Maersk has inaugurated a specialized cross dock warehouse in Rotterdam on its Maasvlakte II terminal. It will accelerate the flow of cargo significantly from arrival on a vessel to the point of sale – especially in the Benelux, German and French hinterland.
After discharging containers from an arriving vessel, the products can be unpacked, transloaded to conventional trucks and dispatched to their final destination within hours. Maersk welcomed Starbucks as the first customer in the newly opened warehouse which features a total space of 23,000 sqm, 120 docks as well as interim storage space. At full capacity more than 200 new jobs will be created in the warehouse.
The cross dock is located on the Maersk owned terminal Maasvlakte II, in the heart of Europe’s largest port. Terminal and cross dock have a direct internal road connection. Another direct road leads to the significantly enlarged STAR depot for an immediate return of emptied containers to the depot which will reduce D&D costs for customers. Finally, the cross dock offers a fully bonded customs environment plus dedicated Value Added Services.
For customers with temperature sensitive cargo like fresh produce, pharmaceuticals, meat, fish and other frozen food, a large coldstore warehouse is under construction on the same site at Maasvlakte II. It will have 40,000 sqm space with several temperature zones and is scheduled to start operations as from end of 2024.
Maersk has set itself ambitious goals for decarbonising logistics on land, ocean and in the air with a net-zero target in 2040. Therefore, all new assets from vessels to warehouses are made for very low greenhouse gas emissions. The new cross dock is built according to the BREEAM Excellent sustainability standard. Furthermore, it will benefit from the cold-store warehouse next to it. By re-using the left-over heat from the coldstore in the Cross Dock, Maersk will save annually more than 200,000 Kilo-Watt-hours in electricity.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
