Barges face longer delays at Antwerp and Rotterdam

Inland barges are facing longer delays loading and unloading at Rotterdam and Antwerp with no sign of an early easing of congestion at Europe’s largest container ports.

Barges are having to wait up to 96 hours to process their cargoes at Antwerp owing to the large number of ships calling at the Belgian port and the shortage of workers in the vacation season, according to Contargo, a leading European barge and rail operator that handles around 2.4 million TEU per year.

“Just now it is very difficult to estimate the time barges will spend in the seaport, although we are making every effort to limit the delays by early notification,” the German company said.

Barges are facing delays of between 36 and 96 hours at some terminals in Rotterdam, particularly APM Terminals’ (APMT’s) two facilities at Europe’s largest container port, which were closed down following a cyber attack on the parent Maersk Group last week.