Europe
In Europe the main hub of short sea shipping is Rotterdam, also the largest European port, with Antwerp as a second. The Dutch play an important role in this. They have also developed a hybrid vessel, allowed to navigate the sea as well as the Rhine into the Ruhrgebiet. The Dutch and Belgian main waterways (Maas, Waal, Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, Scheldt) locks and bridges are built accordingly. Because of congestion in the larger ports, a number of smaller (container)ports have been developed, and the same goes for the Rhine-ports such as Duisburg and Dortmund in Germany. The ports of Hamburg, Felixstowe (now the largest port in the UK), Le Havre also play major roles.
In Holland the sector has seen rapid growth, aided by a tax enabled investment scheme. The traditional region for building coasters is the province of Groningen, where most wharfs have side-laying ship slides. The major trend is to have bare hulls cheaply made in Poland or Rumania and build them off in Holland.
Read more about this topic: Short Sea Shipping
Famous quotes containing the word europe:
“Of all the errors which can possibly be committed to the education of youth, that of sending them to Europe is the most fatal. I see [clearly] that no American should come to Europe under 30 years of age.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“What helps it now, that Byron bore,
With haughty scorn which mock’d the smart,
Through Europe to the Aetolian shore
The pageant of his bleeding heart?
That thousands counted every groan,
And Europe made his woe her own?”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
“I believe that the fundamental proposition is that we must recognize that the hostilities in Europe, in Africa, and in Asia are all parts of a single world conflict. We must, consequently, recognize that our interests are menaced both in Europe and in the Far East.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)