Short Sea Shipping

The Netherlands is the number 1 country in Europe for deep sea shipping, and also the largest transshipment point for deep sea and short sea shipping. A publication by the EU statistical service desk EUROSTAT showed that the top-3 Short Sea Shipping countries in Europe in terms of volume were the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Short Sea Shipping (SSS) is an important mode of transport in Europe, because it is efficient and economical. In 2007, SSS accounted for 61% of the total transport of maritime goods in Europe, a grand total of 1.9 billion tonnes of cargo. In 2007 291,2 million tons are transshipped in Dutch seaports to and from shortsea destinations. Approximately 60% of this volume is liquid cargo (oil and oil products). The 291,2 million shortsea tons represent 54% of the total transshipment in Dutch ports.

Short Sea Shipping: the most cost-effective option
Should I use a plane, a train or truck to distribute my goods? These are common considerations for every supply chain manager all over the world. But for European distribution there is also another efficient option available; short sea shipping (SSS). SSS is an important mode of transport in Europe. It involves the intermodal transport of cargo between European countries on a door-to-door basis, using transport by sea vessel for a large part of the journey. Many of the metropolitan areas in Europe are located close to sea, and as SSS is the most economical mode of transport available, it is used extensively.


Ports of all sizes
Since most SSS vessels are built to carry containers, the SSS routes can easily be connected to the global deep sea trading links. Containers from Asia or the USA arrive in Europe in one of the main container ports on intercontinental deep sea vessels in one of the main container ports. Rotterdam is the number 1 container port in Europe, and short sea shipping is often used to deliver containers from Asia and the USA via Rotterdam to the UK and vice versa. The SSS vessels have a capacity between 300 and 2,000 TEU, and therefore can be used economically and service the largest but also the smaller ports in Europe. In this way, SSS acts as a vital and cost-effective feeder service between USA/Asia and UK destinations, using Rotterdam as the main European transshipment point.

Port of Rotterdam: more than 110 SSS destinations
Rotterdam offers sea connections with more than 110 ports throughout Europe. Feeders connect perfectly with deepsea traffic in Rotterdam and shortsea vessels are a seamless link in European door-to-door transport. The Waalhaven and Eemhaven are the center for shortsea operations.
Major SSS destinations  to and from Rotterdam are: (1) United Kingdom/Ireland: 40 weekly services, (2) Spain/Portugal: 26 weekly services, (3) Scandinavia: 26 weekly services, (4) Baltic/Russia: 16 weekly services.
According to EUROSTAT Rotterdam remained the largest European port in 2007 in terms of total SSS  (186 million tons).

Speed and accuracy
Just like for other transport modes, speed and accuracy are the key issues in SSS and dedicated short sea terminals in Rotterdam act as integral links in pan-European supply chains. Manufacturers are realizing that using SSS is becoming a viable answer to the increasing congestion on European motorways near major urban areas. Using SSS can deliver a cost-saving up to 60% in comparison to traditional road transport. So, SSS is in many cases cheaper than road transport, is relatively environmentally friendly and is reliable.