Pilot Blue Line Logistics with Schie (EN)

Both ships were built at the Dutch yard Groeneveld. Once the hull of the ‘Zulu 4’ has been launched, the ship will be completed in the Netherlands.

The ‘Zulu 3’ is now finished. “The sea trials will start in September. After that, the ship will be deployed throughout Belgium. We receive questions for the Albert Canal, on the Scheldt, in the direction of Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp and Hasselt,” says Antoon Van Coillie of Blue Line Logistics.

The ‘Zulu 4’, which, like the ‘Zulu 3’ – but – unlike the ‘Zulu’s 1 and 2’ – has a flat bottom instead of a double hull, will also be deployable anywhere. “All our ships are interchangeable,” says Van Coillie. The ships can transport pallets as well as big bags and roll containers (for waste transport). Earlier this week, the ‘Zulu 2’ at the Asiadok in Antwerp was visited by the participants of the Urban Logistics Summer School for a demonstration.

The Netherlands
The concept of the ‘pallet shuttle barges’ is also a success in the Netherlands. In the autumn, Blue Line Logistics was asked for test runs on the Schie in the Netherlands. “This river is no longer used for commercial inland shipping. In the autumn we will make test runs between Rotterdam, Delft and The Hague for a few weeks. We want to transport building materials as well as goods for urban distribution and waste”, concludes Van Coillie.