The SEA-Invest group is set to construct a new tanker terminal in the Delwaide dock at the Port of Antwerp as part of an investment of €250m.

It has also acquired an independent container terminal from Independent Maritime Terminal (IMT) to operate at the same dock, this is currently located in the Hansa dock but will be moved to Delwaide alongside additional investment of €50m.

Eddy Bruyninckx, CEO at the Port Authority, Antwerp, said: “Thanks to the huge interest in the port area we have been able to select projects that offer the highest added value for the port area as a whole.”

He added: “The waterfront sites have been reserved for candidates that will generate large freight volumes and so make maximum use of the available maritime infrastructure. As for the non-waterfront sites we have opted for candidates that will help to further develop the chemical and petrochemical cluster.”

Alongside this, a location has been found for the Houston-based international terminal operator Zenith Energy.

Due to the size of the project, and taking into account also the limited quay length available in the Delwaide dock, an alternative site has been chosen on the Right bank of the Scheldt.

The company already has a presence in Amsterdam but wanted to find another location in the ARA region, Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp.

Finally, a further private investment at the port includes Sea-Tank Terminal building the tank terminal on behalf of a major player that aims to use the port of Antwerp as a base for import, export and transit of all its petroleum products in the ARA range.

The planned capacity of the project in the first phase is 750,000 m³ for storage of refined products that will be carried to and from the terminal by barge and seagoing ship.

Its freight volume generated by this activity is estimated at 13m tonnes annually, additional capacity may be built in a second phase of the project.