The situation with regard to waiting times for our barges in the western seaports has improved noticeably in the last few weeks. We are now no longer waiting for more than two days for a processing slot, but can generally expect a delay of 1.5 days.

We are continuing to pursue our discussions with all the parties concerned. In the Netherlands this issue has even been the subject of discussion in Parliament.

Unfortunately, the overall situation both in Antwerp and Rotterdam is that waiting times still fluctuate greatly from one individual barge to another, with peaks of up to 72 hours, so that the situation cannot yet be described as stable.

For this reason we regret that we will have to continue to pass on a part of the costs to you – until 30 September 2017 provisionally – in the form of a congestion surcharge of EUR 19,50 per container. The surcharge applies irrespective of the navigational area of the Rhine, for all containers (full and empty) and for all terminals in the seaports of Antwerp and Rotterdam.

As soon as the situation has fundamentally improved, we will inform you and will discontinue the surcharge.

Since handling procedures in the seaport are not within the scope of our responsibility, unfortunately we cannot accept any responsibility for disruptions in this area, nor can we accept responsibility for delays and the costs resulting from them.

We very much regret the continued necessity for this measure, and assure you that we are doing everything within our power to transport your containers punctually.