comfortable.
Feel free to share your ideas or critical opinion or ask questions in a respectful way. You do not always have to agree with each other, but hate speech, offensive language, discrimination, racism, spam and nude images have no place on our social media. Pure advertising does not belong there either. We therefore delete such messages immediately.
We signed the Respectful Ranting Initiative.
Mission and vision
Our aim is to be a global port that reconciles the needs of humankind with those of the climate and the economy. Together with our partners and customers, we actively seek sustainable solutions. We dare to be pioneers and bring about a transition in the field of mobility, energy and digitisation.
We also enable our society, our partners, our customers and our employees to grow through our focus on cooperation, locally and internationally. Those who want to participate and think long term can count on our networks, their insights and on alternatives.
As such, we are bringing together all of the locations of Port of Antwerp-Bruges to form a unique hub in global trade and industry, with the unmistakable feeling of a home port. Dependable and agile, we work every day to create the port of tomorrow.
Strategic plan
With our strategic plan 2022-2025, we are making our mission to be a genuinely sustainable port a reality. Our main activity remains the operation of the port. It is only when everything is running smoothly that there is room to look to the future. We do this by means of a strategic plan with a focus on our economy, our climate, on people and on the environment. In addition, we remain committed to major infrastructure projects, such as additional container capacity and a new sea lock.
Economy
By means of a commercial strategy and a clearly elaborated pricing policy for our merged port, we are making the benefits clear to our customers. By implementing container roadmap, we intend to make maximum use of the existing space and optimise our operations, while waiting for a new dock. Operating from two locations calls for a smooth interconnection, both in terms of transport and also on a digital level.
People and environment
We have an essential social role: we are a port of people and for people and are aware of the impact of our activities on the environment and local residents. That is why in the coming years, we will especially be investing in projects around water quality and nature. Safety, mobility and quality of our environment are already high on the agenda anyway.
Climate
But it's not just about economics. In line with the European Green Deal, Port of Antwerp-Bruges is aiming to be a climate-neutral port by 2050. We are reducing the CO₂-emissions of our own fleet by investing in hydrogen or methanol-powered tugs and taking a closer look at the energy efficiency of our buildings and operations. We are working together with the port community and partners to make the port more climate-friendly by focusing on shore power and alternative fuels, building a factory that captures and reuses CO₂, further focusing on the circular economy with projects such as NextGen and finally by taking on a pioneering role in the hydrogen economy with initiatives such as an open network of hydrogen pipelines.
Subsidiaries of Port of Antwerp-Bruges
The importance of optimising in-port logistical processes is growing in importance all the time. Various subsidiaries of Port of Antwerp-Bruges are now bringing the modal shift, the energy transition and the exchange of data and knowledge a little closer. Port of Antwerp-Bruges International, together with APEC Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Center, offer consultancy and training.
NxtPort is making the sharing of data within the logistical chain easier and more transparent. Railport and Pipelink are also playing a key role in the context of the modal shift and the energy transition.
Port of Antwerp-Bruges International
Growing economic regions and ports such as India, Brazil, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia often need guidance in developing their port and logistics infrastructure. Port of Antwerp-Bruges International helps them build ports in a professional, efficient and sustainable way.
APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Center
The APEC Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Center is an international training institute for port and maritime affairs. It focuses on knowledge transfer to professionals through seminars, customised training, study visits and lectures, on-site or online. The courses offer an ideal mix of theory and practice in which port professionals can interactively hone their expertise on port, maritime and logistics issues.
NxtPort
All the players in the logistics chain have information that they exchange with each other. NxtPort makes sharing this data easier and more transparent. It is a platform that enables the secure exchange of data from different apps with different players. That way, all the players in the logistics chain get the right information at the right time.
The Bulkchain application makes administrative processes in the breakbulk sector faster and smoother. Certified Pick up (CPu), in turn, provides a digital, secure and integrated solution for the release of containers.
NxtPort International
To further support the international expansion of the NxtPort-platform, NxtPort opened offices in Singapore and Delaware in 2021.
Railport
Railport focuses on improving rail transport in the port, including intermodal container transport. The goal is to double the share of rail transport in the coming years.
Pipelink
Pipelink manages more than 720 kilometres of pipelines in Antwerp and ensures access to that network that is open to all users. Pipelines are the most environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and safe mode of transport and play a key role in the energy transition.
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