PSA Belgium organises Emerald Cafés to inform employees about renewal Europa Terminal

27 June 2023 - The kick-off of the "Emerald Café" took place on 27 June 2023. The Emerald project, an umbrella name for the renewal of the Europa Terminal, officially started on 10 November 2022. With the Emerald Café, PSA Belgium wants to introduce its employees to the project in an informal way. "Our employees are the beating heart of our company," said CEO of PSA Belgium Cameron Thorpe. "We consider it important to inform and involve them in our company's future project. I am therefore pleased that the first day was a great success: more than 200 employees showed up at the Emerald Café and were introduced to the project."

November 2022, PSA Belgium and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges officially launched the project to renew the Europa Terminal. The works to improve the quay wall and terminal will take nine years. It involves an investment of 835 million euros, of which more than 500 million euros will be invested by PSA. Upon completion, Europa Terminal will have greater capacity and be able to handle the world's largest container ships, while at the same time reducing its carbon footprint.

Emerald Café

To inform all employees about the project, PSA Belgium is organising several Emerald Cafés. On 27 June, it was the turn of the Europa Terminal itself but the other terminals and the head office in Napelsstraat will also be visited. "The renewal of the Europa Terminal is about the future of PSA Belgium with sustainability, safety and innovation at the heart of it," said CEO Cameron Thorpe. "We think it is important to inform everyone but also to give them the chance to ask questions and raise concerns. Hence, we have chosen to visit all terminals with Emerald Café."

Emerald Project 

The civil and electrical infrastructure works are part of PSA Antwerp and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges’ grand overhaul of the Europa Terminal. This refurbishment is necessary to increase the ports handling capacity for the next generation of vessels (Ultra Large Container Vessels – ULCVs), enabling it to maintain its position as Europe’s largest export port. Europa Terminal was the port’s first tidal terminal outside the locks and is now 32 years old. This means it is in need of an upgrade to meet the new industry norms and handle the next generation vessels. 

The current quay wall is 1,180 meters long and only 13.5 meters deep, meaning it can currently accommodate ships up to 11,000 TEUs in size. The new quay wall will be 1,200 meters long and 16.5 meters deep, enabling Europa Terminal to handle ships of up to 25,000 TEUs (PSA Antwerp already has that capacity at its Noordzee Terminal and at the joint-venture terminal, MPET). Next to building a new quay wall, the project will also increase the terminal’s capacity by more than 700,000 TEUs per year, an increase of over 40%, through the introduction of new yard equipment that will also be electrified, so that the total carbon footprint will reduce by over 50%, thereby achieving the company’s CO2 reduction goals by 2030.